Licenses

ASWB Masters

The Masters exam leads to the LMSW license in most states. Since August 2026 it follows a new blueprint with three content areas: values and ethics, assessment and planning, and intervention and practice.

Every state, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands require a passing score on an ASWB exam to license social workers. ASWB moved to new exam blueprints on August 3, 2026. ASWB, Blueprints for the 2026 competence assessments.

Keep practicing

Practice and timed mocks are free, with right or wrong on every answer and your total score. The full analysis is $39, once.

How the exam is built

Owned by Association of Social Work Boards, given by Pearson VUE.

ASWB Masters exam

110 scored questions (122 in total), 240 minutes, to pass: not published by the exam owner.

TopicShare
Values and Ethics35%
Assessment and Planning33%
Intervention and Practice32%

The official outline: www.aswb.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2026-Social-Work-Licensing-Exam-Guidebook-5.4.2026.pdf. Checked 2026-10-08.

Sources

  1. ASWB Social Work Licensing Exam, Masters exam content outline (2026 blueprint, based on the 2024 practice analysis), as published in the ASWB Examination Guidebook, August 2026 edition, retrieved 2026-10-08.

Questions are original, written from the official outline and primary sources under an assessment framework designed by Julian Calvo, Ed.D., M.S. DecipherU is not affiliated with the Association of Social Work Boards. Every practice question is original and written from the 2026 blueprint, the NASW Code of Ethics and federal law.