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How the LSAT Is Scored (120 to 180 Explained)
How the LSAT Is Scored (120 to 180 Explained)
How is the LSAT scored? The LSAT is scored on a 120 to 180 scale, according to LSAC, where 120 is the lowest and 180 the highest. Your raw score, the number of questions you answer correctly, is converted to that scale through statistical equating so a score means the same across test forms.
By Ali Unar, Georgetown Law, Founder of Lovare Institut. Ali Unar is a Georgetown Law student and the founder of Lovare Institut, an admissions and LSAT-prep practice built on primary-source law school data and more than 5,000 real application materials. Verified August 2026. Every fact on this page about how the LSAT is scored comes from LSAC's official pages on LSAT scoring, LSAT percentiles, and the August 2024 format change.
How is the LSAT scored?
The LSAT is scored by counting your correct answers into a raw score, then converting that raw score to the 120 to 180 scale, according to LSAC. There is no penalty for wrong answers, and statistical equating adjusts for small differences in difficulty so every LSAT score means the same thing.
How the LSAT is scored breaks into two steps. First, LSAC counts the number of questions you answered correctly across the scored sections to produce a raw score, with no deduction for wrong or blank answers, according to LSAC's LSAT scoring page. Second, LSAC runs that raw score through a statistical process called equating, which maps it onto the reported 120 to 180 scale.
The equating step is the reason the LSAT is scored the way it is. Because different test forms contain different questions, a raw score of one specific number could reflect a slightly easier or harder form. Equating adjusts for that so a given scaled LSAT score represents the same ability regardless of which form you sat, per LSAC. That is why LSAC does not publish one fixed raw-to-scaled table for all LSAT forms.
What is the LSAT score range?
The LSAT score range is 120 to 180, according to LSAC, with 120 the lowest possible score and 180 the highest. That is a 61-point scale. Every reported LSAT score falls somewhere on this 120 to 180 band, and where a score lands is best understood through its percentile.
The 120 to 180 LSAT score range is narrower than many standardized scales, which is part of why single points matter so much. According to LSAC's official percentile chart, moving from a 160 to a 170 within that range lifts you from above 71.06 percent of test-takers to above 94.48 percent. The compact 120 to 180 range means every point of LSAT score carries real weight in admissions.
Within the LSAT score range, the useful information is not the raw distance between scores but the percentile behind each one. A 180 is the top of the range and sits above 99.85 percent of test-takers on LSAC's percentile chart, while a 120 is the floor of the range at the 0.0 percentile. Most test-takers land in the middle of the 120 to 180 range, near the mid-150s, which LSAC's percentile chart places just above half the field.
What is a raw LSAT score?
A raw LSAT score is simply the number of questions you answered correctly on the scored sections, according to LSAC. There is no penalty for wrong answers on the LSAT, so a raw score never subtracts for a miss. That raw score is then converted to the 120 to 180 scaled score.
Because a raw LSAT score carries no penalty for wrong answers, the scoring math rewards answering every question. According to LSAC, an unanswered question and a wrong answer count the same, as zero credit, so leaving a question blank can only match or trail a guess, never beat it. The practical takeaway from how the raw LSAT score works is to mark an answer for every question before time is called.
The raw LSAT score is an intermediate number that test-takers never see on their score report. LSAC reports the scaled 120 to 180 score, not the raw count, because the raw score is only meaningful once equating has mapped it onto the common scale. This is also why comparing raw scores across different LSAT forms is not useful, and why LSAC does not publish a single raw-to-scaled conversion for every form.
How does the LSAT convert raw scores to the 120 to 180 scale?
The LSAT converts a raw score to the 120 to 180 scale through statistical equating, according to LSAC. Equating adjusts for slight differences in difficulty between test forms so that a given scaled score reflects the same ability on every form. Because forms differ, LSAC publishes no single fixed conversion table.
Equating is the technical heart of how the LSAT is scored. LSAC statistically links each new form to past forms so that a scaled LSAT score of a given number demands the same level of performance no matter which form a test-taker received, according to LSAC's LSAT scoring page. A slightly harder form can require a few fewer correct answers to reach the same scaled score, and a slightly easier form a few more.
This is why a chase for a fixed conversion chart misses the point. LSAC does not publish one raw-to-scaled table because the mapping changes by form, per LSAC. Some prep materials print approximate conversions for individual practice tests, but those are specific to a single form and are not an official LSAC conversion for the LSAT as a whole. The honest way to read the LSAT is by the reported 120 to 180 score and its percentile.
What sections are on the LSAT since August 2024?
Since August 2024, the LSAT has four 35-minute multiple-choice sections, according to LSAC: three scored sections, which are two Logical Reasoning sections and one Reading Comprehension section, plus one unscored variable section that pilots future questions. Analytical Reasoning, the Logic Games, was removed, and the last test with Logic Games was June 2024.
The August 2024 format is central to how the LSAT is scored today. According to LSAC, the three scored sections, two Logical Reasoning and one Reading Comprehension, are the only sections that feed your raw score, while the fourth section, an unscored variable section, looks identical to a scored section but pilots questions for future tests and does not count. Test-takers cannot reliably tell which section is the unscored one.
