How long are LSAT scores good for? Five testing years, counted oddly

This question matters most to two people: someone deciding whether to sit the test before they are sure they want to go to law school, and someone coming back to an application they abandoned. Both are usually working from a wrong number.

The rule

Read the counting carefully, because it is not five years from your test date. It is five testing years AFTER the testing year you tested in — so the year you sat the test is not one of the five. In practice that is generous, and it is longer than most people assume.

Why July matters

Because the testing year boundary is July, a test in June and a test in August sit in different testing years despite being weeks apart. The June one starts its clock a full year earlier.

Nobody should choose a test date on this basis alone — being ready matters incomparably more than a boundary you will probably never reach. But if you are genuinely torn between two adjacent dates and you think there is a real chance you defer law school for a few years, the later side of the July line is the cheaper option.

What expiry actually means

An expired score is not deleted from your life; it stops being reportable, which means law schools no longer receive it. If you come back after the window has closed, you are starting from no score, and you take the test again.

That is worth knowing before you sit the test as a hedge. A score earned years before you are ready to apply may quietly stop counting, and the attempt it consumed does not come back with it.

The interaction people miss

The take limit and the reporting window are tied together — the five-in-a-period limit is counted against the same reportable period. So an early, speculative attempt costs you twice: once out of a finite number of takes, and again if the score ages out before you use it.