Eleven of the nation's 66 prefectures and major cities held makeup tests last spring for students who were unable to take their high school entrance exams due to illness, an education ministry survey showed Monday.

In another finding, the vast majority of the surveyed governments were found to have separated the sick from the healthy on the day of the original exam by testing them in separate rooms. This prompted the education ministry last autumn to seek alternatives, such as offering makeup exams on a different day.

Public high schools usually hold their entrance exams in the winter after the start of the new year. This often means exam season coincides with flu season.