The ASWB Clinical exam
For clinical practice — specialized clinical knowledge, after an MSW and two years of supervised clinical experience.
Commonly leads to LCSW, LICSW, LCSW-C, LISW-CP — though the title varies by jurisdiction. Check yours.
What this exam actually weights
- I. Values and Ethics36%
- II. Assessment and Planning32%
- III. Intervention and Practice32%
The Clinical blueprint is the one that differs. Values and Ethics carries 36% here against 35% on the other exams, and Assessment and Planning 32% against 33%. It is a small difference and it is a real one — a study plan built on the generic weighting is slightly wrong for this exam.
How many pass it first time
75.7%
Of the 26,439 people who sat the Clinical exam for the first time in 2025 across all ASWB member jurisdictions.
ASWB notes that pass rates are most representative for groups of more than 200 candidates. This cohort is well above that.
Source: ASWB exam pass rates, last verified August 16, 2026. We publish no pass rate of our own — no preparation provider can honestly claim one.
What we cover for it
- 116
- applied knowledge statements, each a written lesson
- 2,063
- practice questions, each with a full rationale
- 12
- full-length mocks, with no question repeated across any two
Scoped to this exam. Of the 124 applied knowledge statements across all four content outlines, 116 are on the Clinical exam — the rest are not shown to you and are not counted against you.
A question from this exam
From Ethical Principles and Responsibilities, which you can read in full without an account.
In the NASW Code of Ethics, a specific rule that a social worker can be disciplined for breaking is known as:
- Aan ethical standard
- Ban ethical principle
- Ca core value
Where this exam is required
States whose license rules we have read on their own board’s site. We are working through the rest and will not list a state until we have checked it.
- AlaskaLCSW
- ArizonaLCSW
- CaliforniaLCSW
- ConnecticutLCSW
- District of ColumbiaLICSW
- FloridaLCSW
- GeorgiaLCSW
- HawaiiLCSW
- IllinoisLCSW
- IndianaLCSW
- IowaLISW
- LouisianaLCSW
- MinnesotaLICSW
- MississippiLCSW
- MissouriLCSW
- MontanaLCSW
- NebraskaLMHP · LIMHP
- NevadaLCSW
- New JerseyLCSW
- New YorkLCSW
- North CarolinaLCSW
- OhioLISW
- OregonLCSW
- PennsylvaniaLCSW
- Rhode IslandLICSW
- TexasLCSW
- UtahLCSW
- VermontLICSW
- VirginiaLCSW
- WashingtonLICSW
- West VirginiaLICSW
- WyomingPCSW · LCSW
The format
The same for every category: 122 questions, of which 110 are scored and 12 are unscored pretest items, in 2 sections of 61 with 240 minutes in total. More on how the exam works.
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