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Whether you’re taking the Bachelors, Masters, or Clinical ASWB exam, the NASW Code of Ethics will shape a big share of your questions. On the new ASWB exam, launched August 3, 2026, Values and Ethics is the largest content area at every level: 35% of the Bachelors and Masters exams and 36% of the Clinical exam. That’s roughly 38 to 40 of your 110 scored questions.
This guide covers what the Code is, its six core values and ethical principles, how it’s organized, the standards most likely to appear on the exam, a step-by-step method for ethics questions, how to study the Code, and practice questions with rationales.
Quick answer: the NASW Code of Ethics
- Six core values: service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence.
- Four parts: Preamble, Purpose, Ethical Principles, and Ethical Standards.
- Six sections of standards: responsibilities to clients, colleagues, practice settings, as professionals, to the profession, and to the broader society.
- Most recent revision: 2021, which added self-care and strengthened cultural competence language.
- On the exam: expect scenario questions on self-determination, informed consent, confidentiality and its limits, conflicts of interest, competence, and colleagues’ unethical conduct.
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1) What Is the NASW Code of Ethics?
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Code of Ethics sets out the values, principles, and standards that guide social workers’ professional conduct, whatever their role, setting, or level of practice. First adopted in 1960 and revised several times since, the current version includes 2017 revisions on technology and 2021 revisions on self-care and cultural competence. For a closer look at the changes, see NASW Code of Ethics Updates.
The Code has four parts:
- Preamble: the profession’s mission and core values.
- Purpose: what the Code is for and how to use it, including the 2021 addition on professional self-care.
- Ethical Principles: broad ideals based on the six core values.
- Ethical Standards: specific standards to guide conduct, organized into six sections.
The Code doesn’t give a rule for every situation. When values conflict, social workers use professional judgment, consult, and consider the Code as a whole.
2) The Six Core Values and Ethical Principles
| Core value | Ethical principle (in plain language) |
|---|---|
| Service | Helping people in need and addressing social problems is the primary goal, above self-interest. |
| Social justice | Challenge social injustice and pursue change with and for vulnerable and oppressed people. |
| Dignity and worth of the person | Treat every person with care and respect, mindful of individual differences and cultural diversity, and promote self-determination. |
| Importance of human relationships | Relationships are a vehicle for change; engage people as partners in the helping process. |
| Integrity | Behave in a trustworthy manner, consistent with the profession’s mission, values, and standards. |
| Competence | Practice within your areas of competence and keep developing your knowledge and skills. |
3) The Ethical Standards Most Likely to Appear on the ASWB Exam
The Code’s standards are organized into six sections: (1) responsibilities to clients, (2) to colleagues, (3) in practice settings, (4) as professionals, (5) to the social work profession, and (6) to the broader society. Section 1 drives the most exam questions. Know these in your own words:
| Standard | What to know |
|---|---|
| 1.01 Commitment to clients | Clients’ interests are primary, but legal obligations or the wider community’s interests can sometimes take priority (for example, mandated reporting). |
| 1.02 Self-determination | Respect clients’ right to make their own choices, limited only when actions pose a serious, foreseeable, and imminent risk to themselves or others. |
| 1.03 Informed consent | Explain services, risks, limits, costs, and the right to refuse, in clear language; get consent for recording and for technology-based services. |
| 1.04 Competence | Practice only within your education, training, and supervised experience; get training or supervision before using new approaches. |
| 1.05 Cultural competence | Understand culture’s role in people’s lives, practice cultural humility, and take action against oppression and discrimination. |
| 1.06 Conflicts of interest | Avoid conflicts and harmful dual relationships; set clear boundaries when overlap is unavoidable; no personal social media relationships with clients. |
| 1.07 Privacy and confidentiality | Share information only with valid consent or when needed to prevent serious, foreseeable, and imminent harm, or as required by law; disclose the minimum necessary; explain limits of confidentiality up front. |
