Get the appScan a code with your phone to open ExamDragon there and add it to your home screen.

ASWB Social Work Licensing Exam

Bachelors (and Associate)

122 questions in two sections of 61, four hours, 110 scored. Three content areas, ten competencies, 110 applied knowledge statements.

Practise (50 questions)Sit the Bachelors mock (122 questions)

Independent preparation. ExamDragon is not affiliated with or endorsed by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB). The exams' names belong to ASWB and are used only to describe the exams; every question and guide here is our own, written from ASWB's published content outlines.

Taking the Associate exam? ASWB's Associate and Bachelors exams share the same questions and content outline, so this level is yours too.

The 2026 content outline

Every content area, competency and applied knowledge statement as ASWB publishes it. Each statement is the basis for individual exam questions.

I.Values and Ethics

35% of the exam · about 39 of 110 scored questions

IA
Ethical Principles and Responsibilities
- Legal and ethical issues related to the practice of social work, including responsibility to clients/client systems, colleagues, the profession, and society
- Principles and processes of obtaining informed consent
- Legal and ethical issues regarding confidentiality, including limitations of confidentiality (e.g., HIPAA, PHI, privacy)
- Identifying and resolving ethical dilemmas
- Professional values and principles (e.g., competence, social justice, integrity, dignity and worth of the person)
- Burnout, secondary trauma, and compassion fatigue
- Social worker self-care principles
- Importance of professional development activities to improve practice and maintain current professional knowledge (e.g., in-service training, licensing requirements, reviews of literature, workshops, on-going supervision, consultation)
8 statements · about 12 mock questions · 5 practice questionsStudy guide
IB
Ethical Service Delivery
- Professional boundaries in the social worker-client/client system relationship (e.g., power differences, influence, privilege, conflicts of interest, self-disclosure, dual relationships)
- Protecting and enhancing client/client system self-determination (e.g., medication, medical treatment, counseling, placement, right to refuse services)
- Legal and ethical issues regarding mandatory reporting (e.g., abuse, threat of harm, impaired professionals, duty to warn)
- Legal and ethical issues regarding documentation (e.g., maintaining client records)
- Impact of governmental policies on service delivery (e.g., local, state, federal legislation and policy)
- Legal and ethical issues related to death and dying
- Ethical issues in supervision and management
- Responsible billing practices (e.g., managed care, insurance reimbursement, incident to billing)
- Ethical issues related to electronic practice
- Legal and ethical issues regarding termination
10 statements · about 14 mock questions · 5 practice questionsStudy guide
IC
Diversity and Social Justice
- Anti-oppressive and anti-racist approaches
- Social, racial, environmental, and economic justice principles
- Impact of culture, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, and intersectionality on behaviors, attitudes, and identity formation
- Accessibility including language, physical, and cultural access (e.g., translation and interpretation, neurodiversity, American Sign Language)
- Social justice, truth and reconciliation, and restorative practices related to clients/client systems from historically oppressed and marginalized communities
- Cultural impacts of exploitation across marginalized communities (e.g., financial, immigration status, trafficking, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women)
- Privilege and bias and their impact on client/client systems (e.g., implicit bias, microaggressions)
- Power differential and racial privilege (e.g., internalized racial and ethnic inferiority and superiority)
- Impact of globalization, immigration, and refugee or immigration status on clients/client systems and service delivery
9 statements · about 13 mock questions · 5 practice questionsStudy guide

