- Reading Comprehension
- Four sets of about 27 questions in 35 minutes: three single passages and one comparative pair, drawn from law, humanities, social science and natural science. Questions ask for the main point, the purpose of a paragraph, what the author would agree with, what can be inferred, the meaning of a phrase in context and, for the pair, how the two passages relate. The passages are chosen to be unfamiliar and dense, and the difficulty lies in tracking the argument rather than the subject.
- Logical Reasoning
- About 25 short arguments in 35 minutes, each followed by one question. The recurring types are: identify the assumption the argument depends on; strengthen or weaken; find the flaw in the reasoning; resolve an apparent paradox; identify the conclusion or the role of a statement; find a parallel argument or a parallel flaw; and must-be-true or most-strongly-supported inference. Accuracy on the argument’s structure matters more than reading speed.
- The unscored section
- One additional Reading Comprehension or Logical Reasoning section, placed anywhere in the test, used to validate new questions. Because it is not identified, no section can be treated lightly.
- LSAT Argumentative Writing
- An issue with several perspectives; 15 minutes of guided prewriting and 35 minutes of essay. There is no right position; law schools read for reasoning, organisation, clarity, engagement with the other views and command of written English. It is unscored but part of the file every school sees.
