ASWB Social Work Licensing Examination – Masters
LMSW Practice Exam (ASWB Masters)
This LMSW practice exam is written to the content outline of the ASWB Masters exam, the exam that state boards commonly require for a master's-level social work license such as the LMSW. The outline weighs Values and Ethics at 35%, Assessment and Planning at 33% and Intervention and Practice at 32%, and each question here is tagged to one of its knowledge statements. A free 25-question diagnostic shows where you stand in each area.
The free ASWB Masters diagnostic is being prepared and is not open yet. The exam facts and the content outline on this page are current.
LMSW is a license title, not an exam. New York and Texas call their master's-level license the LMSW, Minnesota calls it the LGSW and Pennsylvania the LSW. What they share is the exam: ASWB's Masters category, which your board assigns to you when it approves your application.
Most of the Masters outline also appears in the Clinical outline, so the two exams are easy to confuse and the difference is at the edges. The Masters outline adds community organizing and development, methods of social change and social planning, and workplace policy. It has no statement on using the DSM in assessment, on treatment approaches for couples or on research ethics, all of which the Clinical outline lists. A bank built for the Clinical exam therefore spends questions on material your outline does not name and may have none on the community organizing and social planning it does.
The ASWB Masters exam at a glance
What you are preparing for, in the exam owner's own numbers.
| Questions | 122 (110 scored, 12 unscored) |
|---|---|
| Time limit | 4 hours |
| Exam fee | $230 |
| Eligibility | Candidates must first be approved by the social work board in their state or province, which decides eligibility and the exam category. The Masters category is for master's-level practice and requires a master's degree in social work. |
| Outline in force | 2026 Masters exam content outline (ASWB Examination Guidebook, 08/2026; based on the 2024 Analysis of the Practice of Social Work), effective August 3, 2026 |
Exam facts are taken from ASWB’s own published material, last checked October 2, 2026. Source. Confirm fees, dates and rules with the organization you register with before you book.
| Section | Questions | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Section 1 | 61 | 2 hours |
| Section 2 | 61 | 2 hours |
Who takes it
People with a master's degree in social work whose board has approved them for the Masters category. The category asks for the degree and no post-degree experience, which is the main difference from the Clinical category: that one also requires two years of experience in clinical settings, or what the jurisdiction treats as equivalent. Whether you can test before you graduate is your board's rule: Texas lets students test in their last semester, and New York approves no one until the degree is awarded.
What the ASWB Masters exam covers
The three content areas of the 2026 Masters outline, with ASWB's weights. ASWB publishes no weights below this level; the statement counts are from the outline as listed in its guidebook.
| Domain | Weight | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| IValues and Ethics27 tasks | 35% | 27 knowledge statements. Ethical principles: informed consent, confidentiality and HIPAA, ethical dilemmas, self-care. Ethical service delivery: boundaries, self-determination, mandatory reporting, records, billing, technology, ending services. Diversity and social justice: anti-oppressive practice, bias and privilege, access to services, immigration. |
| IIAssessment and Planning39 tasks | 33% | 39 statements. What to recognize: trauma, abuse and neglect, substance use, indicators of mental illness, development and aging, poverty, displacement. How to assess: interviewing, risk of harm, strengths and readiness for change, the mental status examination, outside records. Then planning: resources, goals, choice of intervention, common medications. |
| IIIIntervention and Practice43 tasks | 32% | 43 statements, the longest list. Casework methods: crisis intervention, trauma-informed care, case management, harm reduction, group and family work. Community methods: organizing, social planning, permanency planning. Also evaluating practice and programs, research design, and supervision, including the supervisee's own role. |
How to use the bank for the ASWB Masters exam
- 1
Rank the three areas
The 25-question diagnostic scores Values and Ethics, Assessment and Planning, and Intervention and Practice separately. The weights are nearly equal, so the lowest of the three is where to start, whichever it is.
- 2
Do not skip the community-level statements
Community organizing, social planning, program evaluation and research design appear beside casework in the Masters outline. If your field placement was in direct practice they are the statements you are least likely to have used, and tutor mode explains each option as you go.
