The Bocconi Law test for Giurisprudenza and Global Law: structure, scoring, attempts and the LSAT

Bocconi’s test for Giurisprudenza (the Italian-language law degree) and Global Law (the English-language one) is not the test taken by Economics applicants: it has the same basic format but a different composition, with very little maths and a lot of logic. This guide reconstructs from Bocconi’s official pages how it is built, how the score is computed, how many attempts you get, which windows are published for 2027/28 and what role the LSAT plays. Whatever we could not verify is declared as such.

The information was read on 29 October 2026 and applies to the 2027/28 academic year.

Who it is for and how it differs from the standard test

The Law test is for applicants to Giurisprudenza (in Italian, 240 places) and Global Law (in English, 80 places). It does not apply to other degrees: those use the standard test, covered in our guide to preparing for the Bocconi test. The difference is all in the composition:

The time is the same, 75 minutes in a single sitting with one timer. If you come from a standard-test preparation, the maths you studied weighs a fifth of what you thought, and your score depends much more on how you reason about texts and arguments.

Structure: the five areas

Mathematics (5 questions). Plane and analytic geometry, sets, numbers and percentages. Bocconi specifies that there is no algebra, probability or statistics: a useful indication, because it removes half of what is usually studied for the standard test.

Reading comprehension (11 questions). The page speaks of «11 passages», but the total of 50 questions implies 11 questions. The passages are more discursive and humanistic than those of the standard test: education, history, philosophy, geography.

Numerical reasoning (6 questions). As in the standard test: data, tables, percentages, ratios, estimates.

Logic and critical thinking (18 questions). The heaviest area: 36 % of the test. It covers argumentation, hidden assumptions, strengthening or weakening a line of reasoning, deduction.

Verbal reasoning (10 questions). Bocconi gives the number but, on the pages we read, does not detail the question types: everything we say about the content of this area is a working hypothesis, not a verified fact.

Bocconi describes the level as designed «in line with the SAT»; we have not read official public past papers beyond the online simulation on Bocconi’s site (not downloadable).

Scoring, threshold and attempts

• +1 for each correct answer, 0 for each blank, −0.2 for each wrong one;
• −0.33 for wrong answers on critical thinking questions with three options;
• minimum 17/50 after penalties to enter the ranking;
• four attempts per type of test per academic year, not on the same day or on consecutive days;
• 60 euro per attempt;
• result after about 48 hours;
• score reports and practice tests from earlier years do not count;
• the ranking combines 55 % test and 45 % average of the two school years before the last one.

Bocconi also states that you can choose how many and which questions to attempt: blanks cost nothing.

Negative-marking strategy, with the calculation

Answering a question has a positive expected value only if your probability of being right exceeds a certain threshold. With $p$ the probability of being right and penalty $q$:

With the general penalty $q=0.2$ the threshold is

With the penalty on three-option critical thinking questions $q=0.33$:

In practice: the Law test’s penalty is mild: you only need to be a little above one in six (one in four in critical thinking) for answering to pay. If you can rule out even one option for a reason, the answer almost always pays. One caution: the number of options on questions other than critical thinking is not stated on the pages we read, so we cannot calculate what a purely random answer is worth; the right reasoning is always about your estimated probability, never «it’s random anyway».

The other constraint is the net threshold of 17/50. An example: 20 correct and 10 wrong (general penalty) give $20-10\cdot 0.2=18$, above the threshold. But 20 correct and 30 wrong (50 questions in all) give $20-30\cdot 0.2=14$, below it: answering everything without criteria can cost you a place in the ranking. Knowing how many correct answers you need and how much you can risk is half the strategy: calculate your target number of correct answers before you sit the test.

Windows and dates

The sessions are those of the Bocconi test for 2027/28, read on the official pages on 29 October 2026 (the same row as in our university tests calendar):

• applicants with an Italian qualification: attempt booking from 13 July 2026 to 20 April 2027; Early session with applications 2-29 September 2026 (last test 24 September, already over); Winter with applications 25 November 2026 to 26 January 2027 (last test 21 January 2027); Spring with applications 8-27 April 2027 (last test 22 April 2027);
• international applicants: booking from 13 July 2026 to 19 January 2027, Early and Winter sessions only, no Spring; for Winter the last usable test is 21 January 2027.

The test must be booked at least 48 hours ahead. The platform has scheduled closures (for example 17 December 2026 to 1 January 2027 and 22 January to 9 February 2027): check the dates on the site before planning your last attempt, because with 4 attempts and windows like these, starting late means no plan B.