| 1.08 Access to records | Give clients reasonable access to their records; limit access only in exceptional cases where it would cause serious harm. |
| 1.09–1.12 Sexual relationships, physical contact, harassment, language | Never sexual relationships with current clients; avoid harmful physical contact; never sexually harass; never use derogatory language. |
| 1.13 Payment for services | Fair fees; bartering only in very limited circumstances. |
| 1.14 Clients who lack decision-making capacity | Act to safeguard the interests and rights of clients who can’t make informed decisions. |
| 1.15–1.17 Interruption, referral, termination | Ensure continuity of care; refer when others can better serve the client; terminate appropriately, never abandon clients. |
| 2.10 Unethical conduct of colleagues | When feasible, discuss concerns with the colleague first; if that isn’t feasible or doesn’t work, use formal channels. |
| 3.01 Supervision and consultation | Supervise only within competence; set clear boundaries; avoid dual relationships with supervisees. |
| 3.04 Client records | Accurate, timely documentation that protects privacy. |
| 4.05 Impairment | Don’t let personal problems interfere with practice; get help and take steps to protect clients. |
| 5.02 Evaluation and research | Informed consent, voluntary participation, confidentiality, and protection from harm for research participants. |
| 6.04 Social and political action | Advocate for policies and conditions that meet human needs and promote social justice. |
For deeper dives, see Conflicts of Interest and Dual Relationships, Boundary Crossing vs. Boundary Violation, and Ethics in Supervision.
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4) How to Answer Ethics Questions on the ASWB Exam
Ethics questions often give you several answers that sound reasonable. Use this sequence:
- Identify the ethical issue. Confidentiality? Self-determination? A conflict of interest? Competence?
- Check for safety and legal duties. Is there a serious, foreseeable, and imminent risk, or a mandated reporting requirement? These can override other considerations.
- Keep the client’s interests primary. Rule out answers that serve the social worker or the agency at the client’s expense.
- Respect self-determination. Unless there’s imminent risk, the client decides.
- Talk with the person involved. Explore with the client, or raise concerns with a colleague, before going around them, unless it’s unsafe or not feasible.
- Consult and document. Supervision and consultation are strong choices when a dilemma is unclear.
- Watch the question word. FIRST and NEXT questions want the earliest correct step. See How to Answer FIRST Questions.
When values conflict: the Ethical Principles Screen
Dolgoff, Harrington, and Loewenberg’s Ethical Principles Screen ranks principles to help when they conflict. From highest to lowest priority:
- Protection of life
- Social justice (equality and inequality)
- Autonomy and freedom
- Least harm
- Quality of life
- Privacy and confidentiality
- Truthfulness and full disclosure
For example, protecting someone’s life outranks confidentiality, which is why a social worker may break confidentiality to prevent serious, imminent harm.
5) How to Study the Code of Ethics
- Read it in sections, not all at once. Start with the Preamble and Ethical Principles, then work through Section 1 over several sessions.
- Translate each standard into plain language. If you can explain it in a sentence, you understand it.
- Connect each standard to a scenario. What would a violation look like? What would the right response be?
- Practice with exam-style questions and read every rationale.
- Review ethics weekly. It’s the largest content area, so treat it as an ongoing habit. Our 30-, 60-, and 90-day study plans build it in.
Read the full Code on the NASW website.
The Code vs. licensing laws
The NASW Code applies to NASW members, and NASW can sanction members who violate it. Licenses, however, are governed by your state board’s laws and rules, and only the board can suspend or revoke a license. Many state boards incorporate the Code or similar standards into their regulations, so violating the Code can also lead to board discipline. When the Code and the law conflict, the Code asks social workers to make a responsible effort to resolve the conflict in a way consistent with the Code’s values, and to seek consultation.
6) Practice Questions: NASW Code of Ethics
Question 1: A social worker learns that a colleague has been billing for sessions that never took place. What should the social worker do FIRST?
