The unsuccessful attempt

While most social workers pass the ASWB licensing examinations on their first try, some do not. It is disappointing to score below the passing mark, but it is possible to succeed on a subsequent attempt.

You won’t be able to review your exam.

The examination itself cannot be used as a study aid for test-takers to use in preparing for a later attempt. And because test-takers receive a different version of the exam on their next attempt, it is highly unlikely that the same questions would appear again. Review of your score report can be completed on PSI portal.

All ASWB examination questions are monitored to ensure that there is nothing in the content that would provide an advantage to one demographic group over another. This evaluation occurs during the pretest phase—before questions are included in the scored question bank—and continues while they are used as scored questions.

Companies claiming to be Study guides for exam.

Preparation materials may create inaccurate expectations.

Preparation companies want to convince you that they have special insight into the ASWB examination process, but no company has special access to the ASWB examinations. Some may supply practice questions that bear little resemblance to actual ASWB examination questions, leading to an unhappy surprise on exam day.

The goal of educational degree programs is to prepare students for practice throughout their social work careers.

Social work degree programs and the licensing examinations have overlapping but separate objectives. Graduating from an accredited social work program does not guarantee a passing score on the licensing exam. Likewise, passing the licensing examination is not a demonstration of all knowledge gained during a complete education in social work.

Licensing exams have a public protection purpose: They assess whether an individual is ready to begin practicing social work safely, ethically, and competently. ASWB recognizes the important role social work programs have in preparing students for practice. And the association and its members are committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. To increase access to exam resources for all, the association is offering educators a collection of resources on the exam and on candidate performance.

These resources include:

• Free aggregate examination performance data on graduates, including sub score data on performance on the major content areas to help programs understand where their graduates are excelling and where more education may be needed.

• An online training for educators on how to develop questions like those on the ASWB examinations.

• An updated list of core references based on a survey of social work educators across the United States and Canada

• A new resource, the Educator Guide to the Social Work Exams with group review practice questions, designed so educators can help students understand exam questions.

Examination scores and administration policies cannot be adjusted.

ASWB does not adjust examination scores to account for individual circumstances, nor does the association alter policies around test administration, including issues such as proper identification, appointment times, and how technical problems are addressed.

You need to obtain a passing score for the entire examination.

There is no option to combine the content areas that you scored well on to obtain a passing score. Similarly, there is no option to retake only certain portions of the examination.

With board approval, you may be able to retake the exam.

• To retake the exam, you must: Wait 90 days before your next testing appointment.

• Test-takers who are within 10 points of the passing score may request a waiver of the standard 90-day waiting period.

• Contact ASWB’s Candidate Services Center to find out whether you need further approval from your social work board to retake the exam.

• If you have nonstandard testing arrangements, the candidate services representative can tell you whether the arrangements are still valid.

• Wait seven to ten days after your last exam before registering again.

• Register with ASWB and pay the exam fee.

  • Note: Some licensing boards limit the number of times a test-taker may retake an ASWB exam. Learn more about next steps after an unsuccessful attempt at an ASWB exam.