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LCSW / ASWB Clinical Exam
Almost everyone searching this wants one number: what percent do I need? The honest answer is that there isn't one. ASWB scores the Clinical exam on a scaled, criterion-referenced standard — so the right way to think about passing isn't "what's the cutoff," it's "am I consistently competent across every content area." Here's how it actually works, and roughly how many questions that means getting right.
The short version: There's no fixed passing percentage. ASWB uses a scaled score set per exam form. As a working target, aim to get about three-quarters of the scored questions right — roughly 100-105 of 150 on the current format, or about 80-85 of 110 once the new format starts in August 2026.
ASWB builds many different versions ("forms") of the exam, and no two are exactly equal in difficulty. To keep things fair, your raw number-correct is converted to a scaled score, and the passing point is set so the competency bar is the same no matter which form you happen to get. That's why two people can need slightly different numbers of correct answers to pass — and why "you need 75%" is a myth, even though it's a reasonable rule of thumb.
It's also criterion-referenced, which means you're measured against a fixed standard of competence — not against other test-takers. You're not competing for a limited number of passes. If everyone meets the bar, everyone passes.
Only the scored questions count, and the count is changing in 2026:
Treat those as ballparks, not guarantees — ASWB doesn't publish a fixed cutoff. The takeaway: you have meaningful room for error. You do not need to be perfect. What you need is to avoid a weak domain dragging your overall total below the line. See the full 2026 format changes if your test date is near the cutover.
Because the bar is roughly three-quarters correct, you can be strong in three content areas and still fail if one area is well below that line. Most people who fail aren't bad across the board — they have one or two soft domains that quietly cost them 10-15 questions. That's why studying everything equally is inefficient: the fastest path to a passing score is finding your weak areas and lifting them, not polishing what you already know. The free diagnostic gives you that domain-by-domain picture in 20 questions.
Take the free 20-question diagnostic and get a domain-by-domain breakdown of where you stand.
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There's no fixed percentage. ASWB reports a scaled score against a criterion-referenced bar set per form. In practice, aim for about three-quarters of the scored questions correct.
Roughly 100-105 of 150 scored on the current format; about 80-85 of 110 once the new format starts in August 2026. Ballpark targets, not official cutoffs.
No — it's criterion-referenced. You pass by meeting a fixed competency standard, not by beating other test-takers.
No. 20 of the current 170 (and 12 of the new 122) are unscored pretest items. You can't tell which, so answer every one as if it counts.