The LSAT in 2026–27: What’s on It and How to Prep

The LSAT is the Law School Admission Council's admission test for law school. If you're applying to a J.D. program in the U.S. or Canada, plan on taking it. Some schools also accept the GRE, but LSAC points out that the LSAT is the only test every law school accepts—so unless you've confirmed that each school on your list takes the GRE, the LSAT is the safe choice.

The test doesn't measure legal knowledge. It measures whether you can read dense material accurately, follow an argument, spot what it assumes, and tell a strong inference from a weak one. Those skills are learnable, which is why focused prep moves scores.

Starting with the August 2024 LSAT, LSAC dropped Analytical Reasoning ("Logic Games"). The multiple-choice test is now four 35-minute sections: three scored and one unscored.

Two things to know about that table:

• You won't know which section is unscored. LSAC uses it to try out new questions, and it can be either type and appear anywhere in the test. Treat every section as if it counts.
• Question counts are approximate. LSAC doesn't publish a fixed number per section. Expect roughly 25 Logical Reasoning questions per section and about 27 Reading Comprehension questions.

Because two of your three scored sections are Logical Reasoning, LR carries about two-thirds of your score. That's where most people should spend most of their prep time.

Logical Reasoning

Each question gives you a short argument or set of facts (usually a paragraph) and asks you to do something with it: find the assumption, weaken or strengthen it, name the flaw, identify the conclusion, pick what must be true, or match its structure. LSAC describes these as questions that test your ability "to analyze, critically evaluate, and complete arguments." Our Logical Reasoning guide breaks down every question family with worked examples.

Reading Comprehension

Four passage sets—usually one of them a comparative pair (Passage A and Passage B)—drawn from law, science, humanities, and social science. Questions ask for the main point, specific details, inferences, the author's attitude, the function of a sentence or paragraph, and how the ideas would apply to new situations. See the Reading Comprehension guide for passage mapping and comparative-reading strategy.

The writing task is separate from the multiple-choice test. Here's how it works right now:

• Format: you get a debatable issue plus several short perspectives on it. Guided prewriting questions help you analyze them, and then you write an essay that takes a position and addresses some of the other perspectives.
• Timing: 50 minutes—15 for prewriting analysis, 35 for the essay. There's no word limit.
• Where and when: online, on your own Windows or Mac computer with a webcam and microphone, launched in Google Chrome. Sessions are recorded and reviewed by a proctor. It opens eight days before your LSAT administration.
• Scoring: none. But you need an approved writing sample on file before LSAC will show you your score or release it to schools, and law schools read it.
• Cost: included in the LSAT registration fee. You only need one sample on file.

Your raw score is the number of questions you answer correctly in the scored sections. There's no deduction for wrong answers, so never leave a bubble blank. LSAC converts the raw score to the 120–180 scale, and the conversion is set for each test form so that scores can be compared across administrations.

Your score report also shows a score band (a range around your score that reflects measurement error) and a percentile rank—the percentage of test takers over the previous three testing years who scored lower than you. Reports list all your reportable results (up to 12), and a result stays reportable for five testing years after the year you earned it.

What's a "good" score? It depends entirely on where you're applying. Every ABA-approved school publishes its LSAT percentiles in its required ABA Standard 509 disclosures. Look up the 25th, 50th, and 75th percentile scores for your target schools and aim for at or above the median.

Score Preview

Score Preview lets you see your score and then decide within six calendar days whether to keep or cancel it. If you don't act, the score is kept and released. For 2026–27 it costs $46 if you buy it before your first testing day and $87 if you buy it after testing (through the Monday before score release). It's free with an approved LSAC fee waiver.

Each LSAT administration runs over several days; you choose a specific day and time when scheduling opens. These are LSAC's published U.S./Canada dates for the 2026–27 testing year:

International administrations are offered on fewer dates; see the International tab on LSAC's dates page for their exact days and deadlines. Registration closes about six weeks before each test—earlier than many people expect—so pick your date and register early. Always confirm on LSAC's dates page before you plan around a deadline.

