LMSW guideScores and results
Failed the LMSW Exam? Retake Rules, Timeline, and Next Steps
After an unsuccessful ASWB Masters attempt, the standard wait is 90 days. Here is the retake timeline, the narrow waiver path, and how to use your score report.
Short answer
If you did not pass the ASWB Masters exam, your next test date must generally be at least 90 days after your last attempt. You register with ASWB again and pay the US$230 exam fee again, and your board may need to approve another attempt. A waiver of the 90-day wait is possible only if your board allows waivers and your score was within 10 correct answers of passing. Some boards also limit how many times you may take the exam.
What you have right now: the score report
You saw the result on the testing computer. About 24 hours later, your unofficial score report appears in ASWBCentral. Because you did not pass, it shows more than the pass report does: for each of the three Masters content areas, the number of questions you answered correctly and the number that area contained on your form. It also shows how many scored questions you needed and how many you answered correctly overall.
That report is the only diagnostic you get. ASWB does not let candidates review the exam, and your next attempt will be a different form, so ASWB says the same questions are highly unlikely to appear again. There is also no partial retake, and scores from different attempts cannot be combined by content area. The next attempt is the full exam.
The guidebook acknowledges that some people do not pass on the first try and that a later attempt can succeed. The rest of this page is about making that attempt different.
The retake timeline, counted from your test date
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| Test day | Pass or fail appears on screen after the exit survey. |
| About 24 hours later | The unofficial score report is available in ASWBCentral. |
| At least 24 hours after the exam | The earliest point to request a waiver, if you qualify. |
| 7 to 10 days after the exam | ASWB says to wait this long before registering again on the standard path. |
| Within 2 business days of registering | A new Authorization to Test arrives by email. |
| At least 90 days after your last attempt | The earliest new test date unless a waiver was granted. |
| 2 weeks to 2 months | How long the guidebook says board processing of an official result can take. This is separate from the 90-day wait. |
Your new test date also has to fall between the eligibility date and the expiration date on the new Authorization to Test.
The waiver path is narrow
ASWB's retake page lists two conditions, and both must be true:
- the board where you are applying for a license allows waivers, and
- your most recent score was within 10 correct answers of the passing score.
The guidebook says to wait 24 hours after the exam before requesting a waiver. ASWB's retake page says not to register again until the waiver is granted or denied. Passy cannot tell you whether your board allows waivers. Ask the board or ASWB.
Before you register again
- Call ASWB Candidate Services. Ask whether you need further approval from your board to retake the exam, and whether any nonstandard testing arrangements you had are still valid.
- Check your board's attempt limit. ASWB notes that some boards limit how many times you may test.
- Register and pay US$230 again. Exam cost explains why the fee repeats, and how to register covers the scheduling rules.
- Schedule with Pearson only after the new Authorization to Test arrives.
Turn the content-area breakdown into the next plan
This is a Passy method for reading the report. ASWB says the content-area breakdown is a good resource for a study plan, but it does not prescribe a method.
- Work out a ratio for each area. Divide the number you answered correctly by the number that area contained. Do this for Values and Ethics, Assessment and Planning, and Intervention and Practice.
- Rank the areas from lowest ratio to highest. That is your order of attention, not a verdict on what you know.
- Break near-ties by weight. Values and Ethics is 35% of the outline, Assessment and Planning 33%, and Intervention and Practice 32%. If two areas are close, start with the larger one.
- Go one level down. In your lowest area, rate each competency from 1 to 5, the way ASWB's study-plan template rates each applied knowledge statement. In Values and Ethics, for example, rate IA, IB, and IC separately.
- Name the kind of miss. Were you short on knowledge, did you misread FIRST, NEXT, BEST, or MOST, or did you run short of time? Each needs a different fix. The qualifier guide covers the second.
- Keep all three areas in the week. Weight the weakest area most heavily, but keep the other two in rotation, because the retake is a 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. The passing score guide explains why the exact cut on your next form will not be known until you see your report.
Once you have the ranking, compare a free mixed LMSW set's area breakdown with your score report as one more signal, then build the remaining weeks with the free LMSW study plan or the study guide's rating method. In the last two weeks before the new date, mix all three Masters areas again in your practice so the retake does not feel like a single-topic drill.
Trust the source
Official sources
Exam policies can change. Use these primary sources for the most current details.