Remote LSAT Ending Due to Cheating Concerns

Beginning in August, the LSAT—the required entrance exam for law school admissions—will only be administered in person to protect the “security and integrity” of the test, the Law School Admission Council announced Wednesday. 

Test takers will still complete the exam digitally, but they must do so at in-person testing centers, which will help deter potential misconduct, Susan Krinsky, executive vice president for operations and chief of staff at LSAC, wrote in a news release.

“We are not taking this step lightly. Remote testing with real-time proctoring was a vital service for both test takers and schools during the pandemic, and we understand that some test takers may prefer remote testing for convenience, comfort, or other reasons,” Krinsky wrote. “But given the security and test integrity benefits of in-center testing, moving toward in-center testing is the right decision at this time.”

LSAC first introduced the remote LSAT during the COVID-19 pandemic after building a digital version of the test in 2019. LSAC will still allow exceptions to the in-person requirements for “certain medical accommodations or extreme hardship in getting to a testing center,” the news release stated. The council also hopes that in-center testing will reduce the number of “score holds”—temporary holds on testers’ scores while the test is investigated for security or technical anomalies. Right now, 40 percent of all test takers complete the test remotely, but remote test takers account for a “majority” of the score holds.