LSAC is changing the shape of the LSAT. Starting with the August 2027 test, there will be no separate unscored section. Instead, the unscored questions will be mixed into the three scored sections, and you will not be able to tell which ones they are.
That is the whole change. The questions themselves do not change. The scoring does not change. What changes is the layout of test day and where the unscored questions sit. Here is the full picture, section by section.
What changes
Right now, the test includes a standalone unscored section. LSAC uses it to try out new questions before those questions count for anyone's score. Starting in August 2027, that separate section goes away. The tryout questions move inside the scored sections. LSAC calls this embedded pretesting, and it is the same method used on the SAT, the ACT, and the bar exam.
The new test also has a fixed order. Everyone takes the sections in the same sequence:
| Order | Section | Time | Questions | Scored | Unscored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Reading Comprehension | 52 minutes | 40 | 27 | 13 |
| Break | 10 minutes | ||||
| 2 | Logical Reasoning | 45 minutes | 32 | 25 | 7 |
| Break | 10 minutes | ||||
| 3 | Logical Reasoning | 45 minutes | 32 | 25 | 7 |
A few details in that table matter.
In Reading Comprehension, the 13 unscored questions are not scattered one by one. They are 2 whole passages. So of the 6 passages you read, 4 count toward your score and 2 do not. You will not know which 2.
In each Logical Reasoning section, 7 of the 32 questions are unscored and mixed in with the 25 that count. There is no way to spot them, and there is not supposed to be. They are written to look like every other question.
The breaks are new in number. There are two of them, each 10 minutes: one after Reading Comprehension and one after the first Logical Reasoning section. The total testing experience runs 10 minutes longer than it does today. That breaks down to 2 more minutes of testing and 8 more minutes of break.
What does not change
This is the part that matters most, and it is a long list.
The question types do not change. The Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension questions on the August 2027 test are the same kinds of questions LSAC uses now. Every skill you are building today is a skill the new test still tests.
The number of scored questions does not change. Your score still comes from 27 Reading Comprehension questions and 50 Logical Reasoning questions, 77 scored questions in total. The unscored questions add time and reading, but they add zero weight to your score.
Your time per question does not change. Reading Comprehension still works out to about 78 seconds per question. Logical Reasoning still works out to about 84 seconds per question. The sections are longer because they hold more questions, not because each question got tighter.
The score scale does not change. Scores still run from 120 to 180, and LSAC says scores stay comparable across cycles. A score earned under the new format means the same thing as the same score earned under the current one.
Who this affects
Your test date decides your format. Nothing else does.
If you test through the June 2027 administration, you take the current format, with the separate unscored section. Nothing about your test changes.
If you test in August 2027 or later, you take the new format: Reading Comprehension first, two Logical Reasoning sections after it, unscored questions embedded inside all three.
If you test once before the change and retake after it, you will sit for both formats. That sounds like a bigger deal than it is. The scored questions, the scored counts, and the scale are the same on both sides of the line. What you would need to adjust to is the longer Reading Comprehension section and the fixed order, not new material.
What to do now
If your test date is before August 2027, do nothing different. Your practice already matches your test. Changing your prep because of an announcement about a format you will never take would only cost you focus.
If your test date is August 2027 or later, the core of your prep stays the same too. Learn the question types. Build accuracy first, then speed. That work transfers in full.
The one adjustment is at the end of your prep, not the start. Closer to your test date, your full practice tests should match the new shape: a 52-minute Reading Comprehension section with 6 passages, then two 45-minute Logical Reasoning sections, with the two breaks where the real test puts them. Stamina for a longer first section is a trainable thing, and it is trained by taking tests built like the real one.
You will be able to do that with official material. LSAC will release official new-format practice tests in LawHub in February 2027. Current-format practice stays available through the June 2027 administration, so nobody loses their study material mid-prep.
One habit is worth building now, whatever your date is: treat every question in front of you as if it counts. Under the new format you cannot know which questions are unscored, and guessing wrong about that costs real points. Under the current format the same habit already pays, because the unscored section looks like a scored one. Full effort on every question is the correct strategy in both formats. It always was.
LSATPathway will run both formats side by side, matched to your test date.
Start where you stand
If you have not started yet, your first step is the same in either format: find your starting score and build a plan around your test date. Create a free LSATPathway account and take the diagnostic: https://lsatpathway.com/free-lsat-prep
Questions on LSATPathway are original, written for LSATPathway. They are not official LSAT questions.