The September 2026 LSAT: Dates, Deadlines, and What to Expect

The September 2026 LSAT® runs Wednesday, September 9 through Saturday, September 12, 2026, and it is administered in person at Prometric test centers for nearly all test takers. Registration closes Tuesday, July 28, 2026, at 11:59 p.m. ET, and scores are released Wednesday, September 30, 2026, at 9 a.m. ET.

September matters for one practical reason right now: it is the next administration still open for new registration. August registration closed on June 25, 2026, with no late window, so if you have not yet registered for a 2026 test, September is the earliest date you can still book. The July 28 deadline is a receipt deadline, LSAC must have your registration by 11:59 p.m. ET that night.

This guide covers the September deadlines, the fee schedule for date changes and refunds, how test-center scheduling works, and how to use the weeks between now and test day. September is the second administration under LSAC's in-person requirement; for the background on that change, see the 2026 LSAT in-person testing changes.

Key dates for the September 2026 LSAT®

LSAC's published schedule for September 2026, in order:

All deadlines are Eastern Time receipt deadlines, 11:59 p.m. ET unless a time is listed. Test takers with an approved remote exception have until Sunday, September 6 to schedule; everyone else books an in-center appointment by September 2.

Is the September 2026 LSAT® in person?

Yes. The multiple-choice LSAT® is administered at Prometric test centers, on an assigned test station with a center-provided computer, and proctored in person by Prometric. The separate LSAT Argumentative Writing component is administered remotely by ProctorU, so the writing sample is the one part you still complete from home. Plan the test day itself around roughly three hours of testing under standard conditions, and allow up to five hours end to end.

Remote testing for the 2026–2027 cycle is exception-only, limited to documented cases such as approved accommodations that require remote delivery and extreme distance from a center with capacity; who can still take the LSAT remotely in 2026 covers the categories and the request process. Everyone else tests at a center.

Registration, changes, and refunds

Registration for September closes at the July 28 deadline, and the fee is $253. The same date is the deadline for accommodation requests and the last day to withdraw with a full refund. There is no late-registration window, the same rule that closed August on June 25: when July 28 passes, September is closed to new registrants.

If you register and your plans change, the fee schedule for September test-date changes runs in three windows:

• Through July 28, 2026: test-date changes are free, and withdrawing returns the full $253.
• July 29 through August 4, 2026: a test-date change costs $153.
• August 5 through September 8, 2026: a test-date change costs $253.

The practical takeaway is the shape of that schedule: every September decision is free until July 28 and gets progressively more expensive after. If you want a September score but are not certain you will be ready, registering now costs you nothing you cannot recover, waiting past July 28 closes the door entirely.

Scheduling your test center

Registering with LSAC reserves your place in the administration, it does not book your seat. You schedule the actual appointment (center, day, and time) yourself through Prometric's ProScheduler tool, or by phone with Prometric. For September, scheduling opens Tuesday, August 25, 2026, and closes Wednesday, September 2 for in-center appointments. LSAC emails registrants when their window opens, and the window also appears on the LSAT Status page in your JD Services account.

Sessions are first come, first served by availability at your preferred center, and appointments can be modified starting at 11 a.m. ET the day after scheduling opens. For how Prometric centers work and what to weigh when choosing one, see LSAT testing centers in 2026.

August or September?

For new registrants the question is settled. August registration closed Thursday, June 25, 2026, with no late window, so September is the first administration you can still register for. The August test, the first under the in-person requirement, runs August 5 through 8 with scores on August 26; if you want the details on that sitting, see whether the August 2026 LSAT is online or in person.

If you are already registered for August and doubting your readiness, you can still move your date. LSAC's change fees for August registrants are $153 through July 2, 2026, and $253 from July 3 through August 4. Moving to September buys five more weeks of preparation, and deciding before July 3 saves $100. Both administrations are the same test on the same 120–180 scale, changing dates changes when you sit, not what you take.

Preparing between now and September

The first September test day is roughly ten weeks from the start of July, a workable runway if the weeks go to the right things. The test itself is unchanged: two scored Logical Reasoning sections, one scored Reading Comprehension section, and one unscored variable section, 35 minutes each, with a 10-minute intermission between the second and third sections. What is new for most test takers is the room.

The compressed-timeline advice in how to prepare for the August 2026 LSAT applies unchanged to September: drill the question types where you actually lose points rather than stacking full tests, and shift your later practice tests into test-center-like conditions, a library study room, an unfamiliar laptop, ambient noise you do not control. The goal is to make sure the Prometric room is not a new variable on the highest-stakes day of your prep. Practice on the new LawHub interface as well: the September test runs on it, on a center-provided computer rather than your own machine.

Two logistics items are worth handling early. First, LSAT Argumentative Writing opens Tuesday, September 1, and score release requires a completed writing sample on file and no holds on your account (first-time test takers must complete Writing before their score can be released). Finishing it in the first week protects your September 30 release date. Second, check your ID now: admittance requires a physical passport or a government-issued photo ID from the U.S., a U.S. Territory, or Canada, with a first and last name that exactly match your LSAC account, and watches of any kind are banned in the testing room. What to bring to the in-person LSAT covers the full admittance, allowed-items, and prohibited-items lists.

If September does not fit

The 2026–2027 cycle has eight administrations, so September is a choice, not a last chance. Registration for the whole cycle opened May 19, 2026, and the fall alternatives are already bookable:

October's test-center scheduling runs Tuesday, September 22 through Wednesday, September 30, and the cycle continues after November with January, February, April, and June 2027 administrations. One number worth weighing before you defer: October's first test day is only four weeks after September's, so waiting buys less runway than it feels like, while the registration deadline moves a full month later, to August 27.

Turn each practice test into data

A fixed test date turns your remaining practice tests into a countable resource, each one is a diagnostic you cannot get back. In a ten-week window, the habit that moves scores is not taking more tests, it is extracting everything from the ones you take: reviewing each test properly and tracking your accuracy by question type so the next week of drilling targets the points you are actually losing.

ScoreGap automates the tracking half. The Chrome extension reads your LawHub score reports and builds the wrong-answer journal and question-type breakdown for you, so your review time goes to the reasoning, not the transcription. It is free to start and works alongside whatever prep materials you are already using between now and September 9.