Entry-to-Practice Exams – What You Need to Know

On September 10, 2021, College Council approved entry-to-practice exams for all College applicants. This new registration requirement will be implemented in keeping with the timeline of the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) – the organization responsible for developing and implementing entry-to-practice exams.

We anticipate that the exam requirement will be implemented in 2027. Any updates to this timeline will be communicated with social work and social service work educators and students.

Why Implement Entry-to-Practice Exams?

Entry-to-practice exams are an additional tool that help measure applicants’ readiness to practise, ensuring that only those with specific qualifications are eligible for registration. In keeping with best practice in regulation across professions (including health professions such as nursing, medicine, psychotherapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy), the College must take all steps to be in a position to assure the public, including service users, that those entering the professions will practise safely and ethically, without causing harm.

Registration requirements which include both educational qualifications and successful completion of an entry-to-practice exam are standard across all health professions in Ontario; together, these measures provide a system of checks and balances which ensures that applicants are ready for practice. Neither a degree in social work nor a diploma in social service work alone is sufficient to measure readiness to practise.

Most other Canadian social work regulators now either use, or intend to move toward, use of the ASWB exams.

Updates on the implementation plan and timeline will be posted on this webpage as they become available. Please contact the Communications Department at communications@ocswssw.org for inquiries related to the entry-to-practice exams.

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Development and implementation

The ASWB is responsible for developing and implementing the entry-to-practice exams. There are a number of steps that the ASWB must develop before the College can implement the exams as a registration requirement. These include:

  • updating the social work exam;
  • developing a social service work exam; and
  • creating French versions of both exams.

The development and implementation of the exams will take several years. It is anticipated that the exam requirement will not be fully implemented until 2027.

During the development and implementation of the exams, the ASWB will carefully consider matters related to accessibility and inclusivity, including (but not limited to) the following:

  • Ensuring that each question is written and reviewed by practising social workers and social service workers and reflects diversity in practice setting, ethnicity, race and geography. All questions will be reviewed and approved before ever being used on an exam.
  • Considering the geographical locations of testing centres to ensure accessibility in all areas of the province and looking into offering remotely proctored exams.
  • Making every effort to reduce barriers for applicants through ongoing communication and collaboration with social work and social service work educators, and the provision of resources for their students.

For more information on the development of exam questions, including the ASWB’s practice analysis, visit the ASWB website.

College Updates

Related FAQs

  • Entry-to-practice exams are an additional tool that help measure applicants’ readiness to practise, ensuring that only those with specific qualifications are eligible for registration. In keeping with best practice in regulation across professions (including health professions such as nursing, medicine, psychotherapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy), the College must take all necessary measures to be in a position to assure the public (including service users) that successful applicants entering the professions will practise safely and ethically, without causing harm.

    Registration requirements which include both educational qualifications and successful completion of an entry-to-practice exam are standard across all health professions in Ontario; together, these measures provide a system of checks and balances which ensures that applicants are ready for practice. Neither a degree in social work nor a diploma in social service work alone is sufficient to measure readiness to practise.

    Most other Canadian social work regulators now either use, or intend to move toward, use of the ASWB exams.

  • The ASWB will develop and administer the entry-to-practice exams. The ASWB is a nonprofit organization composed of and owned by the social work regulatory boards and colleges of all 50 U.S. states and all 10 Canadian provinces, including the College. It is a requirement that member organizations – including the College – use the ASWB exams if and when they implement an entry-to-practice or other exam requirement.

    The ASWB currently administers a number of English exams, including the social work entry-to-practice exams. They will also develop a social service work exam, and French versions of the social work and social work exams.

  • The ASWB follows strict test development standards to ensure and maintain fairness. The first step is a practice analysis, a major survey of the tasks of thousands of practising social workers to ensure representation from various backgrounds and geographic areas. The survey results give ASWB a clear sense of what entry-level social workers do, and help establish content for exam questions. A practice analysis will also take place prior to the development of the social service work exam. For more information on the practice analysis, visit the ASWB website.

    More than 150 practising social workers, who represented diversity in practice setting, ethnicity, race and geography, developed the exam questions following the last practice analysis. The question writers received training to avoid bias, as well as any particular wording, assumptions, and stereotyping that could have made a question unfair for some. Every question was reviewed at each step in the process for signs of potential bias. The same process will take place prior to the development of the social service work exam, and the French versions of the social work and social service work exams. For more information on the development of exam questions, visit the ASWB website.

  • All social worker and social service worker applicants will be required to complete the exam successfully, as part of the College’s registration requirements. This includes applicants applying for registration through the equivalency stream. Current registrants will not be required to complete the entry-to-practice exam.

    College registrants who let their registration lapse and wish to reinstate their registration at a later date will be required to adhere to all registration requirements at the time of application, including successful completion of the appropriate exam.

  • In August 2022, the ASWB published an Exam Pass Rate Analysis, which included data indicating that racialized candidates have historically had lower exam pass rates. The College was deeply concerned and saddened by this evidence of the burdens that have been borne disproportionately by racialized exam candidates. Moving forward, identifying disparities is a necessary first step in developing and implementing appropriate solutions across the profession and measuring progress in relation to this complex issue.

    More information about the ASWB’s Exam Pass Rate Analysis as well as a call to collaboration video from the ASWB’s CEO, Stacey Hardy-Chandler can be found on the ASWB website.

  • No. The exams that are currently in place, to which the data in the Exam Pass Rate Analysis relates, are not the versions that the College will be using.

    The ASWB is currently preparing for an in-depth practice analysis, which will create the blueprint for the French and English versions of the social work exams that the College will use when the exams are implemented in 2027. A similar practice analysis will take place to develop the social service work exam which will also be available in French. The practice analysis is a very important opportunity for those with concerns to ensure that their voices are heard.

  • No. The French exams will not be direct translations of the English exams. True French versions of the exams will be developed separately.