Online proctoring pilot suspended for Social Work Licensing Exams

After four months, the Association of Social Work Boards will suspend the pilot program for online proctoring of the Social Work Licensing Exams as of July 31, 2026.

The pilot, launched March 23, 2026, offered online proctoring for test-takers who lived more than 100 miles from a Pearson test center or for test-takers approved for certain nonstandard testing arrangements.

The online proctoring pilot resulted in a cheating attempt which was detected through robust security protocols employed by ASWB and Pearson. Detection of the incident led the proctor to halt the exam immediately.

“Any attempt to cheat on a professional licensing exam is unacceptable,” said ASWB Senior Director of Examination Services Lavina Harless, LCSW. “It is deeply disappointing to see people taking advantage of the online proctoring pilot in a profession rooted in a code of ethics.”

This cheating incident prompted broader security concerns about online proctoring, and ASWB is working with its exam administration vendor to further investigate the risks of remote testing options.

Attempts to cheat on a licensing exam can result in sanctions including the requirement of ethics-focused continuing education courses and a candidate’s suspension from the exam program for a defined amount of time. As it has done with past cheating incidents, ASWB has invalidated the test scores and reported the test-taker to the social work licensing board in their jurisdiction.

“We initiated this pilot for test-takers who would benefit from this flexibility,” said Harless. “But following this cheating attempt it became clear that continuing to offer online proctoring is currently an unsustainable operation for the Social Work Licensing Exams.”

“While this pilot program has been suspended,” says ASWB CEO Stacey D. Hardy Chandler, Ph.D., JD, LCSW, PGDip, “our commitment to offering consistent, fair assessments has not. ASWB will continue to explore innovations in testing accessibility without sacrificing our goal of ensuring that social workers are ready to practice when they enter the profession.”