ASWB Bachelors Practice Test: Free BSW Social Work Exam Questions, 2026 Outline

449 practice questions for the ASWB Bachelors social work licensing exam, the exam states use for a bachelors-level license (LBSW, LSW and other names), written to the new outline ASWB has used since August 3, 2026. The Bachelors exam asks more recall questions than the Masters exam, so this bank mixes short knowledge questions (theories of human behavior, federal programs such as SSI, WIC and LIHEAP, the NASW Code, case management, task-centered practice) with the everyday generalist vignettes: a client, a situation, and what the social worker should do FIRST or NEXT. They follow the outline's weights: Values and Ethics (35%), Assessment and Planning (33%) and Intervention and Practice (32%). Each question is tagged to its outline code, so your score report shows exactly which knowledge statements you miss. Every answer explains why the best choice is best and names its source.

The real test: 122 multiple-choice questions (110 scored, 12 unscored pretest) in two 61-question sections, 2 hours each, at a Pearson VUE test center, $230. Pass or fail by a number of correct answers that ASWB adjusts for each version of the exam; there is no fixed percent, and more of the questions are recall than on the Masters exam. Our practice test is 110 scored questions plus 12 unscored, split 35/33/32 like the 2026 Bachelors outline, passing at 70%.

Passing score: How many questions you need to pass the ASWB exam

Here: 449 questions. Our own practice questions, written from the NASW Code of Ethics (2021), the HIPAA Privacy Rule, 42 CFR Part 2, SAMHSA Treatment Improvement Protocols, the Child Welfare Information Gateway, CDC, NIMH and federal law, with every answer's source named. Topics are the three content areas of the 2026 ASWB Bachelors exam outline. Not ASWB's test questions. Free.

What's on the test

"On the test" is the rough share of a 110-question test for each topic, following the exam's published weights.

10 sample questions

1. The parents of a 9-year-old have signed consent for counseling. What else should the social worker seek from the child?

   • A.Nothing more, since a child that young has no role in decisions about his care
   • B.The child's assent, after explaining counseling in words he can understand
   • C.A promise from the child to tell his parents everything that is said in sessions
   • D.A signed consent form from the child, which is legally required at age nine
   Show answer

   B. The child's assent, after explaining counseling in words he can understand

   BSW-1 · I. Values and Ethics

2. An Indigenous elder describes grief, anger and substance use across three generations of his family, which he connects to the boarding schools his grandparents were forced to attend. This is best described as:

   • A.Acute stress disorder
   • B.Historical trauma
   • C.Adjustment disorder
   • D.Complicated bereavement
   Show answer

   B. Historical trauma

   BSW-136 · II. Assessment and Planning

3. A team describes a client as "noncompliant" because she skips medication appointments to keep her cleaning job. How would a strengths-based worker reframe this?

   • A.She lacks insight into her illness and needs more education about it first
   • B.She does not care about her health, so the team should not push her
   • C.She is working hard to keep her job, and her schedule needs to fit that
   • D.She is resistant to treatment, so her case should be closed for now
   Show answer

   C. She is working hard to keep her job, and her schedule needs to fit that

   BSW-264 · III. Intervention and Practice

4. At intake, a client asks whether counseling could have any downsides. What is the BEST answer?

   • A.Tell her counseling has no risks, since she should not be scared away from the help she clearly needs
   • B.Be honest that talking about painful things can feel worse for a while, and describe other options
   • C.Say that risks are only discussed with clients after the first few sessions have taken place
   • D.Explain that only medication carries any risk, which is why she should try counseling first
   Show answer

   B. Be honest that talking about painful things can feel worse for a while, and describe other options

   BSW-2 · I. Values and Ethics

5. SAMHSA describes individual trauma as resulting from an event, series of events or circumstances. What are the "three E's" in its concept of trauma?

   • A.Emotion, empathy and education
   • B.Event, experience and effects
   • C.Evaluation, engagement and exit
   • D.Exposure, escape and endurance
   Show answer

   B. Event, experience and effects

   BSW-137 · II. Assessment and Planning

6. In the middle of a session, a client says sharply, "You just don't get it." What is the social worker's BEST response?

   • A."Maybe you would do better with a different social worker, then."
   • B."Help me understand what I'm missing. I'd like to get this right."
   • C."Let's move on, since getting upset won't help us with your goals."
   • D."I have years of training, so I think I understand you quite well."
   Show answer

   B. "Help me understand what I'm missing. I'd like to get this right."

   BSW-265 · III. Intervention and Practice

7. A social worker receives a subpoena from a lawyer for a client's full record. There is no court order and no signed release. What should she do FIRST?

   • A.Send the full record by the deadline, since a subpoena is the same as an order from a judge
   • B.Send a summary of the record instead, which protects the client while still meeting the request
   • C.Contact the client and seek legal advice about protecting the record, rather than sending it
   • D.Ignore the subpoena entirely, since lawyers have no power to request a social worker's records
   Show answer

   C. Contact the client and seek legal advice about protecting the record, rather than sending it

   BSW-3 · I. Values and Ethics

8. In a family where the parents fight constantly, the 10-year-old son develops stomachaches whenever tension rises, and the parents stop fighting to care for him. This pattern is called:

   • A.Enmeshment
   • B.Boundary-making
   • C.Differentiation
   • D.Triangulation
   Show answer

   D. Triangulation

   BSW-138 · II. Assessment and Planning

9. According to Bordin, the working alliance between helper and client is made up of agreement on goals, agreement on tasks, and:

   • A.A signed fee agreement
   • B.A bond of trust and attachment
   • C.A shared diagnosis
   • D.A fixed number of weekly sessions
   Show answer

   B. A bond of trust and attachment

   BSW-266 · III. Intervention and Practice

10. A well-known client has died, and a reporter asks the social worker what the client talked about in counseling. What should she do?

    • A.Share general themes only, since the client can no longer be harmed by the information
    • B.Share whatever the family approves, since the family owns the record after a death
    • C.Give the reporter the record, because privacy rights end the day a person dies
    • D.Decline to share anything, because confidentiality continues after a client's death
    Show answer

    D. Decline to share anything, because confidentiality continues after a client's death

    BSW-4 · I. Values and Ethics

What the study guide does

• Short study rounds and flip cards.
• A practice test built like the real one: 110 questions, 77 to pass.
• Pass Meter: your chance of passing if you sat the test today, worked out from your own answers.
• An explanation for every answer.