The removal of Analytical Reasoning, long known as the Logic Games, is the headline change. LSAC confirms the last LSAT to include Logic Games was June 2024, and every LSAT from August 2024 forward replaces that section with a second scored Logical Reasoning section. There is also a separate LSAT Argumentative Writing sample, completed on its own and unscored, which is not part of the 120 to 180 score at all, according to LSAC.
How many questions can you miss on the LSAT?
How many questions you can miss on the LSAT for a given score is not something LSAC publishes, because LSAC does not release exact per-section or total scored-question counts. This guide will not print an invented count. A non-official estimate puts the scored questions at roughly 75 to 76, but the exact number is not official.
The honest answer to how many questions you can miss on the LSAT is that it depends on the form and is not published precisely. Because LSAC uses equating and does not release a fixed raw-to-scaled table, the number of misses that still yields a 170 shifts slightly from form to form, according to LSAC's description of LSAT scoring. Anyone who quotes a single exact miss count for a target score is generalizing, not citing official LSAC data.
What can be said honestly is directional. Since the LSAT has three scored sections since August 2024 and LSAC does not publish the total, a widely used non-official estimate is roughly 75 to 76 scored questions, but this guide flags that as an estimate rather than an official LSAC count. Because there is no penalty for wrong answers, the safe strategy regardless of the exact total is to answer every question, since a miss and a blank cost the same on the LSAT.
What do LSAT percentiles mean?
An LSAT percentile is the share of test-takers who scored below a given LSAT score, according to LSAC's official percentile chart. A 160 at the 71.06 percentile means about 71 percent of test-takers scored lower. Percentiles turn a raw 120 to 180 number into a ranking of where an LSAT score stands.
LSAT scorePercent of test-takers who scored below18099.85%17598.72%17498.24%17094.48%16585.17%16071.06%15554.03%15036.56%14521.48%14011.0%1200.0%
Source: LSAC's official LSAT percentile chart, covering the 2023-24 through 2025-26 testing years.
The percentile table shows how compressed the top of the LSAT is. According to LSAC's official percentile chart, a 170 sits above 94.48 percent of test-takers, a 174 above 98.24 percent, and a 180 above 99.85 percent, so the last ten points of the scale separate the field far more sharply than the middle ten. This is why a few points of LSAT score near the top move a percentile so much.
Percentiles also give the clearest read on how the LSAT is scored relative to other people. A 150 sits above 36.56 percent of test-takers and a 155 above 54.03 percent on LSAC's percentile chart, which locates the middle of the field just under a 155. When a score report shows both your scaled LSAT score and its percentile, the percentile is the number that tells you where you rank.
Is the LSAT curved?
The LSAT is not curved in the classroom sense, according to how LSAC describes scoring. Your LSAT score is not ranked against the people who took your exact test on your test day. Instead, statistical equating adjusts for form difficulty in advance, so a scaled LSAT score means the same thing on every form.
The word curve confuses a lot of test-takers, so it is worth being precise about how the LSAT is scored. A true curve would grade you against the other people who sat the same test, so a strong test-day cohort would lower your score. The LSAT does not work that way. According to LSAC, equating ties each form back to a common scale before test day, so your LSAT score reflects your performance against that fixed standard, not against your test-day peers.
What people often call the LSAT curve is really the equating adjustment. Because a slightly harder form is equated to require a few fewer correct answers for the same scaled score, it can feel like a generous curve, but the mechanism is difficulty adjustment, not peer ranking, per LSAC. The result is that an LSAT score of a given number is meant to be directly comparable across administrations and years.
Does the LSAT writing sample affect your score?
No. The LSAT Argumentative Writing sample does not affect your 120 to 180 score, according to LSAC. It is completed separately and is unscored, though it is sent to law schools with your file. Your reported LSAT score comes only from the scored Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension sections.
Because the LSAT writing sample is unscored, it plays no part in how the 120 to 180 LSAT score is calculated. According to LSAC, the Argumentative Writing sample is taken on its own, outside the four multiple-choice sections, and it does not add to or subtract from your scaled score. What it does do is give admissions readers a sample of your unedited written argument, which is why it still reaches law schools.
So the writing sample matters for admissions without touching your LSAT score. According to LSAC, the Argumentative Writing sample is completed separately and provided to law schools, but it is unscored, so each school reads it as a writing sample rather than as part of the 120 to 180 result. In short, the LSAT writing sample is part of your application record, not part of how the LSAT is scored.
What is a good LSAT score on the 120 to 180 scale?
A good LSAT score on the 120 to 180 scale is one at or above the median of your target law schools. As a general read, LSAC's percentile chart shows a 170 above 94.48 percent of test-takers, which is competitive for the most selective schools, while the mid-150s sit near the middle of all test-takers.
Although this page focuses on how the LSAT is scored, the natural next question is what score to aim for, and the answer ties back to percentiles. LSAC's official percentile chart shows a 160 above 71.06 percent of test-takers and a 165 above 85.17 percent, useful mile-markers when you compare your LSAT score against a target school's median. A good LSAT score is always relative to where you are applying.