You register through your LSAC JD Account. Fees for the 2026–27 testing year (August 2026–June 2027):

CAS is the service that assembles your transcripts, letters, and scores into the report schools receive; you'll need it when you apply, not when you test. If cost is a barrier, apply for an LSAC fee waiver before you register—an approved waiver also makes Score Preview free.

LSAC also limits retakes: five times within the current reportable score period and seven times over a lifetime.

This is the biggest logistical change for 2026–27. Starting with the August 2026 LSAT, LSAC is moving the multiple-choice test to in-center testing for almost all U.S. and international test takers. At a test center, scratch paper and pencils are provided.

Remote testing is now an exception you have to request and be approved for. LSAC lists these grounds:

• You're testing in the U.S., its territories, or Canada and live more than 180 miles or three hours' drive from a test center with available capacity.
• You have an approved disability accommodation that requires remote testing for that date.
• You're on active U.S. military duty stationed abroad (or a stationed spouse or dependent).
• Your test center closes (for example, for weather) and you can't be moved.

Each exception has its own request window, and late requests aren't accepted. If you're approved for remote testing, you'll need a smartphone to use as a second camera. One more wrinkle: LSAC doesn't offer in-person LSAT administration in Quebec.

The Argumentative Writing task is still taken online on your own computer.

If you have a documented disability, request accommodations through JD Services in your LSAC account. The request and all supporting documentation are due by LSAC's accommodation request deadline for your test date—LSAC says there are no exceptions. Accommodations requests cover both the multiple-choice test and Argumentative Writing. Scores earned with accommodations, including extra time, are reported exactly like everyone else's; LSAC doesn't flag them.

There's no official number of study hours. Your timeline should come from the gap between your first timed score and your target. A workable structure:

1. Diagnose (week 1). Take a free official PrepTest on LawHub under real timing. Note your LR and RC accuracy separately and which question types you miss.
2. Build fundamentals (next several weeks). Learn the LR question families and conditional logic, and practice passage mapping in RC. Work untimed at first; accuracy comes before speed.
3. Drill by type, then by section. Move to timed 35-minute sections. After each, blind-review: redo every question you flagged or missed before checking the answer, and write down why the right answer is right.
4. Full tests. Take full four-section PrepTests in the official interface, including the 10-minute break, at the time of day you'll test.
5. Write one practice essay. Do at least one timed Argumentative Writing prompt so the 15/35 split doesn't surprise you.
6. Taper. In the last few days, review your error log and rest. Cramming new material doesn't help.

Want a starting point today? Take our free LSAT practice test: three scored sections at real timing plus a writing prompt.

• August 2024: Analytical Reasoning (Logic Games) was removed. The scored test is now two Logical Reasoning sections and one Reading Comprehension section, plus one unscored section.
• August 2026: LSAC began moving the multiple-choice test to test centers for almost all test takers, with remote testing only by approved exception.
• 2026–27 testing cycle: LSAC rolled out a new testing interface and updated every official PrepTest in the LawHub library to use it, so you can practice on the same screens you'll see on test day.

For changes across all the tests we cover, see Test changes.

• LawHub free PrepTests: four full four-section official LSAT PrepTests in the real test interface, with the same tools you'll have on test day, such as ruling out answers and highlighting.
• Argumentative Writing sample prompts in LawHub's LSAT prep library.
• LSAC's question-type overview.
• LSAT FAQs and Argumentative Writing FAQs.

After you've used the free tests, LawHub Advantage (a paid one-year subscription) unlocks LSAC's larger PrepTest library. We compare it with the best books in Best LSAT prep books.

• LSAT practice test — 77 original questions across three timed sections, plus an Argumentative Writing prompt.
• Logical Reasoning guide — every question family, conditional logic, and common flaws, with worked examples.
• Reading Comprehension guide — passage mapping, comparative passages, and question types.
• Best LSAT prep books — official material first, plus which books are outdated.