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ASWB Social Work Licensing Exam

Masters

122 questions in two sections of 61, four hours, 110 scored. Three content areas, ten competencies, 109 applied knowledge statements.

Practise (50 questions)Sit the Masters 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.

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

  1. IA

    Ethical Principles and Responsibilities

    • Principles and processes of obtaining informed consent
    • Legal and ethical issues regarding confidentiality, including limitations of confidentiality (e.g., HIPAA, PHI, privacy)
    • Legal and ethical issues related to the practice of social work, including responsibility to clients/client systems, colleagues, the profession, and society
    • 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

  2. 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

  3. 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)
    • 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)
    • Cultural impacts of exploitation across marginalized communities (e.g., financial, immigration status, trafficking, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women)
    • Social justice, truth and reconciliation, and restorative practices related to clients/client systems from historically oppressed and marginalized communities
    • 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

  1. IIA

    Assessment Concepts

    • Indicators and impact of trauma, stressors, violence, and crises on individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities (e.g., intergenerational, historical, and complex)
    • Family dynamics and functioning and the effects on individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities
    • Impact of poverty on individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities (e.g., social determinants of health)
    • Dynamics of interpersonal relationships and relationship development (e.g., family, couples, groups, polyamory)
    • Indicators, dynamics, and impact of physical, sexual, and psychological abuse and neglect on individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities
    • 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
    • Impact of caregiving on families
    • Indicators and impact of addiction and substance use and abuse on individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities
    • Co-occurring disorders and conditions
    • Biopsychosocial assessment model and related components and factors
    • Characteristics of perpetrators of abuse, neglect, and exploitation
    • Indicators, dynamics, and impact of exploitation across the lifespan (e.g., financial, immigration status, trafficking)
    • Defense mechanisms and their effects on behavior and relationships
    • Effects of physical and mental ability throughout the lifespan
    • Factors of out-of-home displacement (e.g., homelessness, immigration, and refugee status) on clients/client systems
    • Impact of aging on the individual and family systems
    • Factors influencing self- and body-image (e.g., culture, race, religion/spirituality, age, ability, trauma, gender, sexuality, size)
    • Racial, ethnic, cultural, and spiritual/faith development throughout the lifespan
    • Typical and atypical physical, cognitive, emotional, and sexual development throughout the lifespan
    • 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

  2. IIB

    Assessment Methods and Techniques

    • Principles and techniques of interviewing (e.g., supporting, clarifying, confronting, validating, feedback, reflecting, language differences, use of interpreters)
    • Methods of assessing risk of harm to self and others
    • 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
    • Methods of assessing clients’/client systems’ communication skills
    • Methods of incorporating information from records and evaluations (e.g., employment, medical, psychological, school)
    • Components and function of the mental status examination

    10 statements · about 9 mock questions · 5 practice questionsStudy guide

  3. IIC

    Assessment Practices

    • Assessing the availability of and determining appropriate community resources
    • Cultural considerations in the creation of an intervention plan
    • 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)
    • Use and side effects of common prescription, over-the-counter, and alternative medications
    • Indicators of client/client system readiness for termination

    6 statements · about 6 mock questions · 5 practice questionsStudy guide

III.Intervention and Practice

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

  1. IIIA

    Practice Concepts

    • Strengths-based and empowerment strategies and interventions
    • 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
    • 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
    • Policies, procedures, regulations, and legislation and their impact on social work practice and service delivery
    • Permanency planning (e.g., child welfare)
    • Community organizing, development, and mobilizing community participation

    9 statements · about 7 mock questions · 5 practice questionsStudy guide

  2. IIIB

    Intervention Methods and Techniques

    • Limit and boundary setting techniques
    • 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)
    • Principles of active listening and observation
    • Crisis intervention and treatment approaches
    • Emotional regulation techniques
    • Approaches to and methods of advocacy for needed services and resources
    • Methods of teaching coping and other self-care skills to clients
    • Practice with clients experiencing loss, separation, and grief
    • Methods for engaging and motivating voluntary and involuntary clients/client systems
    • Case management techniques (e.g., case recording, documentation, case presentation)
    • Evidence-based practices (e.g., cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavior therapy, mindfulness based stress reduction, motivational interviewing, eye movement desensitization and reprocessing)
    • Stress management techniques
    • Harm reduction techniques
    • Contracting and goal-setting techniques (e.g., partializing, measurable objectives)
    • Problem-solving models and approaches
    • Discharge, aftercare, wrap-around services, and follow-up
    • Conflict resolution methods
    • Establishing service networks or community resources
    • Techniques and methods for addiction intervention
    • Psychoeducation methods
    • Anger management techniques
    • Group work techniques and approaches (e.g., developing and managing group processes and cohesion)
    • Family therapy models, interventions, and approaches
    • Social change and social planning methods

    25 statements · about 21 mock questions · 5 practice questionsStudy guide

  3. IIIC

    Practice Evaluation and Research

    • Techniques for evaluating progress and effectiveness of intervention, treatment, and service plans
    • Methods, techniques, and instruments used to evaluate social work practice
    • Methods of evaluating agency programs (e.g., needs assessment, formative/summative assessment, cost- effectiveness, cost-benefit analysis, outcomes assessment)
    • Basic and applied research design and methods, data collection and analysis methods, and methods to assess reliability and validity in social work research (e.g., objective, subjective, qualitative, quantitative)

    4 statements · about 3 mock questions · 5 practice questionsStudy guide

  4. IIID

    Supervision and Administration

    • Supervisee’s role in supervision (e.g., identifying learning needs, self-assessment, prioritizing)
    • Methods for creating, implementing, and evaluating policies and procedures for safe, inclusive, and a healthy work environment
    • Methods for creating, implementing, and evaluating policies and procedures that minimize risk for individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities
    • Supervision and consultation models and techniques (e.g., individual, peer, group, case recording)
    • Transference and countertransference within supervisory relationships

    5 statements · about 4 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.

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