• 40 questions

ASWB Practice Test

Unofficial social work exam practice questions for every ASWB category, in the three content areas the outlines share.

Under applicable law, a mother has authority to make health care decisions for her 9-year-old son. How must a covered entity treat her under HIPAA?

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Exam mode: 40 questions, 79 minutes.

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB). Bank checked October 8, 2026.

The real exam, as ASWB describes it

Questions
122
Time limit
240 minutes
Fee
US$230 to register for the Associate, Bachelors or Masters exam; US$260 for the Advanced Generalist or Clinical exam. Fees are nonrefundable.
Retakes
After at least 90 days. A waiver of the wait may be requested when the score missed passing by 10 points or less and the jurisdiction allows it.
Scored questions
110 scored and 12 pretest questions, mixed together in two sections of 61. Pretest questions do not affect the score.
Content areas
Values and ethics 35%, assessment and planning 33%, intervention and practice 32%. The Clinical outline gives 36%, 32% and 32%.
Result
Pass or fail, plus how many questions were needed to pass and the number answered correctly. The number needed varies slightly between exam versions.
Categories
Associate, Bachelors, Masters, Advanced Generalist and Clinical. Your state or provincial board tells ASWB which one you are approved to take.

Checked October 8, 2026 against ASWB Examination Guidebook, published August 2026. Rules change, so confirm with the agency itself before your test.

ASWB's own content outlines page

Next step LMSW practice exam (Masters)ASWB Bachelors practice test

All 40 questions

Values and ethics 14

  • A client asks a clinic to telephone her only at work and never at home. What must a covered health care provider do under 45 CFR 164.522? 45 CFR 164.522 (HIPAA Privacy Rule), on ecfr.gov, paragraph (b)(1). Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IA. Ethical Principles and Responsibilities.
  • A client asks an agency for an accounting of the disclosures it has made of her health information. How far back does the right reach under 45 CFR 164.528? 45 CFR 164.528 (HIPAA Privacy Rule), on ecfr.gov, paragraph (a)(1). Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IB. Ethical Service Delivery.
  • A client asks for a copy of everything in her file. Under 45 CFR 164.524, which of these is excepted from her right of access? 45 CFR 164.524 (HIPAA Privacy Rule), on ecfr.gov, paragraph (a)(1). Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IB. Ethical Service Delivery.
  • A deaf mother arrives at a county office with her 10-year-old son. Under 28 CFR 35.160, when may the office rely on the child to interpret? 28 CFR 35.160 (ADA Title II), on ecfr.gov, paragraph (c)(3). Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IC. Diversity and Social Justice.
Show all 40 questions (36 more)

Values and ethics, continued

  • A high school senior turns 18. Under FERPA, what happens to the rights her parents held over her education records? 34 CFR 99.3 (FERPA), on ecfr.gov, definition of eligible student. Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IB. Ethical Service Delivery.
  • A hospital social worker wants to update a patient's brother, who helps with his care. The patient is present and able to decide. What does 45 CFR 164.510 ask of her first? 45 CFR 164.510 (HIPAA Privacy Rule), on ecfr.gov, opportunity to agree or object. Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IA. Ethical Principles and Responsibilities.
  • A patient has no advance directive and does not want one. Under 42 CFR 489.102, may a hospital make having one a condition of care? 42 CFR 489.102 (advance directives), on ecfr.gov, paragraph (a)(3). Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IB. Ethical Service Delivery.
  • A psychiatrist treating a shared client asks a clinic social worker for the client's full assessment. Does HIPAA's minimum necessary standard limit this disclosure? 45 CFR 164.502 (HIPAA Privacy Rule), on ecfr.gov, paragraph (b)(2)(i). Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IA. Ethical Principles and Responsibilities.
  • A social worker makes a good-faith report of suspected child abuse that is later not confirmed. What does CAPTA require States to provide for such reporters? 42 U.S.C. 5106a (CAPTA state grants), Legal Information Institute, paragraph (b)(2)(B)(vii). Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IB. Ethical Service Delivery.
  • A social worker reasonably believes an adult client is a victim of domestic violence, and no law requires a report. Under 45 CFR 164.512(c), when may she disclose this to a protective services agency? 45 CFR 164.512 (HIPAA Privacy Rule), on ecfr.gov, paragraph (c). Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IB. Ethical Service Delivery.
  • A staff member reads a neighbor's case file out of curiosity. What does 45 CFR 164.530 require of the agency toward workforce members who break its privacy policies? 45 CFR 164.530 (HIPAA Privacy Rule), on ecfr.gov, paragraph (e)(1). Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IA. Ethical Principles and Responsibilities.
  • State law lets a 16-year-old obtain substance use disorder treatment on her own. Under 42 CFR 2.14, who may give written consent to disclose her treatment records? 42 CFR 2.14 (substance use disorder patient records), on ecfr.gov, paragraph (a). Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IA. Ethical Principles and Responsibilities.
  • Under applicable law, a mother has authority to make health care decisions for her 9-year-old son. How must a covered entity treat her under HIPAA? 45 CFR 164.502 (HIPAA Privacy Rule), on ecfr.gov, paragraph (g)(3). Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IA. Ethical Principles and Responsibilities.
  • Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, "disability" means an impairment that substantially limits a major life activity, a record of such an impairment, or what else? 42 U.S.C. 12102 (Americans with Disabilities Act), Legal Information Institute, paragraph (1). Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IC. Diversity and Social Justice.

