How many times can you take the LSAT?
Under the retake policy LSAC publishes, five attempts within the current reportable score period and seven over a lifetime.
The fee is the same for repeat takers as for first-timers, and the law schools that receive your report see every reportable score you have.
Here is how the limits work, which score schools weigh, and when retaking the LSAT pays off.
How many times can you take it?
LSAC's retaking-the-LSAT policy sets two limits: five attempts within the current reportable score period — that is, since July 2021 — and seven attempts over a lifetime.
The first cap tracks the window your scores live in; the second is the lifetime ceiling.
The five-attempt cap is defined over that same reportable period, so the cutoff is the July 2021 date.
A result stays reportable for five testing years after the testing year in which it was earned, and testing years run July 1 to June 30.
Scores earned before July 2021 are no longer valid for law school admission and are not included in score reports — the same July 2021 date bounds the five-attempt count.
The fixed numbers, all from LSAC's published policy, in one place:
| Retake fact | What LSAC publishes |
|---|---|
| Attempts in the current reportable score period | 5 (since July 2021) |
| Lifetime attempts | 7 |
| Repeat-attempt fee | Same as a first attempt — $253 for the 2026–27 cycle |
| How long each score stays reportable | Five testing years after the testing year earned (July 1–June 30) |
What the policy does not do is schedule anything for you.
Which administration to target — and how a second sitting lines up with application rounds — is its own question: when to take the LSAT covers the timing.
Do schools see every score?
Yes.
Per LSAC, law schools receive all reportable LSAT scores — so retaking does not swap the new result for the old one in the file a school sees.
The new score arrives alongside everything else still inside the reportable window.
The exception sits at the window's far edge: scores earned before July 2021 are not considered valid for admission and are not included in score reports at all.
What a school does with a multi-score file is guided, not dictated, by LSAC.
LSAC advises law schools that a candidate's average LSAT score is the best predictor of their ability — and, on the same page, notes that some schools place more weight on the highest score.
The practical upshot for a retaker: no single score is erased, and no single score is guaranteed to be the one the school emphasizes.
One claim about ABA reporting rules is worth flagging because we can't confirm it: that the ABA requires schools to count only an applicant's highest score for reporting purposes, which would make the highest the number that officially matters.
The ABA's own materials weren't accessible when this page was researched, so we leave that claim out rather than repeat it as fact — what's above is what LSAC's own retaking page says.
Which score counts?
There is no universal answer in LSAC's published guidance, because LSAC advises schools rather than mandating a single score.
LSAC's advice to admissions offices is that the average is the best predictor of ability; the same materials acknowledge that some schools lean on the highest score instead.
Which way a given school leans is that school's own practice, and the sources this page draws on don't publish it as a rule.
The safe planning assumption is the conservative one: every reportable score is on the table.
A stronger second sitting adds a better number to the file — it does not subtract the weaker one.
That makes the retake question less "will they see the first score?" (they will) and more "will the new number move the average and give the highest-score schools something better to weigh?"
What any particular score is worth is a separate question from how many attempts you get.
How LSAT scores work explains the scoring scale and percentiles, and what counts as a good LSAT score takes up whether a number is strong enough for the schools on your list.
When does a retake make sense?
The best public starting point is LSAC's own figure: on average, test takers taking their second test in the same testing year raise their scores by 2 to 3 points.
That is an average over a population, not an outcome for your file — but it frames the decision.
A retake is a bet on a few points, paid for with a full-price registration and another stretch of prep.
Full price is literal: the LSAT costs the same for first-time and repeat test takers — $253 for the August 2026 through June 2027 cycle, a fee that includes LSAT Argumentative Writing.
Fee waivers change the math for the test takers who have one: an approved LSAC Tier 1 waiver covers up to two LSATs within the two-year waiver period, while a Tier 2 waiver does not include a retake at all.
Two deadline levers sit around each attempt.
A score can be cancelled within six calendar days of the test date — the default deadline, unless Score Preview was bought.
Score Preview — $46 if you buy it before the first test day, $87 after testing — stretches the decision to six calendar days after score release instead.
Both are deadlines about the result, not the registration: they set how long you have to decide whether to keep a score.
Between attempts, the prep is the part you control — LSAT prep courses, tutors and free options compares what's on offer before you pay for another sitting.
Career information for future law students — not legal advice. The retake limits, fees and cancellation windows described here are LSAC's published policy as of our October 2026 research; confirm the current terms with LSAC before you register for a retake.
Retake rules belong to LSAC — and they change