ASWB follows rigorous exam development standards to ensure the exams incorporate best practices and reflect current professional social work practice. Today's launch is the result of years of research and collaboration driven by practicing social workers to ensure the exam content remains current and relevant.

The most recent cycle of research and updates culminates on August 3, 2026, when ASWB launches new exams based on the 2026 blueprints. Scheduling is now available for both the current exam, based on the 2018 blueprint, and the new exam, based on the 2026 blueprint.

Sixty-five social workers from across the United States and Canada recently gathered in San Antonio, Texas, to participate in a standard setting workshop for the 2026 social work licensing exams.

The social work licensing exams determine whether an aspiring social worker is ready to practice as a member of a profession that serves vulnerable client populations. Because the stakes are high — for licensure candidates and for the communities they hope to serve — ASWB adheres to rigorous exam development standards. The 2026 exams will feature a new structure centering candidates’ experiences and a renewed focus on applied knowledge rather than simple recall of information.

The Association of Social Work Boards convened a panel of social work educators to compare the content of one of the social work licensing exams alongside the competencies for academic accreditation.

ASWB is recruiting exam question writers from all license categories who represent a variety of experience and educational, geographic, and demographic backgrounds.

ASWB is seeking volunteers to participate on the standard setting panel for the next iteration of competence assessments for social work licensing. Deadline for applications is August 15, 2025.

The changes made to the licensing exam blueprints based on feedback from more than 25,000 social workers who participated in the practice analysis include structural and editorial modifications for comprehensiveness and currency.

The development of the next iteration of competence assessments for social work licensing, slated for launch in 2026, took a major step forward when the 2022–2024 Practice Analysis Task Force held its final meeting on September 6 and 7 in Reston, Virginia.

"Being a part of both the item writing program and the Exam Committee have really informed my practice... It makes those parts of our practice — the evidence-based, the best practice, the Code of Ethics — less abstract," says Paul Perales, LCSW.