A) Ignore it, since it doesn’t affect the social worker’s own clients
B) Discuss the concern with the colleague, if feasible
C) Report the colleague to the state licensing board
D) Discuss the situation with other coworkers to gather opinions
Answer: B
Rationale: Under Standard 2.10, when feasible, social workers should first seek resolution by discussing concerns with the colleague. If that isn’t feasible or doesn’t resolve the issue, the social worker should take action through appropriate formal channels, such as a supervisor, the agency, or the licensing board. Ignoring it (A) violates the duty to address unethical conduct, and gossiping with coworkers (D) is unprofessional. Reporting (C) may become necessary but is generally not the first step.
Question 2: A struggling single parent mentions they could really use help paying rent this month. How should the social worker respond?
A) Lend the client money personally
B) Explore community resources and assistance programs with the client
C) Tell the client that finances are outside the scope of their work together
Answer: B
Rationale: Lending money creates a conflict of interest and a harmful dual relationship (Standard 1.06). Exploring resources with the client reflects the values of service and social justice while keeping the relationship professional. Dismissing the concern (C) ignores a real need.
Question 3: An adult client with no history of risk decides to leave a stable job to start a business. The social worker thinks it’s a poor decision. What should the social worker do?
A) Explore the decision with the client and respect the client’s choice
B) Strongly advise the client to keep the job
C) Contact the client’s family to express concern
D) Refuse to continue services unless the client reconsiders
Answer: A
Rationale: Standard 1.02 calls for respecting self-determination unless there’s a serious, foreseeable, and imminent risk. A risky career move doesn’t meet that bar. The social worker can help the client think it through, but the choice is the client’s. Pressuring (B), going around the client (C), and conditioning services (D) all violate self-determination.
Question 4: A social worker is asked to start using an intervention she has never been trained in. What does the Code require?
A) Use it, since the agency approved it
B) Get appropriate training, consultation, or supervision before using it
C) Refuse to work with clients who need it
Answer: B
Rationale: Standard 1.04 says social workers should provide services only within their competence and should use new techniques only after appropriate study, training, consultation, and supervision.
Question 5: At intake, what should a social worker tell a new client about confidentiality?
A) Everything the client shares will be kept confidential
B) The limits of confidentiality and situations in which information may be disclosed
C) Nothing, unless the client asks
Answer: B
Rationale: Standard 1.07 requires social workers to discuss the nature of confidentiality and its limits with clients as early as possible in the relationship. Promising total confidentiality (A) is inaccurate, and waiting to be asked (C) undermines informed consent.
7) FAQs: The Code of Ethics and the ASWB Exam
Q: What are the six core values of the NASW Code of Ethics?
A: Service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence.
Q: How much of the ASWB exam is ethics?
A: On the new ASWB exam, Values and Ethics is 35% of the Bachelors and Masters exams and 36% of the Clinical exam, the largest of the three content areas.
Q: When was the NASW Code of Ethics last updated?
A: The most recent revisions took effect in 2021, adding professional self-care to the Purpose section and strengthening cultural competence and cultural humility language. The 2017 revisions added standards on technology.
Q: Do I need to memorize standard numbers?
A: No. The exam tests whether you can apply the standards, not recite their numbers. Know what each key standard requires and how it plays out in a scenario.
Q: Can a social worker break confidentiality?
A: Yes, in limited cases: with the client’s valid consent, to prevent serious, foreseeable, and imminent harm to the client or others, or when required by law (such as mandated reporting or a court order). Even then, disclose only the minimum necessary.
8) Conclusion
The NASW Code of Ethics is the backbone of the ASWB exam’s largest content area. Learn the six core values and principles, understand the most-tested standards in plain language, and practice applying them with a consistent method: identify the issue, check for safety and legal duties, keep the client’s interests primary, respect self-determination, talk with the people involved, and consult when unsure. With steady practice, ethics questions will start to feel predictable.
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About the Instructor, Dr. Meagan Mitchell: Meagan is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and has been providing individualized and group test prep for the ASWB for over 11 years. From all of this experience helping others pass their exams, she created the Agents of Change course to help you prepare for and pass the ASWB exam!
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Disclaimer: This content has been made available for informational and educational purposes only. This content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical or clinical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
