LSAT entrance exam to be held online from June 14 due to COVID-19 lockdown

New Delhi: US-based The Law School Admission Council (LSAC) has decided to administer the 2020 LSAT-India entrance examination online for the first time ever from June 14 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

LSAC said LSAT-India, which was a paper-pencil test since its inception in 2009, becomes India's first and only Law Entrance Exam to be entirely online, AI-enabled remote-proctored.

The move to the online exam will enable candidates to take the test from the convenience of their home or other respective settings without worrying about their health and safety, it said in a statement.

Candidates seeking admission to law schools in the country will be able to take the LSAT-India from June 14, 2020, using an online test delivery system.

It said Pearson VUE, one of the leading players in computer-based testing in the world, administers this test as an Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled, online solution for aspirants to take their required college admissions tests in a safe manner, thereby overcoming the restrictions posed by the Covid-19 lockdown.

It is the first time in more than 25 years of existence of Pearson's Virtual University Enterprises (VUE) that an AI-enabled remote-proctored online solution has been made available in this format.

LSAC President and CEO Kellye Testy said, "The worldwide pandemic Covid-19 has clearly had a profound impact on how we live and on how business is conducted around the world. But we know, too, that it is acutely affecting the academic pursuits of millions of students everywhere.

"In order to safeguard the ability of Indian students to apply to law schools in India, we have partnered with Pearson VUE to offer students a technologically advanced entrance exam this year. The test delivery system has technical features that ensure the transparency, convenience, and integrity of the testing process, without sacrificing security," Kellye said.

The statement said students seeking admission to all programmes of Jindal Global Law School can take this exam at their own convenience from the safety of their homes or other settings to complete the admissions process in an efficient and timely manner.

C Raj Kumar, Founding Vice Chancellor, O.P. Jindal Global University (JGU) & Founding Dean, Jindal Global Law School (JGLS), said: "At a time when the global pandemic has created unprecedented uncertainty for all law entrance exams generating huge anxiety among law school aspirants, LSAT-India has given hope and aspiration by launching this exam in an online format.

"As a leading law school in the world, it is our endeavour at Jindal Global Law School to offer the best of educational opportunities to our valued students and that includes a world-class, transparent, fair and scientifically evolved online admission test," he said.

JGLS has opened its doors for admission to the class of 2020.

It offers four major degree programmes in law and legal studies -- 5-year BA/BBALLB Hons, 3-year LLB, 1-year LLM, and the 3-year BA (Hons) in Legal Studies programme.

Kumar said the AI-assisted remote-proctoring solution includes the recording of the candidate's examination for review with a view to protecting the integrity of the exam process.

"This is a technologically advanced admission solution, which allows students a seamless new system to complete the admissions process into the various courses of their choice," he said.

LSAT-India is a standardised test adopted as an admission criterion by multiple law colleges across India.

Each year, LSAC, headquartered in Pennsylvania, U.S.A. helps more than 60,000 law school candidates navigate the admission process and provides the essential admission software and data relied upon by more than 220-member law schools in the United States, Canada, and Australia.

More than 138,000 LSATs are administered annually at over 920 testing centres worldwide.

LSAC does not assess an applicant's chances for admission to any law school; all admission decisions are made by individual law schools.