LSAT test structure and format
The LSAT consists of five 35-minute multiple-choice sections and a 35-minute Writing Sample section. Total testing time is 3 hours, 30 minutes. The Writing Sample is always administered last — after all multiple-choice sections. The Writing Sample is not scored but is provided to each school you designate as a score-report recipient.

Four of the multiple-choice sections count toward your LSAT score. The fifth multiple-choice section (the trial section) is not scored; the testing service includes this section to try out new questions, which may or may not appear in later versions of the exam. Here's the LSAT test format in a nutshell:

• Analytical Reasoning (23-24 questions, 35 min.)
• Reading comprehension  (28 questions, 35 min.)
• Logical Reasoning (25-26 questions, 35 min.)
• Logical Reasoning (25-26 questions, 35 min.)
• Unscored (Trial) Section (23-28 questions, 35 min.)
• Writing Sample (1 essay, 35 min.)

As you can see, the exam includes three different types of multiple-choice sections: Analytical Reasoning (one scored section), Reading Comprehension (one scored section), and Logical Reasoning (two scored sections). The unscored, trial section will look just like one of the three types of scored sections. Multiple-choice sections can appear in any order, not just the order shown above. 

The four types of exam sections
The LSAT includes four distinct section types: Analytical Reasoning, Reading Comprehension, Logical Reasoning, and a Writing Sample. Here's a brief description of each one:

Analytical Reasoning gauges your ability to understand a system of relationships and to draw appropriate conclusions about those relationships. These questions are presented in four groups, 5-8 questions per group. All questions in a group are based on the same premises and series of conditions. LSAT Analytical Reasoning sets are often referred to as logic games. 

Reading Comprehension gauges your ability to read carefully and accurately, to determine the relationships among the various parts of a passage, and to draw reasonable inferences from the material in the passage. The questions are presented in four groups, each group pertaining to the same passage of text. LSAT reading passages typically run 400 to 500 words in length (about one column of text in your test booklet), except that one of the four groups is based on two related passages, each one 200-250 words in length. LSAT reading passages are drawn from a broad array of academic subjects, ranging from the humanities, social sciences, and physical sciences to ethics, philosophy and law. No prior knowledge of the topic at hand is required; everything you need to know in order to answer the questions will be stated or implied in the passage. 

Logical Reasoning gauges your ability to understand, criticize, and draw reasonable conclusions from brief, one-paragraph arguments. Most of the questions involve inferential rather than deductive reasoning.

The Writing Sample gauges your ability to formulate a reasoned, persuasive argument; your ability to compose an organized, coherent essay; and your facility with the English language and the conventions of Standard Written English. You'll be given a prompt that presents two alternatives and asks you to compose an essay in which you argue for one alternative over the other. The Writing Sample is not scored but is provided to each school you designate as a score-report recipient.