LSAT: format and scoring

Law School Admission Test (LSAT)

The current LSAT multiple-choice test is four separately timed 35-minute sections: two scored Logical Reasoning sections, one scored Reading Comprehension section, and one unscored variable (pretest) section that may be either question type and may appear at any position. Analytical Reasoning ("logic games") was sunset after the June 2024 administration and replaced by the second Logical Reasoning section. A mandatory 10-minute intermission falls after the second section. Scores are reported on a 120-180 scale; the raw score is simply the number of correct answers across the three scored sections, with no deduction for wrong answers and all items weighted equally. LSAT Argumentative Writing is a separate, unscored, remotely proctored 50-minute session (15 minutes of prewriting analysis plus 35 minutes of writing) that must be completed and approved before a score is released. LSAC does not publish how many questions a section contains, so the item counts in our blueprints are our own practice choices, not the exam’s rules.

Version described

LSAT, post-August-2024 format (no Analytical Reasoning), 2026-2027 testing cycle

Admissions cycle

2026-2027 LSAT testing cycle (August 2026 through June 2027 administrations), feeding fall 2027 JD admission

Sections and timing

Navigation rules

What you may and may not do once a section has started. Our timed practice enforces these on the server, not just in the interface.

• You can move backward and forward freely within a section.
• You can change an answer before the section is submitted.
• You can mark any question for review.
• Once a section is submitted it cannot be reopened.

Scoring

Correct answer

1 point(s)

Wrong answer

No penalty

Left blank

0 point(s)

Reported scale

LSAT scaled score: 120–180LSAC reports the LSAT on a 120-180 scale in whole-point increments, 120 lowest and 180 highest, accompanied by a score band derived from the standard error of measurement and a percentile rank covering the previous three testing years. This is recorded as a fact about the exam. We do not produce a score on this scale.

• Raw score is the number of questions answered correctly across the three scored sections. LSAC: "There is no deduction for incorrect answers."
• An omitted answer scores identically to a wrong answer, so guessing is never disadvantageous. Never leave a question blank.
• All test questions are weighted exactly the same, regardless of type or difficulty.
• The unscored variable section contributes nothing to the score, and LSAC does not disclose which administered section it was.
• LSAT Argumentative Writing carries no score, but an approved sample must be on file before a test taker can see or release their LSAT score.
• We display no score band, no standard-error figure and no percentile: LSAC’s current score-bands page states no fixed band width, and percentile tables are published on a three-year lag.

What is tested

Law School Admission Council (LSAC)’s own content domains. Our question bank is tagged against these, so a results page names the same skills the test maker does.

• Logical Reasoning

  Analysing, critically evaluating and completing arguments presented in short passages of ordinary language. Applies equally to both scored Logical Reasoning sections and to a Logical Reasoning variable section.

  Recognizing the parts of an argument and their relationships · Recognizing similarities and differences between patterns of reasoning · Drawing well-supported conclusions · Reasoning by analogy · Recognizing misunderstandings or points of disagreement · Determining how additional evidence affects an argument · Detecting assumptions made by particular arguments · Identifying and applying principles or rules · Identifying flaws in arguments · Identifying explanations

• Reading Comprehension

  Reading long and complex passages with insight and accuracy, and answering questions about a single reading selection.

  The main idea or primary purpose · Information that is explicitly stated · Information or ideas that can be inferred · The meaning or purpose of words or phrases as used in context · The organization or structure · The application of information in the selection to a new context · Principles that function in the selection · Analogies to claims or arguments in the selection · An author’s attitude as revealed in the tone of a passage or the language used · The impact of new information on claims or arguments in the selection

• Comparative Reading

  The Reading Comprehension set built on two related shorter passages. Questions concern the relationship between the two passages. A section contains either one comparative set or none.

  Relationships between two related shorter passages · Generalization / instance relationships between passages · Principle / application relationships between passages · Point / counterpoint relationships between passages

• Argumentative Writing

  The separate, unscored LSAT Argumentative Writing sample: a debatable issue presented with three or four perspectives, on which the candidate takes and supports a position.

