Cram school

Cram schools or colloquially crammers are specialized schools that train their students to meet particular goals, most commonly to pass the entrance examinations of high schools or universities. The English name is derived from the slang term "cramming", meaning to study hard or to study a large amount of material in a short period of time.

Education

Cram schools often specialize in a particular subject or subjects. Cram schools that prepare students for high school and university entrance examinations are also frequently specialized to particular schools, and the staff may, like those in other schools, have access to previous years' examination papers. Special cram schools that prepare students who have failed their entrance examinations (known as rōnin in colloquial Japanese) to take them the following year are also common. In extreme cases, such students may spend up to eighteen hours a day studying to retake their tests. Students who attend regular after-school cram schools may study for four hours or more.