Introduction
In January 2026 (Reiwa 8), the IPA (Information-technology Promotion Agency, Japan) revised the IT Passport Exam syllabus to Ver.6.5. Coming just nine months after the previous Ver.6.4 (April 2025 / Reiwa 7), the update reflects how quickly the IT field is changing.
"What actually changed in the new syllabus?" "Which terms should I focus on?" — these are questions every exam candidate wonders about. To answer them, in this article I drew on my own term-dictionary database of 2,651 terms and quantitatively analyzed how the syllabus evolved from Ver.6.3 to 6.5.
The analysis showed that, of the 999 terms currently listed in Syllabus Ver.6.5, 450 were newly added. In this article I list all 450 of these terms by category.
How the syllabus has evolved
The IT Passport Exam syllabus is revised periodically in step with technology trends and changes in society. Here I summarize the changes across the three most recent versions.
| Version | Revision date | Main changes |
|---|---|---|
| Ver.6.3 | December 2023 (Reiwa 5) | Additions, review and reorganization of example terms (baseline) |
| Ver.6.4 | April 2025 (Reiwa 7) | Review of information-literacy and legal-reform-related terms |
| Ver.6.5 | January 2026 (Reiwa 8) | Major reinforcement of AI, security and basic theory |
Looking at changes at the level of example terms, the move from Ver.6.3 to Ver.6.4 was relatively small — just 2 terms added and 1 reorganized. From Ver.6.4 to Ver.6.5, by contrast, 163 terms were newly made explicit and 172 were consolidated or reorganized, a major revision.
In the term-dictionary database, 999 of all 2,651 terms are listed in the current Ver.6.5 syllabus. The remaining 1,652 are terms that were in scope in older versions but have since dropped out, or terms included as related background knowledge.
An overview of the Ver.6.5 new terms
In this article, "new terms" means the 450 terms that, in the term-dictionary database, were not listed in earlier versions of the syllabus but are included in the current Ver.6.5.
listed in v6.5
Breakdown by major category (450 new terms)
| Major category | New terms | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy | 207 terms | 46.0% |
| Management | 39 terms | 8.7% |
| Technology | 204 terms | 45.3% |
Top 10 mid-categories
| Rank | Mid-category | New terms |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Corporate activities | 77 terms |
| 2 | Security | 59 terms |
| 3 | Business industry | 50 terms |
| 4 | Legal affairs | 28 terms |
| 5 | Information media | 28 terms |
| 6 | Network | 27 terms |
| 7 | Business strategy management | 20 terms |
| 8 | Computer components | 18 terms |
| 9 | Information design | 18 terms |
| 10 | Service management | 16 terms |
Strategy and Technology are almost equal in size, and together account for more than 90% of the total. Among the mid-categories, Corporate activities (77 terms), Security (59 terms) and Business industry (50 terms) lead the list — a revision that reflects the growing importance of AI utilization and cybersecurity.
New terms by category (450 terms)
Below is a list of the 450 new terms in Syllabus Ver.6.5, organized by major and mid-category.
Strategy (207 terms)
System planning (3 terms)
Terms related to system-planning and requirements definition have been added.
System strategy (15 terms)
Terms related to information-systems strategy and business improvement have been added.
Business industry (50 terms)
Terms on AI ethics, engineering, e-commerce and IoT have been added.
Corporate affairs and legal affairs (1 term)
Corporate activities (77 terms)
Many terms on data-analysis methods, AI utilization and the fundamentals of business management have been added.
Technology strategy management (8 terms)
Terms on planning and managing technology strategy have been added.
New technologies (1 term)
Legal affairs (28 terms)
Terms have been added and updated in line with legal reforms — for example the renaming of the Subcontract Act and the addition of the GX Promotion Act.
Business strategy (4 terms)
Business strategy management (20 terms)
Terms on marketing, management analysis and business strategy have been added.
Management (39 terms)
Service management (16 terms)
Basic terms of ITIL and service management have been added.
System audit (4 terms)
Terms related to auditing and internal control have been added.
System development technology (11 terms)
The set of terms on testing methods, development processes and quality management has been expanded.
Software development management technology (4 terms)
Terms on development processes and agile development have been added.
Project management (2 terms)
PMBOK-based project management knowledge has been strengthened.
Development technology (2 terms)
Technology (204 terms)
Algorithms and programming (13 terms)
Terms on programming fundamentals and data structures have been added.
Computer systems (1 term)
Computer components (18 terms)
Basic hardware terms for processors, memory and the like have been added.
System components (6 terms)
Terms on system configuration and backup have been added.
Security (59 terms)
Many terms on cyberattack methods, security technologies and encryption have been added.
Software (3 terms)
Terms on OS, middleware and file management have been added.
Database (3 terms)
Terms on RDB, SQL and data manipulation have been added.
Network (27 terms)
Terms on TCP/IP, protocols and network devices have been substantially added.
Hardware (3 terms)
Basic terms on computers and input/output devices have been added.
Basic theory (13 terms)
Basic terms of discrete mathematics and AI theory have been added.
