when you’re getting ready to take the law school admission test (lsat), it’s absolutely key to practice with high-quality materials—and more specifically, official lsat practice tests (known as preptests). it’s important to see what the test looks like and study the format as much as possible, especially since the lsat changed in 2024. and there’s no better way to do that than by looking at previous exams—particularly when they’re free lsat practice tests!
about the magoosh practice test
the test you will take is preptest 123. this is the same as the original june 2007 preptest except that its logic games section has been replaced with another reading comprehension section (from the original preptest 41). (logic games no longer exists on the lsat in 2024.)
for this free practice test, you have the option to take:
- the full preptest (including the unscored section, which we strongly recommend) — 2 hours and 30 minutes
- one of the logical reasoning sections — 35 minutes
- or one of the reading comprehension sections — 35 minutes
no matter which you choose, all these official questions come with expert explanations. use this practice test to polish your skills before test day, or use it as an lsat diagnostic test to learn the lay of the land!
how to best take an lsat practice test
first of all, know what you’ll see on it! here’s what you can expect from the lsat practice test:
| section name | number of questions | time |
|---|---|---|
| 1st reading comprehension section | 26 | 35 minutes |
| 1st logical reasoning section | 25 | 35 minutes |
| 2nd logical reasoning section | 25 | 35 minutes |
| 2nd reading comprehension section | 27 | 35 minutes |
now that you know what’s on the test, what should you focus on? working through an lsat piecemeal—one section on the bus, the next during dinner—won’t prepare you for the endurance you’ll need on test day. instead, use the following guidelines to make sure your environment is as test-like as possible.
- take the test in one sitting. it bears repeating—just doing a bunch of sample questions isn’t enough! yes, you really do need to take a full-length exam.
- pick the right place. it’s important to practice in a quiet, calm environment where you won’t be disturbed—just like on test day.
- time yourself. you won’t get an accurate sense of your current abilities on the lsat unless you stick to the official timing guidelines. there’s an official countdown timer on-screen that will tell you how long you have left in the current section.
- understand the differences between this free lsat practice test and the official exam. while the content on this free practice test is exactly like what you’ll see on the real deal, it’s important to note that on test day you won’t know which section is the experimental one. this preptest’s unscored section is the first reading comprehension section, but on test day, any of the section types (logical reasoning or reading comprehension) could appear as the unscored section.
review your lsat practice test
you’ve finished your free lsat practice test—congratulations! what now?
first, you’re probably most interested in the score you got after finishing your test. find out how your score stacks up by reviewing how the lsat scoring scale works and checking out average lsat scores at the top 100 law programs.
next, a lot of students leave their practice tests behind once they get their scores—but the highest-scoring students know that they can mine the test for even more information. magoosh has explanations for each of the practice test questions, so be sure to see why you missed the questions that you did. using this exam as an lsat diagnostic test will help you learn your strengths and enable you to target your weaknesses as you move forward.
click here for tips on reviewing your lsat practice test
here are a few ways to make the most of your review:
- log your errors, including the question types you got wrong.
- jot down how you’d prevent any timing/pacing issues from happening on your next lsat practice test. examples include running out of time on a section of the test, getting stuck and being unable to recover, or finishing with too much time in the end. (yes, the last one can happen!)
- if you were tripped up by unfamiliar words or concepts, incorporate them into flashcards.
- talk it out. if you did well on a particular question, explain to a study buddy, fellow students, or your tutor why the correct answer to that question is correct. this can help reinforce your thought process.
- give yourself a breather between this practice test and the next. spend some time, ideally a week, practicing the content you struggled with before moving on.
next steps in your studies
once you’ve taken the practice test and reviewed it, that’s it, right? it’s time for the real exam? well, if you absolutely crushed your practice test, by all means go and take the lsat right now! but more than likely, you’ll want to:
- plan on taking more than one practice test. you’ll want to take a few practice lsats to not only gain more experience with it, but to continue learning about your strengths and weaknesses. the more you learn about those, the easier it gets to figure out what to study next.
- continue to look for patterns in your responses. again, it should become clear after doing each of the section types two or three times where you need the most work. you’ll then know which specific types of questions you struggle with and can focus on skills and strategies for tackling those question types.
by permission of the law school admission council (lsac®), magoosh is pleased to be one of the most recommended and most affordable test prep providers to use official lsac questions in our lsat prep product. in fact, a magoosh subscription gives you:
- access to the lawhub advantage™ tests: all of lsac’s official released tests!
- this is all in addition to magoosh’s huge library of lsat video lessons and detailed explanations by experts, 6,000+ official practice problems, and targeted study schedules. we’re so sure that we can help you get the score you want on test day, we offer a 5-point score guarantee. you can try it out at no cost with a free trial, too!
faq
how many official lsat practice tests are there? how many lsat practice tests should i take?
there are nearly 60 numbered preptests from the lsac (and yes, a magoosh subscription does give you access to alllll of them!). but that doesn’t mean you need to—or even should—do one a day for the next two months!
a lot of it depends on how much time you have to study. for example, in our 3-month study schedule, we suggest taking 6 practice tests in addition to the free practice test above. if you have less time than that, then 6 tests may not be feasible. or if you have more time available to study, you can of course practice more. check out magoosh’s lsat study plans for expertly crafted study plans using these practice tests or adapt them to fit your own needs.
how long is the free lsat practice test?
the lsat practice test is 140 minutes long (two hours and twenty minutes) if you take all four multiple-choice sections (which we encourage you to do!). there’s a 10-minute break on the official exam between the second and third sections, so if you’re practicing under test-like conditions, include a break there, too. the actual lsat is a strictly timed test, so it’s important to work with actual time constraints as you practice—you don’t get a huge amount of time!
remember that you’ll submit the writing sample portion of the test separately for the official exam— there’s no need to work on it immediately following your practice test!
how predictive is this practice test score for the actual lsat?
this practice test contains actual lsat multiple-choice questions that appeared on official previous tests—so it’s pretty predictive. follow these test day tips for your best possible score on the official exam.
how much time do i need to prep for the lsat?
that’s exactly what an lsat practice test can help you figure out! how close are you to your score goals? how much study time do you have? when do you hope to enter law school? take a look at magoosh’s lsat study plans to see which one best fits into your life right now.
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