This year's civil service exam for fast-track candidates saw 1,753 applicants pass, up 28 percent from the previous year, thanks to a hiring policy turnaround, the National Personnel Authority said Monday.
While the total number of applicants fell to 22,248, down 1,633 from fiscal 2012, they had a much better 1 in 12.7 chance of succeeding, compared with 1 in 17.4 last year.
The rise in the pass rate was credited to the Cabinet's repeal in March of hiring curbs put in place by the Democratic Party of Japan-led government, an official said.
While the number of successful woman rose to 342, for a gain of 28, they accounted for only 19.5 percent of all successful applicants, down 3.4 points from last year, the personnel authority said.
The universities with the most successful applicants remained the same in terms of ranking, with 454 from the University of Tokyo, 172 from Kyoto University, 105 from Waseda University, 91 from Keio University and 74 from Tohoku University.