N2 Passed (Low Score), Should I Move to N1 or Repeat N2 in a Group?

I need some advice from people who mainly learned Japanese with teachers (private lessons or group classes are both welcome).

Sorry for the long post — I’d really appreciate any advice.

I passed N2 this December with a score of 94 (girigiri, I know — and my lowest score was in reading).

I’ve been studying for N2 for two years now. The first year I didn’t really have the right mindset, so I failed. The second year, I did everything I possibly could to study properly and pass, but my score wasn’t what I was expecting.

Aside from self-study, I’ve been studying Japanese with private tutors (native Japanese). I also have experience studying in groups when I was in Japan attending a Japanese language school.

I’ve been studying with my current teacher (Japanese) for two years now. I do feel like I’m improving, but after five years of total study, I don’t feel drastically better. I’m not sure exactly how to put it into words.

Because of that, I started looking for other private tutors online, but none of them (at least to me) made me think, “Oh, I see potential — maybe we could work well together.” (I know you can’t judge someone from just one video, but I also don’t want to spend more money on platforms like Preply or italki without a clear reason.)

I recently came across a language school in my country that has Japanese teachers. One of them speaks both Japanese and my mother tongue fluently, so I thought I might give it a try.

I contacted them and said I was interested in joining an N1 class, but they told me they don’t currently have enough students at that level to form a group. Instead, they asked if I would like to join the N2 class. I declined.

They insisted, saying that not all students remember everything perfectly and that having a low score on N2 might be a problem. I explained that reading was my only weak section, so I don’t want to spend another two years studying N2. I need N1 for personal reasons.

My question is:

Should I simply increase my hours with my private tutor and tell him I want to focus on N1 preparation,

or

Should I join an N2 group for another two years?

Any other thoughts are welcome — I’m honestly feeling a bit lost.