The era of taking the LSAT from a bedroom desk or kitchen table is coming to an end.
Beginning in August, the Law School Admission Test — the gatekeeper exam for aspiring lawyers in the United States and abroad — will return almost entirely to brick-and-mortar testing centers. After the June sitting, the online option disappears, except for candidates facing limited medical issues or significant geographic obstacles.
The decision is rooted in a single word: integrity.
The exam’s administrators say they already deploy extensive safeguards before, during and after each test. But they now argue that physical testing centers provide a stronger line of defense against misconduct. In-person proctoring, they believe, adds friction for anyone tempted to game the system.
Remote testing was born of necessity in 2020, when the pandemic shut down test centers worldwide. What began as an emergency workaround evolved into a permanent option. By 2023, students could choose between logging in from home or sitting for the exam under fluorescent lights at a designated site.
Many preferred the couch. In January, 39% of test takers still opted to go online, while 61% chose test centers.
But the convenience came at a cost.
Concerns over organized cheating have been simmering for months, particularly after reports of widespread misconduct linked to mainland China. Last year, the council suspended the online LSAT in China following allegations of systemic abuse. Offers circulating on Chinese-language social media reportedly promised illicit assistance — in some cases costing thousands of dollars.
Security experts describe increasingly sophisticated tactics: hired test-takers memorizing questions for resale, hidden high-definition cameras capturing exam content, even remote access schemes where outsiders allegedly take control of a candidate’s computer mid-test.
Test preparation companies had been pressing for a rollback of the online format, warning that vulnerabilities in one region can ripple across the entire admissions ecosystem. If exam content leaks anywhere, they argue, trust erodes everywhere.
Beyond cheating, there were technical headaches. According to the council, most score holds tied to glitches or proctoring problems stemmed from remote administrations — another factor nudging the organization back toward traditional testing rooms.
For future law students, the message is clear: sharpen your pencils — metaphorically, at least — and plan your route to the nearest testing center. The LSAT’s pandemic experiment in remote access is closing its final chapter, replaced by a renewed bet on old-fashioned, in-person oversight.