  Analyzing a debatable issue presented with three or four perspectives · Taking a position within an ongoing conversation · Constructing and supporting an argument in essay form

What Law School Admission Council (LSAC) does not publish

We could not verify the following from an official source. Rather than guess, we switch off any feature that would depend on them, and we say so here.

• The number of questions in each Logical Reasoning section. LSAC publishes no figure; the 24 items per Logical Reasoning blueprint part are our practice choice, not the exam’s rule. Widely circulated figures of 25-26 could not be confirmed on an official LSAC page.
• The total number of questions on a post-August-2024 form and the number of scored items, and therefore the maximum raw score.
• The exact number of Reading Comprehension questions on a form. LSAC publishes only that the section has four sets of five to eight questions each (20-32 items); our 27-item Reading Comprehension blueprint sits inside that range but the count is ours.
• The content-blueprint proportions: how many of each Logical Reasoning question type, or each Reading Comprehension question type, appear in a section.
• Whether the testing UI shows a time warning (for example a five-minute warning) before a section ends, and in what form.
• Whether an end-of-section review screen is presented before a section locks, or whether sections simply auto-advance at time expiry. Our section navigation policies set reviewScreen to false as the conservative option.
• Whether the on-screen timer can be hidden or collapsed by the test taker.
• Whether unanswered questions are visually distinguished in the 2026-27 question bar.
• Whether the unscored variable section’s position is randomised per test taker or fixed per form, and which section it was on any given form.
• The raw-to-scaled conversion for any form, the per-form standard error of measurement, and the resulting score-band width. Do not display a fixed band such as "+/- 3 points"; LSAC’s current page states no number.
• Percentile conversion tables for the 2026-27 testing year: LSAC publishes three-year percentile tables on a lag.
• Accommodated timing multipliers (for example 50% or 100% extra time) and accommodated break structures. LSAC documents the request process, not a published table of multipliers.
• The verbatim LSAC wording prohibiting calculators. The dos-and-don’ts page lists calculators among devices that must be removed from the testing area, but no exact sentence was captured. The substantive fact — no calculator on the LSAT — is not in doubt, since no section requires computation.
• The delivery modality wording for 2026-27 is inconsistent across LSAC pages: the LSAT FAQ still describes a free choice between remote proctoring and a test centre, while LSAC’s announcements require in-person testing from the August 2026 LSAT with limited documented exceptions. Treat in-centre as the default and re-verify the FAQ each cycle.

Sources

Compiled by Examer from LSAC’s published pages. Each source shows the date it was checked.

1. [1] Specifications for the LSAT and LSAT Argumentative Writing — LSAC, checked 2026-09-18
2. [2] LSAC Candidate Agreement, 2026-2027 — LSAC, checked 2026-09-18
3. [3] LSAT test format — LSAC, checked 2026-09-18
4. [4] What to expect starting with the August 2024 LSAT — LSAC, checked 2026-09-18
5. [5] Logical Reasoning question type — LSAC, checked 2026-09-18
6. [6] Reading Comprehension question type — LSAC, checked 2026-09-18
7. [7] About the 10-minute intermission — LSAC, checked 2026-09-18
8. [8] Full new testing UI for the 2026-27 testing cycle now available — LSAC, checked 2026-09-18
9. [9] LSAT scoring — LSAC, checked 2026-09-18
10. [10] LSAT score bands — LSAC, checked 2026-09-18
11. [11] Keeping Data (LSAC podcast, May 2025) — equating and raw-to-scale conversion — LSAC, checked 2026-09-18
12. [12] About LSAT Argumentative Writing — LSAC, checked 2026-09-18
13. [13] Frequently asked questions about LSAT Argumentative Writing — LSAC, checked 2026-09-18
14. [14] LSAT dos and don’ts (test-day materials) — LSAC, checked 2026-09-18
15. [15] Registration open for the 2026-2027 LSAT testing cycle, plus an update on the return to in-person testing — LSAC, checked 2026-09-18
16. [16] LSAT reliability and validity — LSAC, checked 2026-09-18