Social Work Board Exam Schedule 2025, Requirements, Coverage

To be a Registered Social Worker in the Philippines, you need to pass the Licensure Examination conducted by the Professional Regulation Commission.

We will discuss the Schedule, Coverage, Requirements, and other important details you need to know.

Social Work Board Exam Schedule

The Social Worker Licensure Exam will be on September 08, 09 & 10, 2025. Check the table for a detailed Schedule including the start of the online application and the deadline.

Date of Exam	Testing Locations	Start of Application	Deadline of Application
September 08, 09 & 10, 2025	NCR, Baguio, Butuan, Cagayan de Oro, Calapan, Cebu, Davao, Iloilo, Koronadal, Legazpi, Lucena, Pagadian, Palawan, Pampanga, Rosales, Tacloban, Tuguegarao, and Zamboanga	June 11, 2025	August 11, 2025

Social Worker Board Exam Requirements

You must have a Bachelor of Science in Social Work (BS Social Work) to be able to take the Social Work Licensure Exam.

Here are the Social Worker Board Exam Requirements you need to prepare:

• Passport-sized image of the applicant with a white background and collared attire;
• A valid NBI Clearance;
• Transcript of Records accompanied by a scanned image and the remarks “For Board Review Purposes”;
• A copy of the applicant’s Birth Certificate issued by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA);
• A copy of the Marriage Contract from the NSO or the PSA (applicable to married female applicants only);
• Documentary stamps;
• Certificate of 1,000 case hours of supervised field practice signed by the faculty supervisor and/or head of the social work program, with an updated Professional Identification Card (PIC);
• Project Feasibility Study (hard & soft copy)
• An examination payment of Php 900.00;

Social Worker Board Exam Coverage

The SWLE will cover the following subjects with the corresponding percentage:

Human Behavior and Social Environment – 20%

Personality Development

1. Theories of Personality
   1. Psychoanalytic theories
      1. Freud
      2. Erikson
   2. Behaviorist theories
      1. Piaget
      2. Skinner
   3. Humanistic theories
      1. Maslow
      2. Rogers
2. Phases of Personality Development
   1. Steps in human growth and development and corresponding characteristics
      1. Oral sensory
      2. Muscular-anal
      3. Locomotor-genital
      4. Latency
      5. Puberty and adolescence
      6. Young adulthood
      7. Adulthood
      8. Maturity
   2. Developmental tasks
      1. Infancy and early childhood (birth to 6 years)
      2. Middle childhood (6 to 12 years)
      3. Pre-adolescence and adolescence (12 to 18 years)
      4. Early adulthood (18 to 35 years)
      5. Middle age (35 to 60 years)
      6. Later life (60 years and above)
   3. Determinants of behavior
      1. Heredity
      2. Environment
      3. Training

The Filipino Family

1. Historical perspectives on the Filipino family
   1. Pre-Spanish period
   2. Spanish period
   3. American period
   4. Post-American period
2. The contemporary Filipino family
   1. Socio-cultural factors influencing the Filipino family
      1. Family patterns and changing roles
         1. Types of family structures
         2. Functions of the family
         3. Authority in the family
      2. Institutions (schools, church, media, etc.)
      3. Cultural variables
         1. Folkways
         2. Moores
         3. Folklore
         4. Costumes
         5. Language
         6. Values
   2. Physical factors influencing the Filipino family
      1. Environmental changes
      2. Ecology
      3. Population growth
      4. Industrialization/modernization
   3. Courtship and Marriage
      1. Courtship
      2. Marriage and human sexuality
      3. Parenthood
         1. Child-rearing practices
         2. Decision-making pattern
   4. The Filipino Family in Crisis
      1. Sources of Disfunctioning
      2. Family disorganization
      3. Generation gap
      4. Role pressures and strains