Assessment and planning 13

  • A client in recovery from opioid use returns to use after six months. By the National Institute on Drug Abuse, does relapse mean that treatment has failed? National Institute on Drug Abuse, Drugs, Brains, and Behavior: Treatment and Recovery, Does relapse mean treatment has failed? Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIA. Assessment Concepts.
  • A client on an antidepressant also takes a triptan for migraine and St. John's wort. By NIMH, which rare but life-threatening illness can such combinations cause? National Institute of Mental Health, Mental Health Medications, antidepressants. Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIC. Assessment Practices.
  • A client regularly loses control of her eating and eats unusually large amounts of food, with no purging. Which disorder does NIMH describe this way? National Institute of Mental Health, Eating Disorders, common eating disorders. Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIA. Assessment Concepts.
  • A nursing home team considers an antipsychotic for a resident with dementia. By NIMH, what must the black box warning on all antipsychotics state? National Institute of Mental Health, Mental Health Medications, antipsychotics. Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIC. Assessment Practices.
  • A social worker hesitates to ask a client directly about suicide. By NIMH, what do studies show about asking? National Institute of Mental Health, 5 Action Steps to Help Someone Having Thoughts of Suicide, Ask. Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIB. Assessment Methods and Techniques.
  • A worker at a clinic defers to a companion who answers every question for her, and she seems coached on what to say. The Department of Homeland Security lists these among indicators of what? U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Blue Campaign, Indicators of Human Trafficking, Indicators of Human Trafficking. Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIA. Assessment Concepts.
  • An 82-year-old client's daughter says memory loss that disrupts daily life is "just old age." What does the National Institute on Aging say about dementia? National Institute on Aging, What Is Dementia? Symptoms, Types, and Diagnosis, What is dementia? Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIA. Assessment Concepts.
  • An adult son moves away, leaving his mother, who needs daily help, alone with no plan for her care. The National Institute on Aging names this as which type of elder abuse? National Institute on Aging, Elder Abuse, Types of abuse. Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIA. Assessment Concepts.
  • By NIMH, at what time of life does psychosis often begin? National Institute of Mental Health, Understanding Psychosis, Who develops psychosis? Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIA. Assessment Concepts.
  • How does NIAAA describe alcohol use disorder? National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Understanding Alcohol Use Disorder, What is alcohol use disorder? Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIA. Assessment Concepts.
  • In a mental status examination a client is shown three items and asked to recall them five minutes later. By MedlinePlus, which area is tested? MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia (National Library of Medicine), Mental status testing, Recent and past memory. Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIB. Assessment Methods and Techniques.
  • In CAPTA's minimum federal definition, child abuse and neglect is an act or failure to act by a parent or caretaker that results in serious harm, or that presents what? Child Welfare Information Gateway (Children's Bureau, HHS), What Is Child Abuse and Neglect? Recognizing the Signs and Symptoms, How Is Child Abuse and Neglect Defined in Federal Law? Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIA. Assessment Concepts.
  • What does Healthy People 2030 mean by social determinants of health? Healthy People 2030 (HHS Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion), Social Determinants of Health, What are social determinants of health? Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIA. Assessment Concepts.

