With the August LSAT around the corner, a new testing year is officially here! Along with the return to in-person testing, students will also see several updates to the LSAT testing interface. Let’s break down the biggest changes and a few predictions about what you’ll see on test day.
August LSAT Changes
First off, let’s talk about the changes to the user interface that you’ll see on test day.
Highlighter and Underlining Changes
Gone are the highlighter and underline buttons. In their place, you’ll now highlight by dragging your cursor over what you’d like to highlight and selecting between some color options with a contextual menu that appears above your cursor. You will then either be able to highlight the text with your last selected highlighting option or you’ll be able to click a drop-down arrow that allows you to change the highlighting color.
You will have the same yellow, orange, and pink highlighting options as before, along with a blue option. Each highlighter option is also accompanied by its own form of underlining as well. However, you won’t be able to only underline.
Accessibility Changes
LSAC also added several new accessibility options for the August LSAT and beyond that allow for different colored texts and backgrounds. If testing on a computer is hard on your eyes, it’s worth checking out these options and selecting your text, spacing, font size, and zoom options so you have everything set up for test day.
Eliminating Answer Changes
To eliminate answers, you’ll also need to select the “Response Masking” option to the right of answer choices. Note that you’ll need to deselect “Response Masking” to then choose an answer choice, which can take some getting used to. You’ll still be able to flag questions as you used to, but there’s a new “Review” option that lets you see an overview of flagged, answered, and unanswered questions across the whole section.
If you haven’t had a chance to practice with these new highlighting tools and U.I. changes, I would strongly recommend taking at least a section of Logical Reasoning and Reading Comprehension in LawHub with these new options to get a feel for the differences.
Back To In-Person Testing
In addition to the digital changes, the LSAT is now going all in-person instead of offering remote testing as a standard option starting with the August LSAT. You’ll still be taking the test on computers with the new interface, but you’ll be provided with noise-suppressing headphones, a booklet of scratch paper, and will have in-person proctors walking you through the test-taking process.
Further Reading
💻 Your Guide to the 2026 LSAT Interface Updates
What Will Be on the 2026 August LSAT?
Reading Comprehension
While there will be some changes in how the test will look and function, the LSAT itself should largely remain the same.
You’ll get one scored Reading Comprehension section, which will consist of four passages. Generally, you can expect to get three passages with one author. As of January 2026, test takers might get a fourth single-author passage or a comparative passage that tasks you with describing the relationship between two passages. You also may get a second unscored RC section that could show up at any point in the exam. However, you won’t know which of the sections is experimental as you’re taking the test, so you’ll want to treat each section like the real thing.
Regardless of whether you end up getting comparative passages, you can expect a heavy dose of passages with multiple viewpoints. For these multi-viewpoint passages (antithesis, synthesis, or comparative passages), the majority of the questions you’ll encounter will be about the similarities and differences between the viewpoints. Try to get specific with what the debate is really centered on, which topics are within the scope of the various viewpoints, and what the underlying rationale or support for each viewpoint is.
More LSAT Help
🎨 Getting Through Brutally Difficult Reading Comp Passages About the Arts
⚖️ Getting Through Brutally Difficult Reading Comp Passages About the Law
🧬 Getting Through Brutally Difficult Reading Comp Passages About Science
Logical Reasoning
The Logical Reasoning Section should also stay relatively consistent with what you’ve seen on your recent practice tests. You’ll get two scored—and potentially a third unscored—Logical Reasoning sections. These sections will gradually ramp up in difficulty as you get further into the questions.
The first ten questions will be mostly easy. However, the LSAT pretty much always throws at least one curveball in those first 10 or so questions that is substantially tougher than the other questions at the start of the test. Don’t let this difficulty spike throw you off your game and roll with the punches. The LSAT wants to test your composure in the face of adversity or uncertainty.
So, try to focus on getting easy wins where you can on questions or answer choice elimination and don’t dwell on the unknowns. Play to your strengths and double down on process, strategy, and pattern recognition if you’re not sure where to go on a given question or section.
More LSAT Help
Final Thoughts
As you make your final preparations for the August LSAT, remember that the LSAT is a standardized test that is built around being fair and consistent from test to test. While it can be tough and some of the distinctions between right and wrong answers can be subtle, there’s always a method to the madness. Focus on pattern recognition, tiebreaking and elimination strategies, and spotting those dealbreakers in wrong answers if you’re stuck on a given question.
And don’t forget that each question is only worth one point. Be purposeful and assertive in your approach to questions and don’t let any one question bog you down. You don’t have to be perfect to thrive on test day. You just need to stay active and focused on the task at hand. If you can filter out the noise and apply strategies consistently, you’ll be able to tackle anything they can throw at you.
So, on test day, go out there and show what you’ve learned and the skills you’ve developed and mastered on test day!
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