Online version of LSAT to be offered starting next year

Students preparing to take their Law School Admission Test (LSAT) next year will be the first to take a new online version of the exam. 

Earlier this month, the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) announced that as of July 2019, select test makers will issue an online version of the test, according to a press release from LSAC.

The change will take effect as early as July 15, 2019, once the current law school admission cycle is complete. 

Students who take the test in July will have the option to see their scores before they choose whether they want to cancel them, regardless of what format they use. Those who cancel their score can retake the exam free of charge through April 2020. 

Test question structure and questions will not be different from the traditional exam and LSAC will be offering free online tutorials to ease test taker transition into digital, according to the press release. 

Students will take the new LSAT on a tablet preloaded with software developed by LSAC that includes features intended to benefit test takers and their schools such as faster reporting of scores. 

The new LSAT will also accommodate test takers with disabilities through flexible type sizes, built-in screen reader and other enhancements. 

Executive Director of Pre-law Programs at Kaplan Test Prep Jeff Thomas said this comes as one of the biggest changes to the LSAT since the exam in its 70-year history. 

"More broadly, the LSAT’s move to a digital format follows the trend that we have seen among all major graduate-level admissions exams over the past decade. The admissions exams for graduate school, business school and medical school have all already made the switch from paper-and-pencil,” he said in a separate press release. 

The LSAT will be offered nine times during the 2019-2020 test cycle — three additional chances for students to take the exam that were not available this current test cycle, according to the press release. 

“For 99 (percent) of law school candidates, their enrollment journey begins with the LSAT,” said Kellye Testy, president and CEO of LSAC, in the press release. “Our goal is to make it easy and convenient for candidates to pursue their passion for law and justice.”