ASWB Exam Candidate Handbook - Candidate Handbook 2020 - Exam Registration and Format

Sep 21, 2026

ASWB Exam Candidate Handbook provides guidance for candidates seeking licensure as social workers through ASWB testing. It explains the exam’s multiple-choice structure, including pretest items, scoring approach, and Pearson VUE computer administration features such as navigation, marking, skipping, and reviewing. The handbook also details exam development, fairness and statistical sensitivity review, major exam categories by education and setting, and a step-by-step process for applying, registering and paying, and scheduling a testing appointment.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryExam

FormatPDF

Pages20

Reading Time50 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

About the exams

Steps for taking the exam

Test day

After the exam

ASWB EXAM CANDIDATE HANDBOOK ©2020, Association of Social Work Boards TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction .................................................................................................................................. Page 2 About the exams ......................................................................................................................... Page 3 Steps for taking the exam ...................................................................................................... Page 5 Step 1: Apply for a license with your social work board ........................ Page 6 Step 2: Register and pay for your exam with ASWB ............................... Page 8 Step 3: Schedule your testing appointment with Pearson VUE ..... Page 10 Test day .......................................................................................................................................... Page 12 After the exam ........................................................................................................................... Page 18 INTRODUCTION Congratulations on your efforts to become a licensed social worker. As you work through the requirements involved in applying for and receiving your state or provincial license, remember that what you are doing is important, both to you and to the people you will serve. The ASWB Exam Candidate Handbook is designed to help you register for and take an ASWB social work licensing examination. ASWB SUPPORTS SOCIAL WORK BOARDS BY PROVIDING LICENSING EXAMS | Social work board in your state or province
Regulates the practice of social work | ASWB
Develops the licensing exams | | --- | --- | | • Determines eligiblity
• Issues your license
• Handles license renewal | • Registers candidates to take the exams
• Issues score transfers | ABOUT THE EXAMS EXAM FORMAT Each ASWB examination contains 170 multiple-choice questions; 20 of these questions are being pretested for possible inclusion as scored questions on a future ASWB examination. Your performance on the pretest items will not affect your score on the examination—only the 150 remaining items will count toward your score. The pretest and scored items are mixed together on the examination. You will have four hours to complete the examination, which is administered on a Pearson VUE computer. The testing program allows the test-taker to move freely through the exam, change answers, mark questions for later attention, skip questions, and review questions. View the non-interactive tutorial screens. EXAM DEVELOPMENT The ASWB examinations are multiple-choice exams designed to measure the minimum competency acceptable to practice social work within a given scope of practice at entry to practice. They are developed from a regularly updated survey of the actual practice of social workers across North America who work in a variety of settings and represent demographic diversity. The results of the survey shape the questions that appear on the examinations and establish the need for a particular examination within a specific scope of practice. Exam questions are written by item writers who have been selected to reflect racial, ethnic, gender, geographic, and practice-setting diversity. The Examination Committee—a group composed of content experts from a variety of practice settings and balanced for diversity—reviews and selects questions to be placed on the ASWB examinations. ASWB ensures that the examinations are fair measures of competency regardless of the race or gender of the test-taker. Every exam item undergoes statistical analysis and sensitivity review by a group of expert social work professionals. If such analysis demonstrates the potential for any race or gender bias, the item is deleted. Results over several years have shown that ASWB exams are statistically free from race and gender bias. The exams are maintained following standards developed jointly b

FAQs

How many questions are on the ASWB examination, and do pretest items affect scores?

The exam contains 170 multiple-choice questions, including 20 pretest questions. Pretest performance does not affect scoring; only the remaining 150 scored items count.

How is the ASWB exam administered and what options are available during testing?

The exam is administered on a Pearson VUE computer. The test-taker can move freely, change answers, mark questions, skip questions, and review questions during the session.

What determines which ASWB exam category a candidate can take?

The state or province informs ASWB about the exam category you are approved to take based on ASWB policy and your education and practice setting requirements.

Sep 21, 2026

Uploaded by Emma Mercer