LMSW Exam Accommodations and ESL Extra Time: How to Request Them

Approval comes before registration

ASWB's rule is strict: request nonstandard testing arrangements and receive approval before you register and pay for the exam. Arrangements cannot be added to an appointment that is already scheduled. If you book first, that appointment has to be canceled before your registration can be updated.

The order ASWB sets out:

1. Get approved to test. Apply for your license with your board and receive approval to take the exam. Applicants in Colorado, Maine, Texas, and Utah first apply for exam preapproval with ASWB Licensing Services instead. How to register covers both paths.
2. Submit the request in ASWBCentral. Open the Nonstandard Testing Arrangements dashboard, choose the request type (lactation, ESL, or disability or health condition), select Begin New Request, and click Finish when the application is complete.
3. Wait for the decision email. Requests are reviewed in the order received. A reply can take up to three weeks, and there is no expedited process. If you have heard nothing after three weeks, it is your job to contact ASWB.
4. Register and pay. The Masters registration fee is US$230. You can register starting the day your decision letter arrives, and you will confirm that you plan to use the approved arrangements.
5. Check your Authorization to Test. It arrives within two business days and should list your approved arrangements. If it does not match the decision letter, email specialarrangements@aswb.org and do not schedule until it is corrected.
6. Schedule with Pearson by following the ATT instructions. The guidebook notes that many candidates with arrangements must schedule by phone.

Work backward from your test date. ASWB recommends scheduling four to six weeks before the date you want. Add up to three weeks for a decision and a couple of business days for the ATT, and a request should go in roughly seven to nine weeks before your preferred date. That is Passy's arithmetic from ASWB's timelines, not an ASWB deadline.

The online-proctoring pilot, which was open to some candidates with arrangements, was suspended effective July 31, 2026. Approved arrangements are delivered at a Pearson test center.

ESL arrangements

The exam is given only in English. Qualified candidates who use English as a second language can receive:

• Up to two extra hours of testing time.
• Up to two print dictionaries: one bilingual word-to-word translation dictionary, one general English dictionary, or one of each.

The details that trip people up:

• Board approval comes first. You must already be approved by your board to take the exam before you submit an ESL request.
• California is different. California test-takers need preliminary ESL approval from the California Board of Behavioral Sciences before asking ASWB for extra time, and California does not permit English or bilingual dictionaries.
• You supply the dictionaries, and they are inspected. Translation dictionaries must be word-to-word with no definitions. English dictionaries may contain only common definitions, so no social work or other specialized dictionaries. Staff inspect them before and after the exam, and they should not be in packaging. Notes found at check-in keep the dictionary out of the room. Notes found at check-out mean it is confiscated and your score is held for investigation.
• Your board decides whether it recognizes the score. The guidebook says all states and provinces allow ESL arrangements. The handbook adds that each jurisdiction decides whether to recognize scores earned with them and that this can change, so confirm with your board.
• ESL approval does not expire unless your jurisdiction or ASWB revokes it. A retake needs a new request only if you want to change the arrangements.

American Sign Language is not an ESL arrangement. Request it as a disability or health-condition arrangement.

Disability and health-condition arrangements

You and your practitioner provide information about the diagnosis, the major life activities it limits, and what you need in the testing environment. ASWB's handbook says a request cannot be approved if the documentation does not explain the functional limitations in testing that follow from the reported diagnosis. ASWB makes these determinations under applicable laws, including the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Arrangements ASWB lists as possible include extra time, frequent or extended breaks, an ASL interpreter, a beverage, and glucose testing supplies. ASWB will not confirm what it will approve until it reviews the request. Three details are easy to miss:

• Extra time is split evenly between the exam's two sections.
• Some approvals expire. Approvals for temporary conditions, such as an injury with an expected recovery date or a pregnancy with a due date, end. Others stay valid, but tell ASWB if your needs change.
• Some small needs still require a request. Examples include a monitoring device that cannot be silenced, cannot be set to vibrate, or is not attached to your body; extra breaks during pregnancy; and arrangements for a broken bone.

Lactation arrangements

Lactating test-takers may be approved for:

• locker access during a break to get a pump
• one hour of extra time for pumping or expressing
• frequent or extended breaks
• a designated space for pumping or expressing
• a beverage at the desk in a clear, spill-proof sports bottle with a spout
• permission to leave the test center, only for those approved to breastfeed in person

Pearson test centers in the U.S. and Canada provide a private space with a chair, a table, and an electrical outlet, on a first-come, first-served basis. You bring your own storage and refrigeration.

What you do not need to request

Every test-taker already has the optional scheduled break of up to 10 minutes, unscheduled breaks with the clock running, a drink and snack in the locker for the waiting area, and layered indoor clothing. The exam software lets anyone enlarge text up to 200% in 25% steps, switch to white text on a black background, highlight, and strike through options. Pearson's comfort aids list covers items such as a silent medical monitor attached to your body, unwrapped glucose tablets or cough drops, and a lumbar pillow. Exam day lists what else may go into the room.

Cancellations, retakes, and the practice test

• Assistive personnel need notice. If your arrangements include a reader, scribe, or ASL interpreter, ASWB asks for two business days' notice to cancel or reschedule. The Monday-and-Tuesday rule still applies: call before 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the Friday before.
• Illness is handled as an excused absence. ASWB does not offer an arrangement that lets you cancel because of an illness or a flare of an ongoing condition. If you miss the appointment, submit an excused-absence request within 14 days.
• Retakes reuse valid approvals. Arrangements stay valid until they expire. If you register before they expire, they last until you test or until your board approval or ASWB registration expires, whichever comes first.
• The ASWB practice test can match your time. If you are approved for extra time for a disability, health condition, or other need, the guidebook says you may take ASWB's online practice test with standard time, time and a half, or double time.

ASWB's nonstandard testing team can be reached at 888.579.3926, ext. 3250, or specialarrangements@aswb.org.