- 3
Study ethics as decisions
Values and Ethics is the largest area. Its statements cover informed consent, the limits of confidentiality, mandatory reporting, boundaries, documentation, billing and technology. ASWB says its Masters exam uses more application and reasoning questions than its Bachelors exam, so expect a situation and a decision more often than a definition, and read why each rejected option is premature or out of scope.
- 4
Finish with a mock in two halves
122 questions in two timed sections, as on the exam. The first section closes when you submit it, so practice reviewing your flagged questions before you leave it.
What is in the paid ASWB Masters bank
The question bank
The ASWB Masters bank is still being written. The live count appears here when questions are published.
Every option explained
A written reason for every option, right and wrong, plus a one-line takeaway, a cited reference and the outline task the question tests.
Tutor mode and timed mode
Tutor mode shows the explanation after each question. Timed mode holds everything back until the end, at exam pace.
A readiness band, by domain
Your first-attempt results weighted the way the exam weights its domains, shown as a band rather than a pass probability: nobody outside the exam owner knows the cut score.
A study plan
Set your exam date and the plan divides the questions you have not seen across the days you have left, weakest domains first, with the mock exams placed in the back half.
ASWB Masters passes
A pass is access for a fixed number of days. You pay once; nothing renews.
30-day pass
$49one-off
- The full ASWB Masters bank for 30 days
- Every mock exam, tutor and timed modes
- Charged once. It does not renew.
90-day pass
$79one-off
- The full ASWB Masters bank for 90 days
- Every mock exam, tutor and timed modes
- Charged once. It does not renew.
Refund within 7 days if you have answered fewer than 50 questions. Pass guarantee: complete 100% of the bank with an average of 80% or better, and if you still do not pass the exam your pass is extended by 90 days at no charge.
How the questions are written and checked
Step 1
Written to the public outline
Each question is written by AI against one task in ASWB's published content outline. Nothing is taken from the exam itself.
Step 2
Solved blind by a second model
A different model answers the question without seeing the key. If it does not reach the same answer, the question is not published.
Step 3
Audited for flaws and duplicates
A separate pass looks for item-writing flaws: two defensible answers, a giveaway in the wording, a rationale that contradicts the key. Near-duplicates are removed.
Step 4
Corrected in public
Learners can report any question. Reports and answer statistics flag questions for withdrawal or correction, and every correction is logged.
There is no human subject-matter-expert review in that process, and we do not claim one. What you get instead is a cited reference on every question, so you can check it yourself. Read the full methodology or see the corrections log.
ASWB Masters practice questions: common questions
Is the LMSW exam the same as the ASWB Masters exam?
LMSW is a license title that some state boards grant; the exam commonly behind it is the ASWB Masters exam. Your board names the ASWB category when it approves you, so confirm it there. This question bank is written to the Masters content outline.
How many questions are on the LMSW exam?
The ASWB Masters exam has 122 questions, of which 110 are scored, in 4 hours. Since August 3, 2026 it is taken at a Pearson test center in two timed sections of 61 questions, replacing the earlier 170-question exam.
Can I study for the LMSW exam with ASWB Clinical practice questions?
Only partly. The two outlines share most of their knowledge statements, but the Clinical outline includes DSM use, couples treatment and research ethics, and lacks the Masters statements on community organizing and on social change and social planning. The weights differ slightly too.
What is the passing score for the ASWB Masters exam?
There is no single number. The result is pass or fail, and ASWB says the correct answers needed vary with the exam form, generally from 66 to 78 of the 110 scored questions.
What is the LMSW exam pass rate?
ASWB's published figure for the Masters exam: 2025 first-time test-takers: 73.9% (20,636 exams administered). This figure predates the exam format and content outline introduced on August 3, 2026. That is a figure for all candidates. We publish no pass rate for people who use this site.
How much does the ASWB Masters exam cost, and what if I fail?
$230 per attempt, a lower fee than the Clinical exam. A retake costs the same again and normally means a 90-day wait; your board may also limit attempts.
Is the LMSW practice exam free?
The diagnostic is: 25 questions, no account, every answer explained afterward. The full bank and mock exams come with a paid pass that is charged once and does not renew.
ASWB is a trademark of the Association of Social Work Boards, which owns and administers the Social Work Licensing Examinations. This site is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by the Association of Social Work Boards.