Read the scale this way and the 120 to 180 number stops being abstract. A 175 sits above 98.72 percent of test-takers on LSAC's percentile chart, so it is a top-end LSAT score for any school, while a 150, above 36.56 percent, is a workable score for a range of programs. The scoring system exists to place each LSAT score precisely on that shared 120 to 180 continuum so schools can compare applicants fairly.
What else do people ask about how the LSAT is scored?
People ask a lot of specific questions about how the LSAT is scored, from the highest possible score to whether wrong answers hurt. The short answers below rely only on LSAC's official pages on LSAT scoring, LSAT percentiles, and the August 2024 format change used throughout this guide to how the LSAT is scored.
How is the LSAT scored?
The LSAT is scored by converting your raw score, the number of questions you answered correctly, onto a 120 to 180 scale through statistical equating, according to LSAC. There is no penalty for wrong answers. Equating makes a given LSAT score mean the same thing across different test forms, which is why LSAC publishes no single fixed raw-to-scaled table.
What is the highest LSAT score?
The highest LSAT score is 180, the top of the 120 to 180 scale, according to LSAC. On LSAC's official percentile chart, a 180 sits above 99.85 percent of test-takers, making it the rarest LSAT score. A 180 requires near-flawless performance on the scored Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension sections.
What is the lowest LSAT score?
The lowest LSAT score is 120, the floor of the 120 to 180 scale, according to LSAC. On LSAC's official percentile chart, a 120 sits at the 0.0 percentile, meaning essentially no test-takers score below it. Because there is no penalty for wrong answers, answering every question helps keep an LSAT score above that floor.
How many questions can you miss on the LSAT?
LSAC does not publish exact scored-question counts, so there is no official number of questions you can miss on the LSAT for a given score, and this guide will not invent one. Because of equating, the misses allowed for a target score shift by form. A non-official estimate puts the scored questions near 75 to 76, but that figure is not official LSAC data.
What is a raw LSAT score?
A raw LSAT score is the number of questions you answered correctly on the scored sections, with no penalty for wrong answers, according to LSAC. The raw LSAT score is then converted to the 120 to 180 scaled score through equating. Test-takers see the scaled score on their report, not the raw score.
What does an LSAT percentile mean?
An LSAT percentile is the percentage of test-takers who scored below a given LSAT score, according to LSAC's official percentile chart. For example, a 160 is at the 71.06 percentile, so about 71 percent of test-takers scored lower. Percentiles show where an LSAT score ranks within the full field of test-takers.
Is the LSAT curved?
The LSAT is not curved against your test-day cohort. According to LSAC, statistical equating adjusts each form for difficulty in advance, so your LSAT score is not lowered by a strong group on your test date. What some call the LSAT curve is really the equating adjustment that keeps a scaled score consistent across forms.
How many sections does the LSAT have?
Since August 2024, the LSAT has four 35-minute multiple-choice sections, according to LSAC: two scored Logical Reasoning sections, one scored Reading Comprehension section, and one unscored variable section that pilots future questions. A separate, unscored Argumentative Writing sample is completed on its own and does not add to the four sections.
Are Logic Games still on the LSAT?
No. Analytical Reasoning, known as the Logic Games, was removed from the LSAT, and the last test to include Logic Games was June 2024, according to LSAC. Every LSAT from August 2024 forward replaces Logic Games with a second scored Logical Reasoning section, so Logic Games no longer affect how the LSAT is scored.
Is the LSAT writing sample scored?
No. The LSAT Argumentative Writing sample is unscored and does not affect your 120 to 180 LSAT score, according to LSAC. It is completed separately and sent to law schools, which read it as a writing sample. Only the scored Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension sections determine your LSAT score.
How many scored questions are on the LSAT?
LSAC does not publish the exact number of scored questions on the LSAT, so this guide will not state one as fact. The scored questions come from two Logical Reasoning sections and one Reading Comprehension section. A non-official estimate places the total near 75 to 76 scored questions, but LSAC does not confirm a precise count.
Does a wrong answer hurt your LSAT score?
No. A wrong answer does not hurt your LSAT score, because the LSAT has no penalty for incorrect answers, according to LSAC. A wrong answer and a blank count the same, as zero credit. That is why the smart approach to how the LSAT is scored is to answer every question, even if the last few are guesses.
What is LSAT score equating?
LSAT score equating is the statistical process LSAC uses to convert a raw score to the 120 to 180 scale so that a given scaled score means the same thing on every form, according to LSAC. Equating adjusts for small differences in form difficulty, which is why LSAC does not publish one fixed raw-to-scaled conversion table.
Sources
Every fact in this guide to how the LSAT is scored is drawn from the primary LSAC sources named here, so readers can verify each point about how the LSAT is scored directly.
LSAC on LSAT scoring, the 120 to 180 scale, raw scores, and equating: https://www.lsac.org/lsat/lsat-scoring
LSAC on the August 2024 LSAT format, including the removal of Logic Games: https://www.lsac.org/blog/what-to-expect-starting-with-august-2024-lsat
LSAC official LSAT percentile chart, covering the 2023-24 through 2025-26 testing years: https://www.lsac.org/data-research/data/lsat-percentiles