Intervention and practice 13

  • A client threatens a caseworker during a home visit, without touching her. Does OSHA's description of workplace violence cover threats? OSHA, Workplace Violence, What is workplace violence? Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIID. Supervision and Administration.
  • A client with thoughts of suicide has a plan. By NIMH's five action steps, what can help the person stay safe when such thoughts arise? National Institute of Mental Health, 5 Action Steps to Help Someone Having Thoughts of Suicide, Help keep them safe. Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIIB. Intervention Methods and Techniques.
  • A family asks a medical social worker what hospice care aims to do. By MedlinePlus, what is its goal? MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia (National Library of Medicine), Hospice care, Hospice care. Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIIA. Practice Concepts.
  • A homeless family tries to enroll a child, but has no immunization or prior school records with them. What does the McKinney-Vento Act require of the school selected? 42 U.S.C. 11432 (McKinney-Vento Act), Legal Information Institute, paragraph (g)(3)(C). Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIIB. Intervention Methods and Techniques.
  • A program collects information on participants before they enter it, so that later change can be shown. What does the ACF guide call this information? Administration for Children and Families (HHS), The Program Manager's Guide to Evaluation, Second Edition, evaluation designs. Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIIC. Practice Evaluation and Research.
  • A recovery program hires people with lived experience to work beside staff. Which principle of SAMHSA's trauma-informed approach treats mutual self-help as a vehicle for safety and hope? SAMHSA, Trauma-Informed Approaches and Programs, principles of a trauma-informed approach. Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIIB. Intervention Methods and Techniques.
  • A scale gives consistent results when the same clients complete it again a week later. By the ACF guide, what does this show about the instrument? Administration for Children and Families (HHS), The Program Manager's Guide to Evaluation, Second Edition, data collection instruments. Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIIC. Practice Evaluation and Research.
  • A veteran blames herself for a trauma and sees the world as wholly dangerous. Which PTSD therapy teaches ways to evaluate and change upsetting thoughts about the trauma? VA National Center for PTSD, Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD, What type of treatment is this? Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIIB. Intervention Methods and Techniques.
  • A widow says she felt acceptance last month and anger this month, and asks whether she is grieving wrongly. What does MedlinePlus say about the five stages of grief? MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia (National Library of Medicine), Grief, Symptoms. Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIIB. Intervention Methods and Techniques.
  • By NIMH, in which type of cognitive behavioral therapy does a person spend brief periods, with support, learning to tolerate the distress caused by feared items, ideas or imagined scenes? National Institute of Mental Health, Psychotherapies, elements of psychotherapy. Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIIB. Intervention Methods and Techniques.
  • By the National Institute on Aging, a palliative care team has specialist doctors and nurses, and includes which others? National Institute on Aging, What Are Palliative Care and Hospice Care?, Who makes up the palliative care team? Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIIA. Practice Concepts.
  • In the adoptive placement of an Indian child under State law, with no different order set by the Tribe, who has first preference under 25 CFR 23.130? 25 CFR 23.130 (Indian Child Welfare Act), on ecfr.gov, paragraph (a). Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIIA. Practice Concepts.
  • Under 42 U.S.C. 675(5)(A), a foster child's case plan is designed to achieve placement in a safe setting of what kind? 42 U.S.C. 675 (foster care definitions), Legal Information Institute, paragraph (5)(A). Outline: ASWB content outlines (2026 Examination Guidebook), IIIA. Practice Concepts.

How this list was compiled: Our own questions, written to the content outlines in the ASWB Examination Guidebook, published August 2026 for exams given from August 3, 2026 (https://www.aswb.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/2026-Social-Work-Licensing-Exam-Guidebook-5.4.2026.pdf, linked from https://www.aswb.org/exam/readiness-to-practice/content-outlines/, both read 2026-10-08). The Bachelors, Masters and Advanced Generalist outlines give Values and Ethics 35%, Assessment and Planning 33%, Intervention and Practice 32%; the Clinical outline gives 36%, 32% and 32%. The bank holds 14, 13 and 13 questions in that order. Every fact was read on 2026-10-08 in the public text the question names: the Code of Federal Regulations at ecfr.gov, the United States Code at the Legal Information Institute, the National Institute of Mental Health and other NIH institutes, MedlinePlus, SAMHSA, the Child Welfare Information Gateway, the Administration for Children and Families, the VA National Center for PTSD, OSHA, the Department of Homeland Security and Healthy People 2030. No code of ethics of a membership body and no priced diagnostic manual was used. Licence: Questions, choices and explanations are original work of this site.

How it works

This free ASWB practice test has 40 social work exam practice questions of our own on the content areas every category shares. It is unofficial and not affiliated with, endorsed or sponsored by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB).

Read the full guide

Five categories, three content areas

ASWB gives Associate, Bachelors, Masters, Advanced Generalist and Clinical exams. In its guidebook for exams from August 3, 2026, read October 8, 2026, every outline has the same three areas, each near a third: values and ethics, assessment and planning, intervention and practice.

Where the answers come from

Each answer links the public text it was read in: federal rules at ecfr.gov, the U.S. Code, NIMH, MedlinePlus and the National Institute on Aging among them. By the guidebook, the real exams also ask application and reasoning questions; most here test recall.

Timed round

Exam mode asks the 40 in 79 minutes, as 122 questions in four hours allow.

  • For one level in depth, the LMSW (Masters) and Bachelors pages hold 60 questions each, and none repeats here.

Questions and answers

Is this a free ASWB practice test?

Yes. This social work test prep has nothing to pay and nothing to sign up for. Every one of the ASWB practice questions gives its answer, a one-line reason and a link to the public source.

Is this the ASWB online practice test?

No. ASWB's own online practice test costs US$85, is sold only to people registered for an exam and uses retired exam questions; none is offered for the Advanced Generalist exam. This page is separate and unofficial.

Is there an ASWB practice test PDF?

In effect, yes. The questions print as a paper test with an answer key, and a browser's print window can save that as a PDF. ASWB's own guidebook, with the full content outlines, is a free PDF on aswb.org.

Which ASWB exam do I take for the LSW?

It depends on your board. The state or province tells ASWB the category you are approved for: Associate, Bachelors, Masters, Advanced Generalist or Clinical. Check your board's own page before you register. As an LSW practice exam, this set fits any category.

How long is the social work licensing exam?

Four hours for 122 multiple-choice questions, the same in every category. They come in two sections of 61; 110 are scored and 12 are pretest questions, by the ASWB Examination Guidebook.

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