“We always have to balance security concerns with the comfort of the test-takers,” says Director of Exam Administration Felicia Dennison. “These new measures illustrate ASWB’s commitment to evaluating existing procedures and revising them based on both feedback from test-takers and evidence of their effectiveness.”

The ASWB has announced important exam changes that will impact the social work exam test-taking experience beginning 2023.  

Based on candidate feedback and in an effort to improve the testing experience, the ASWB announced updates that will affect Bachelor, Masters, and Clinical level exams beginning January 2023. The ASWB has identified these exam changes as enhancements intended to reduce test-taker stress and promote a better social work examination process.

These enhancements are a combination of updates to the exam, test-taker comfort, and testing center security and will impact both the actual exam format and the testing experience.  These  changes to the exams should result in a material improvement to the test-taking experience, encouraging less stress and contributing to a more effective exam.

Now, let’s go over the ASWB Exam Changes.

Access to Food Is Now Allowed During Exam

While eating food during the exam was previously prohibited, candidates can now access their lockers to retrieve a snack during the exam. This change provides test-takers with the opportunity to take

The Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology or (EPPP) Part 2 is a standardized test that is used as one of the requirements for licensure as a psychologist in the United States. The Part 2 exam is used to evaluate the skills of a candidate using applied, real-world situations that psychologists face in practice.

Wondering how to get started in preparing for the EPPP Part 2 - Skills exam?  Keep reading.

• Review the exam content outline. The exam content outline will provide you with a comprehensive list of domains that will be covered on the exam. Use this outline to guide your studying and ensure that you are focusing on the most important areas.
• Practice with sample questions: One of the best ways to prepare for the EPPP Part 2 exam is to practice with sample questions. This will help you become familiar with the format and types of questions that will be on the exam, and will give you an idea of the level of difficulty you can expect. 
• Consider connecting with others who have taken or are studying for the Part 2 exam via an online EPPP study group or board. Working with others can be an effective way to review for the EPPP Part 2 exam and can help provide one-on-one support, guidance, accountability and a sense of community.

The EPPP 2 is a licensing examination for psychologists in the United States and Canada that focuses on skills and candidate understanding of how to proceed in applied situations whereas the EPPP Part 1 examination focuses on knowledge.

The EPPP Part 2 is a computer-based exam that consists of 170 questions featuring case situations and real world information presented in the formats of multiple choice, multiple response, scenarios, point and click, and drag and drop. To be eligible to take the EPPP Part 2, you must typically have completed a doctoral degree in psychology from an accredited program and have completed any required supervised experience hours.

The exam is administered by the Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards (ASPPB) and is used by several states and provinces as part of the process for granting a license to practice psychology. Many states and provinces have already adopted the new EPPP exam format and the Part 2 - Skills exam must be passed prior to licensure in those states.  All states and provinces will adopt the new EPPP exam format by January 1, 2026.

The EPPP 2 exam assesses the following areas:

1. Scientific Orientation (6%) 

2. Assessment and Intervention (33%) 

3. Relational Competence (16%) 

4. Professionalism (11%) 

5. Ethical Practice (17%) 

6. Collaboration, Consultation, Supervision (17%)

The EPPP 2 exam breakdown is:

- Multiple Choice or Multiple Choice Multiple Response: 45% 

- Scenario Based Questions: 45% 

- Other Item Types: 10% 

The EPPP 2 allows an exam time of 4 hours and 15 minutes.

More questions about the EPPP 2?  Get more information here.