II.Assessment and Planning

33% of the exam · about 36 of 110 scored questions

IIA
Assessment Concepts
- Impact of poverty on individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities (e.g., social determinants of health)
- Indicators and impact of trauma, stressors, violence, and crises on individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities (e.g., intergenerational, historical, and complex)
- Indicators and impact of addiction and substance use and abuse on individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities
- Indicators, dynamics, and impact of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse and neglect on individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities
- Family dynamics and functioning and the effects on individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities
- Dynamics of interpersonal relationships and relationship development (e.g., family, couples, groups, polyamory)
- Indicators of mental and emotional illness throughout the lifespan
- Impact of out-of-home placement (e.g., hospitalization, foster care, residential care, criminal justice system) on clients/client systems
- Factors of out-of-home displacement (e.g., homelessness, immigration, and refugee status) on clients/client systems
- Co-occurring disorders and conditions
- Factors influencing self- and body-image (e.g., culture, race, religion/spirituality, age, ability, trauma, gender, sexuality, size)
- Characteristics of perpetrators of abuse, neglect, and exploitation
- Impact of caregiving on families
- Indicators, dynamics, and impact of exploitation across the lifespan (e.g., financial, immigration status, trafficking)
- Biopsychosocial assessment model and related components and factors
- Effects of physical and mental ability throughout the lifespan
- Typical and atypical physical, cognitive, emotional, and sexual development throughout the lifespan
- Impact of aging on the individual and family systems
- Racial, ethnic, cultural, and spiritual/faith development throughout the lifespan
- Defense mechanisms and their effects on behavior and relationships
- The influence and impact of technology, including social media, on client/client-systems (personal and professional)
- Impact of urbanization, globalization, environmental hazards, and climate change on individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities
- Client/client system competence, self-determination, and self-monitoring techniques (e.g., financial decisions, treatment decisions, emancipation, age of consent, permanency planning)
23 statements · about 21 mock questions · 5 practice questionsStudy guide
IIB
Assessment Methods and Techniques
- Methods of assessing risk of harm to self and others
- Principles and techniques of interviewing (e.g., supporting, clarifying, confronting, validating, feedback, reflecting, language differences, use of interpreters)
- Methods of involving clients/client systems in problem identification, problem solving, and intervention planning
- Methods, techniques, and instruments for assessing client/client system strengths, resources, needs, and challenges
- Methods for obtaining sensitive and/or confidential information (e.g., substance use, sexual abuse)
- Methods for assessing resilience and coping abilities
- Indicators of and methods of assessing motivation, barriers, and readiness for change
- Components and function of the mental status examination
- Methods of assessing clients’/client systems’ communication skills
- Methods of incorporating information from records and evaluations (e.g., employment, medical, psychological, school)
10 statements · about 9 mock questions · 5 practice questionsStudy guide
IIC
Assessment Practices
- Assessing the availability of and determining appropriate community resources
- Factors and processes used in goal planning, treatment planning, triage, and service plans
- Criteria used in the selection of intervention/treatment modalities (e.g., client/client system abilities, developmental level, culture, life stage)
- Cultural considerations in the creation of an intervention plan
- Indicators of client/client system readiness for termination
- Use and side effects of common prescription, over-the-counter, and alternative medications
6 statements · about 6 mock questions · 5 practice questionsStudy guide

III.Intervention and Practice

32% of the exam · about 35 of 110 scored questions

IIIA
Practice Concepts
- Principles and techniques for building and maintaining a helping relationship (e.g., acceptance, empathy, rapport)
- The social worker’s role in the problem-solving process
- Strengths-based and empowerment strategies and interventions
- Interdisciplinary and intra-disciplinary team collaboration (e.g., co-therapy, care conference, IEP)
- End of life practice (e.g., continuity of care, hospice, palliative care, stages of death and dying)
- Parenting capacities and skill building
- Permanency planning (e.g., child welfare)
- Policies, procedures, regulations, and legislation and their impact on social work practice and service delivery
- Community organizing, development, and mobilizing community participation
9 statements · about 7 mock questions · 5 practice questionsStudy guide
IIIB
Intervention Methods and Techniques
- Principles of active listening and observation
- Verbal and nonverbal communication (e.g., body language, congruence, feedback)
- Methods and approaches for providing trauma-informed care for various types of trauma (e.g., complex, vicarious)
- Limit and boundary setting techniques
- Case management techniques (e.g., case recording, documentation, case presentation)
- Approaches to and methods of advocacy for needed services and resources
- Evidence-based practices (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, mindfulness based stress reduction, motivational interviewing, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing)
- Methods for engaging and motivating voluntary and involuntary clients/client systems
- Contracting and goal-setting techniques (e.g., partializing, measurable objectives)
- Practice with clients experiencing loss, separation, and grief
- Emotional regulation techniques
- Crisis intervention and treatment approaches
- Stress management techniques
- Discharge, aftercare, wrap-around services, and follow-up
- Methods of teaching coping and other self-care skills to clients
- Techniques and methods for addiction intervention
- Establishing service networks or community resources
- Problem-solving models and approaches
- Harm reduction techniques
- Conflict resolution methods
- Anger management techniques
- Task-centered approaches
- Psychoeducation methods
- Group work techniques and approaches (e.g., developing and managing group processes and cohesion)
- Role modeling techniques
- Social change and social planning methods
- Assertiveness training techniques
- Role play techniques
28 statements · about 22 mock questions · 5 practice questionsStudy guide
IIIC
Practice Evaluation and Research
- Techniques for evaluating progress and effectiveness of intervention, treatment, and service plans
- Methods of evaluating agency programs (e.g., needs assessment, formative/summative assessment, cost- effectiveness, cost-benefit analysis, outcomes assessment)
- Methods, techniques, and instruments used to evaluate social work practice
3 statements · about 3 mock questions · 5 practice questionsStudy guide
IIID
Supervision and Administration
- Organizational development, structure, and functioning (e.g., policies, procedures)
- Supervisee’s role in supervision (e.g., identifying learning needs, self-assessment, prioritizing)
- Supervision and consultation models and techniques (e.g., individual, peer, group, case recording)
- Transference and countertransference within supervisory relationships
4 statements · about 3 mock questions · 5 practice questionsStudy guide

Source: ASWB Examination Guidebook, August 2026; French: Analyse de la pratique du travail social 2024. The content area percentages are ASWB's; how our mock spreads questions across competencies is ours, in proportion to each competency's statements.

Back to the ASWB path