What Is the LSAT? Format, Sections, and the 2026 Testing Changes

The four multiple-choice sections

Each of the four sections runs 35 minutes, with a 10-minute intermission between the second and third sections. Two sections are Logical Reasoning, each carrying 24 to 26 questions built around a short argument and a single-answer prompt. One section is Reading Comprehension, built from four passages, including one comparative set of two shorter related passages.

The fourth section is unscored and used only to test new questions for future exams. Because it is not identified during the test, treat every section as if it counts and pace accordingly.

• Two scored Logical Reasoning sections
• One scored Reading Comprehension section
• One unscored variable section
• 10-minute break after section two

What changed, and when

Analytical Reasoning — commonly called Logic Games — was removed starting with the August 2024 test administration. The change followed a settlement in an Americans with Disabilities Act lawsuit brought by a legally blind test taker who argued the section's diagram-heavy format disadvantaged sight-impaired candidates. LSAC replaced it with a second Logical Reasoning section instead of dropping a scored section outright.

June 2026 is the line. LSAC has confirmed June 2026 as the final remote LSAT administration; starting with the August 2026 test, the multiple-choice portion moves to in-person testing at Prometric centers for almost all candidates, with limited exceptions tied to approved disability-related accommodations. Confirm your specific test date's delivery format directly with LSAC before planning travel or equipment.

2026-2027 test dates, as currently published

LSAC's published 2026 administrations are January, February, April, June, August, September, October, and November. For 2027, LSAC has so far published January, February, April, and June, with registration open through the June 2027 date at the time of this update.

Registration for a given date typically closes roughly six weeks before test day, and both the exact 2027 calendar past June and any single date's specific registration deadline can be added or adjusted by LSAC — confirm your target date's current status directly on LSAC's own dates page before building a study plan around it.

• 2026: January, February, April, June, August, September, October, November
• 2027 (published so far): January, February, April, June
• June 2026: final remote administration
• August 2026 onward: in-person at Prometric testing centers

How the pieces fit into your application

Your multiple-choice score and the required LSAT Argumentative Writing sample both route through LSAC to every law school on your report — a missing writing sample holds your score from being released at all, even after you've completed the multiple-choice test. Treat the writing sample as a real deadline, not an afterthought.

How LSAC describes the test's structure

LSAC's FAQ says the LSAT is made of four 35-minute test sections, with a 10-minute intermission between the second and third, and that standard test takers spend about three hours on it. The multiple-choice portion has two scored Logical Reasoning sections and one scored Reading Comprehension section, plus one unscored section of either Logical Reasoning or Reading Comprehension that LSAC uses to validate new test questions for future use.

LSAT Argumentative Writing is separate. It is a proctored, on-demand writing exam given online through secure proctoring software installed on the candidate's own computer, taken at a time and place the candidate chooses, and it becomes available in the candidate's online account eight days before the test administration.

Rules that shape how you prepare and register

Every test taker must show a physical, valid international passport or a physical, valid government-issued photo ID from the United States, a U.S. territory or Canada. Devices that cannot be in the room include timers of any kind, watches of any kind, calculators, cameras and fitness trackers. Test takers approved for remote testing are watched by live proctors through the computer's camera and microphone, and the video and audio are recorded.

Scheduling has its own deadlines. Test-center scheduling closes seven days after it opens and remotely proctored scheduling closes three days before testing begins, and a test taker who misses the scheduling deadline can request a date change for a fee or have the registration automatically withdrawn without a refund. LSAC's fee page lists $253 for the LSAT, which includes LSAT Argumentative Writing, for the August 2026 to June 2027 testing year.

Where you take it in 2026-2027

LSAC's accommodations and remote-testing pages say that starting with the August 2026 LSAT, the multiple-choice portion is moving toward in-center testing for almost all test takers, with limited exceptions. LSAT Argumentative Writing is still taken remotely on your own computer, since LSAC says it is not available at a Prometric test center.

The remote exceptions LSAC lists for 2026-2027 are certain disability-related accommodations that require remote testing, active-duty military stationed abroad along with spouses and dependents stationed with them, test takers more than 180 miles or three hours' driving from a test center with available capacity, and test takers whose domestic center closes for weather or other unforeseen circumstances. LSAC says an approved remote exception limits you to the remote modality and requires a smartphone as a second camera.