Failed the ASWB Bachelors Exam? The 90-Day Wait, Waivers and a Better Second Attempt

Not passing is disappointing, and it's also common enough that ASWB writes about it directly. Its guidebook says that while most social workers pass on the first try, some don't, and "it is possible to succeed on a subsequent attempt." What you control now is how you use the next 90 days, and the place to start is the report already in your ASWBCentral account.

What your failing ASWB Bachelors score report gives you

About 24 hours after the exam, your unofficial score report appears in ASWBCentral. Because you didn't pass, it shows:

• how many scored questions you needed to answer correctly on your form
• how many you answered correctly
• for each of the three content areas, how many you got right and how many questions that area contained

That breakdown is the only diagnostic you get. ASWB doesn't let candidates review the exam, and because your next attempt will be a different form, the guidebook says it is "highly unlikely" the same questions will appear again. There's also no partial retake, and you can't combine content-area results from different attempts. The next attempt is the full exam.

An example (fictional candidate). Jordan needed 71 and answered 64 correctly. The report shows Values and Ethics 26 of 39, Assessment and Planning 22 of 36, and Intervention and Practice 16 of 35. Jordan was 7 short overall, so a waiver might be possible if the board allows it. And the clearest gap is Intervention and Practice, at under half correct.

The ASWB Bachelors retake timeline

Your new date must also fall between the eligibility date and the expiration date on the new Authorization to Test. The 90 days are counted to your next testing appointment, not to your registration, so you can register and book a date before the 90 days are over as long as the test itself falls after them.

The 90-day waiver: who qualifies

ASWB's waiver page lists two conditions, and both must be true:

• your most recent score was within 10 correct answers of the passing score
• the board where you are applying for a license allows waivers

It adds two limits: California and North Dakota don't permit 90-day waivers, and candidates may not use more than two waivers in 12 months for any one exam category. To apply, log in to ASWBCentral, open the Waiver/Excused Absence tab, choose Waiver and submit the request. Don't register for the next attempt until the waiver is granted or denied.

Is a waiver a good idea? That's your call. In Passy's view, it makes most sense when you were only a few answers short and your report shows one clearly weak area you can fix quickly. If you were further off, or weak across the board, the full 90 days are study time, not lost time. ASWB itself says the waiting period "sets aside time to prepare for your next attempt."

Switching to the Associate exam doesn't skip the wait

The Associate and Bachelors exams share the same questions, and your board decides which category you take anyway. ASWB's posted policy manual (Section II, version 1.2022) allows case-by-case exceptions to the 90-day rule when a candidate moves to a different exam category, but it expressly excludes "switching between the Associate and Bachelors examinations, which share the same content."

Before you register again for the ASWB Bachelors exam

1. Call ASWB Candidate Services (888.579.3926). The guidebook says to ask whether you need further approval from your board to retake, and whether any nonstandard testing arrangements you had are still valid.
2. Check your board's attempt limit. ASWB notes that some boards limit how many times you may take the exam.
3. Register and pay the US$230 fee again. ASWB's fees are nonrefundable, and the retake fee is due when you register. How to register for the ASWB Bachelors exam covers the cancellation rules.
4. Schedule with Pearson only after the new Authorization to Test arrives.

If you're planning study time across the wait, the planned access periods that can cover a 90-day wait are listed for launch. Checkout isn't open yet.

Turn your Bachelors score report into a 90-day plan

This is a Passy method. ASWB calls the content-area breakdown "a good resource as you make a study plan" but doesn't prescribe how to use it.

1. Work out a ratio for each area. Divide correct answers by the questions in that area. In Jordan's case: 67%, 61% and 46%.
2. Rank the areas from lowest to highest. That's your order of attention, not a verdict on what you know.
3. Break near-ties by weight. Values and Ethics is 35% of the outline, Assessment and Planning 33%, Intervention and Practice 32%.
4. Go one level down. In your weakest area, use the guidebook's study plan template to rate each applied knowledge statement from 1 to 5. Intervention and Practice alone has 44 statements in Passy's count, so this step stops you rereading what you already know.
5. Name the kind of miss. Were you short on knowledge, did you misread FIRST, NEXT, BEST or MOST, or did you run out of time in a section? Each needs a different fix.
6. Keep all three areas in every week. Give the weakest area the most time, but the retake is the full exam.

Content-area counts are small, and a few questions can move a ratio a lot. Use them to set priorities, not to predict your next result. If you want to drill one Bachelors content area at a time with the planned full question bank, that is listed for launch.

The free ASWB Bachelors retake planner does the weighting for you: you rate how each area went, add your dates and weekly hours, and it builds a week-by-week schedule that starts with the areas you found hardest and keeps some mixed practice throughout. How to study for the ASWB Bachelors exam has the methods to use inside those weeks.

Keep the ASWB Bachelors repeat numbers in perspective

ASWB's 2025 jurisdiction reports show that 41.0% of repeat Bachelors exams in the US and Canada passed, against 70.4% for first-time exams. Those exams used the retired 2018 version, and the figure describes a group, not you. Read it as a reason to change how you prepare, not as a forecast. In the last two weeks before your new date, take timed, mixed sets of 61 questions in two hours so the retake doesn't feel like a single-topic drill, and see how planned prep tracks your weakest content area as you go.