Information design (18 terms)
Terms on UI/UX and web design have been added.
Information media (28 terms)
Terms on multimedia technology and image/audio processing have been added.
Technical elements (3 terms)
Emerging technology (1 term)
New technologies (8 terms)
A pick of the noteworthy new terms
From among the 450 new terms, here I pick out and explain some representative terms in especially notable trend areas.
AI & machine learning
With the spread of generative AI, AI-related terms have been greatly expanded. Beyond how AI works, you are now expected to understand social and safety aspects too — such as hallucination (erroneous generation) and prompt injection (an attack method).
A general term for technology that has computers perform intelligent information processing like a human.
A method or technology that uses AI (artificial intelligence) to automate and streamline IT system operations.
Using AI's judgment to automate advanced or routine tasks that were previously done by humans.
A document setting out guidelines and standards in the field of system planning.
Bias in AI's answers caused by the user's instructions (prompts) and feedback.
Security
Terms for attack methods on the rise in recent years, such as fileless malware and password list attacks, have been added. On the defensive side, passwordless authentication and disk encryption are new key terms.
A government set of guidelines summarizing the threats and countermeasures specific to developing and using IoT devices.
An attack in which malware infecting the browser tampers with the user's input just before it is transmitted.
A wire that fixes a laptop or peripheral to a desk to prevent physical removal or theft.
A system for reporting security flaws (vulnerabilities) in software to the IPA when they are discovered.
Technology that encrypts an entire storage device such as an HDD or SSD to prevent data being read if it is stolen.
DX & business transformation
Systems and concepts related to promoting DX have been expanded. Terms at the intersection of business and social systems — such as GX (Green Transformation) and the invoice system — draw attention.
A law that sets out the promotion of GX.
A transformation that shifts the economic structure from fossil fuels to one centered on clean energy, raising industrial competitiveness.
A system for retaining invoices in a government-designated format in order to receive the consumption-tax "purchase tax credit".
A set of guidelines that company executives should put into practice in order to drive digital transformation (DX).
A form of government that uses IT to transform the very way administration works, aiming to improve convenience for citizens and make administration more efficient.
Data utilization
Terms for the types of data that form the basis of data science (primary/secondary data, structured/unstructured data, and so on) and for analysis methods have been added.
A classification/format of data with primary characteristics.
A classification/format of data with secondary characteristics.
A document setting out guidelines and standards in the field of system planning.
A classification/format of data with cross-sectional characteristics.
A method that combines simulation results from a numerical model with actual observation data to improve prediction accuracy.
Emerging technologies
Terms on next-generation technologies such as the metaverse and NFTs are included in the exam scope.
Using such technology, a "forgery-proof certificate of authenticity and ownership" is attached to digital data. A one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable asset.
A three-dimensional virtual space built inside a computer network, where many people can freely act and interact.
Study advice for exam candidates
The new terms added in this syllabus revision are areas likely to be tested in future exams. Here I organize the key points for studying them efficiently.
1. Most of the new terms "haven't appeared yet"
Of the 450 new terms, 430 have no record of ever appearing in a past exam. That is 96% of the total, showing that practicing past questions alone is not enough preparation. It is effective to check the syllabus example terms directly and firmly grasp the meaning of each one.
2. Prioritizing by classification
The term dictionary classifies all 2,651 terms into four levels.
| Classification | Terms | Study priority |
|---|---|---|
| ★ Most important | 73 terms | Study first. Core terms that appear frequently on the exam |
| ◆ Important | 926 terms | Important terms needed to pass. Be sure to master them |
| ▲ Formerly important | 81 terms | Terms that were important in the old syllabus. Cover if you have time |
| △ Old terms | 1,571 terms | Useful as background knowledge. Low chance of being tested directly |
An efficient strategy is to first perfect the 73 ★ most-important terms, then expand to the 926 ◆ important terms.
3. Study strategy by category
Technology is a large area with 204 new terms. Start by correctly understanding the "meaning" of each term. Rather than deep technical understanding, it matters more to grasp how terms and concepts map to each other.
Strategy has 207 new terms. Since it centers on business and DX, linking terms to news and real business cases makes them stick better.
Management has a relatively small 39 terms, but it is efficient to organize them after grasping the basic frameworks of project management and ITIL.
IT Passport study app for Syllabus Ver.6.5
Our study app "Shunsoku Master IT Passport" includes all 2,651 terms analyzed in this article. You can try every feature free for 7 days.
- Term dictionary: 2,651 terms (including 758 new terms)
- Past exams: 2,900 questions from 29 past exams, figures included
- Learning stages: 232 stages
- Calculation problems: 23 topics
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Summary
In Syllabus Ver.6.5, terms were substantially added centered on three areas: AI and machine learning, information security, and DX (digital transformation). Of the 2,651-term dictionary database, 450 are new terms currently listed in Ver.6.5.
Most of these new terms have not yet appeared in past exams, and they are areas likely to be tested in future. Using the category list in this article, prioritize studying the ★ most-important and ◆ important terms first.