Failed the ASWB Exam? Retake Rules

A fail on the ASWB exam is common enough that every board has a process for it. ASWB's 2025 first-time pass rates were 75.7 percent on the Clinical and 73.9 percent on the Masters, which means roughly one first-time candidate in four did not pass. What matters now is how soon you can test again, whether you need permission, and what your board does if it happens more than once.

How long do I have to wait?

Ninety days. ASWB's guidebook says "You must wait at least 90 days to retake any Social Work Licensing Examination." The wait is ASWB policy, so it applies in every state.

There is one exception. If your score was within 10 points of passing and your jurisdiction allows waivers, you can ask ASWB to waive the waiting period. You must wait 24 hours after the exam before requesting the waiver, and you request it through your ASWBCentral account. Not every board permits it; ask yours.

Do I need board approval to retake it?

Often. ASWB tells candidates to contact its Candidate Services Center "to find out whether you need further approval from your social work board to retake the exam," and then register and pay the exam fee again: US$230 for the Masters or Bachelors and US$260 for the Clinical or Advanced Generalist. If you had nonstandard testing arrangements, confirm they still apply.

Texas is an example of a board that has relaxed this. Its Behavioral Health Executive Council says: "There is no limit to the number of times you may attempt the ASWB exam. Rules that required approval from the SW Board after three attempts no longer apply to ASWB exams."

Is there a limit on attempts?

ASWB sets none; it notes that "some licensing boards limit the number of times a test-taker may retake" the exam. Arizona is a clear example. Under Ariz. Admin. Code R4-6-402, an applicant must pass within 12 months of receiving the board's written exam authorization and may not take the exam more than three times in that 12-month period. If the 12 months run out without a pass, the board closes the file "with no recourse to appeal," and you start over with a new application and fee. The board may grant a one-time 90-day extension for good cause.

Other boards set clocks rather than counts. Virginia gives approved applicants a two-year testing window; a clinical applicant who has not passed by the end of the second period must register for supervision and complete another year before continuing (18VAC140-20-70). Maryland requires a three-month wait after a failure, waivable for exceptional circumstances (COMAR 10.42.01.10). Kansas's statute, by contrast, says it does not limit attempts.

Your Authorization to Test also has a clock. ASWB says it may be valid for up to one year, a board can set an earlier date, and you get at most one extension of up to six months. Check both clocks before booking a retake date far out.

Does a failed score follow me to another state?

Yes, in the sense that it cannot be turned into a pass anywhere. ASWB's guidebook says a passing or failing score "is valid in all states and provinces for the same examination category," and New York's Office of the Professions says "a failing score cannot be calculated as a passing score." You cannot escape a fail by applying somewhere else.

You also cannot bank partial credit. ASWB says there is no option to combine content-area scores from different attempts or retake only part of the exam.

What should I do with the score report?

Use it. A failing report shows how many questions you got right in each content area against the total. Since August 3, 2026 the exams use three content areas instead of four, so a report from an older attempt will not map neatly onto the new outline; see what changed in August 2026. ASWB also offers a free program, run by the outside firm Fifth Theory, for candidates who have not passed, focused on test anxiety and mindset.

Are there routes around a repeated fail?

A few states have created them since 2022. Two reach the clinical license:

• Illinois has not required any exam for the LSW since January 1, 2022. For the LCSW, since January 1, 2024 (Public Act 103-433), an applicant who has attempted the clinical exam since 2019 may instead document 3,000 additional hours of supervised professional experience on top of the 3,000 clinical hours.
• Minnesota, since October 1, 2024, lets a provisional licensee who completes 2,000 hours of supervised practice with a final supervisor attestation receive the standard license without passing the ASWB exam (Minn. Stat. 148E.0551 and 148E.055).

Texas went the other way: its legislature repealed the old Alternate Method of Examining Competency program, which had let LBSW and LMSW candidates who failed narrowly substitute a year of supervised practice. Texas says the only path now is to pass the appropriate ASWB exam.

A license earned without the exam may not travel. Other states may still require the score, and the Social Work Compact's rules require a qualifying exam except for legacy licensees. See states that dropped the ASWB exam.

If the board side of a retake (approvals, expiring authorizations, extension requests) is eating your time, our ASWB Exam Approval & Registration service handles it; see pricing.