The LSAT as an alternative

For the law area Bocconi also accepts the LSAT (the American law-school test run by LSAC):

• minimum score 147/180;
• the LSAT Writing part is not assessed;
• conversion into a ranking score uses internal percentile tables that are not public.

We have not read the structure of the LSAT from the organisation’s own source (LSAC), so we do not describe it: that would mean copying from aggregators. We only know what Bocconi says about it (role, minimum, Writing excluded). On the SAT, Bocconi’s page says SAT and ACT are accepted «for every programme» and reserves the Law test and LSAT for the law area: whether the SAT is enough for Giurisprudenza and Global Law, and with which thresholds, is not detailed in the text we read and remains unverified. For the general SAT thresholds see our guide to the digital SAT.

How to prepare, area by area

Mathematics (5 questions). With a single area of five questions and a declared perimeter (no algebra, probability or statistics), preparation is short: a week on the basics of plane and analytic geometry, sets and percentages. An original example: «A rectangle has perimeter 36 and its long side is twice its short side. What is its area?» With sides $a$ and $2a$ the perimeter is $6a=36$, so $a=6$ and the area is $6\cdot 12=72$. Short calculations, no traps: the difference is not making sign errors and checking units. For exercises of this kind see the collection on Bocconi test maths.

Reading comprehension (11 questions). Humanistic passages reward those who can tell what the text says from what you think. Practise with history, philosophy and education texts, and for every question ask where in the passage the sentence justifying your answer is: if you cannot find it, the answer is wrong even if it is true.

Numerical reasoning (6 questions). Percentages, ratios, tables. The part most similar to the standard test: you can reuse all the material you already have.

Logic and critical thinking (18 questions). The area the result depends on. An original example: «All rules passed by a qualified majority were discussed in committee. This rule was discussed in committee. Therefore it was passed by a qualified majority.» The reasoning is invalid: from «A implies B» and «B» it does not follow that «A». Spotting this structure (affirming the consequent) at once solves a whole family of questions. Then: hidden assumptions (what must be true for the conclusion to hold?), strengthening and weakening (which fact changes the strength of the argument?), correct negation («not all» is not «none»). A good base is our article on logical reasoning in admission tests: the questions are of the same type even though the test is a different one.

Verbal reasoning (10 questions). As the source does not detail it, the advice is cautious: treat this area as an extension of comprehension and logic (relations between words, coherence of a text), train it with varied questions and, as soon as Bocconi or an official sample describes the format, adapt your preparation.

The existing Bocconi practice test: what it covers and what it does not

On the site you will find the Bocconi test practice: it covers the standard test (maths 24, reading 11, numerical 6, critical thinking 9), not the Law test. It can still help with reading, numerical and logic, but it does not mirror the composition of the Law test: keep in mind that in the Law test maths weighs much less and logic much more. We do not (yet) have a practice test specific to the Law test or the LSAT.

Three mistakes to avoid

1. Preparing only on the standard test. Anyone who spends weeks on algebra and statistics for the Law test is preparing a part of the test that does not exist.
2. Ignoring the critical thinking −0.33. With three options the penalty is higher and the break-even rises to 25 %: if you do not even have a reason to discard one option, it is not a question to guess.
3. Waiting for the last window. Four attempts are not many when the useful sessions are few and the platform has closures: it pays to take the first attempt early to measure where you stand.

What we do not know yet

On 29 October 2026 the following is not published or not verified: the structure of the LSAT according to LSAC; the question types of verbal reasoning; the number of options on questions other than critical thinking; the conversion of the LSAT into the ranking; the composition of the test for academic years after 2027/28. We update the article and the «Verified on…» note at the top when the sources change.

The simplest plan

1. Now: a timed 75-minute run, even on mixed material, to see where you lose time and points; the logic part is the one to measure.
2. In the following weeks: work at volume on the heavy areas (logic 18, reading 11, verbal 10) and keep maths short.
3. Before the first attempt: calculate your target number of correct answers to stay above 17/50 with a margin, and decide an order for solving.
4. Before booking: check Bocconi’s site for windows, platform closures and fee.

If you are unsure whether to prepare alone or with a guide, the free introductory call is for exactly that: in half an hour we look at where you start and what makes sense. For the overall picture of university tests there is the admission tests page; if you are choosing between Economics tests, read also the comparison of Bocconi and TOLC-E and the Winter Session dates.