Social Processes in the Group and Community

1. The Social Process: definition
   1. Basic social processes
      1. Competition
      2. Conflict
      3. Cooperation
   2. Derived social processes
      1. Accommodation
      2. Amalgamation
      3. Assimilation
      4. Acculturation
2. Understanding Group Behavior
   1. Group qualities
   2. Properties of group
      1. Communication pattern
      2. Values
      3. Composition of the group
      4. Group goals
      5. Standards or code of ethics
      6. Atmosphere or social climate
      7. Structure and organization
      8. Procedures of getting things done
      9. Sociometric pattern or relationship of friendship and antipathy
      10. Participation patterns
   3. Manner of forming groups
      1. Deliberate formation to accomplish objectives
      2. Spontaneous formation
      3. External designation
      4. Types of groups deliberately formed
         1. workgroups
         2. problem-solving groups
         3. social action groups
         4. mediating groups
         5. client groups
3. Functions of group members
   1. Group building and maintenance
      1. Encouraging
      2. Mediating
      3. Gatekeeping
      4. Standard-setting
      5. Following
      6. Relieving tension
   2. Group tasks in achieving goals
      1. Initiating (suggesting new ideas)
      2. Information seeking (asking for relevant facts)
      3. Information or opinion giving (stating pertinent facts or beliefs)
      4. Classifying (probing for meaning and understanding)
      5. Elaborating (enlarging on previous comments)
      6. Coordinating (showing relationships)
      7. Orienting (defining the progress of discussion)
      8. Testing (checking readiness for action)
      9. Summarizing (reviewing the content of past discussion)
   3. Non-functional roles emanating from self-centered behavior of group members
      1. Blocking (interfering with the progress of the group)
      2. Aggression (showing hostility)
      3. Seeking recognition (calling attention to one’s self)
      4. Special pleading (introducing ideas related only to one’s own concern)
      5. Withdrawing (acting indifferently)
      6. Dominating (asserting authority)
   4. Group Cohesiveness
      1. Incentive property of the group
      2. Motive base
      3. Group solidarity
      4. Consequences of group cohesiveness
   5. Leadership and performance of group functions
      1. Traits of leaders
      2. ole performance
      3. Types of leaders
   6. Power and influence in groups
      1. Agent exerting influence vs. the persons subjected to influence
      2. By-products of power
      3. Influence of groups on individual behavior
      4. Social control
   7. Theories of collective behavior (Smerlser’s)
      1. Structural conduciveness
      2. Structural strain
      3. Growth and spread of a generalized belief
      4. Precipitating factors
      5. Mobilization of participants for action
      6. Operating of social control

Community Forces Influencing Group Behaviour

1. Physical environment
   1. Environment cycles which relate to 3 systems
      1. Air
      2. Water
      3. soil
   2. Ecosystem (major types)
      1. Terrestrial
      2. Aquatic
      3. Technology
         1. high capital intensive
         2. low labor-intensive
         3. intermediate (less capital, more labor)
      4. Urbanization
         1. Problematic urban community relations: superficial, anonymous, transitory, overload (system’s inability to process inputs from the environment)
         2. Adaptive response to overload
      5. Industrialization
         1. Attitudes toward nature as an object to be exploited
         2. Emphasis on quantity as a key measure of the good
         3. Valuation plays upon knowledge as a source of power

Dynamics of Psychosocial Problems

1. Deviations in Human Behavior/Social Dysfunctioning
   1. Theoretical perspective
   2. Typologies/classification (psychiatric disorders)
2. Economics-related problems: psychosocial implications
   1. Poverty
   2. Unemployment
   3. Middle-class and social mobility maladjustments
   4. Irresponsible affluence
   5. Strikes and social unrest at the workplace
3. Health-related problems: psychosocial implications
   1. Malnutrition
   2. Common medical disorders
   3. Mental illness
   4. Alcoholism
   5. Drug abuse
   6. AIDS, cancer, and other life-threatening diseases
   7. Physical disabilities/accidents
4. Family breakdown
   1. Wife battering
   2. Child abuse and neglect
   3. Abuse and neglect of the elderly
   4. Solo parenting/stepfamilies
   5. Marital conflicts
5. Armed conflict/Natural disasters
   1. Trauma
   2. Evacuation/refugee phenomenon
6. Violations of human rights/child rights
   1. Child exploitation, sexual abuse
   2. Discrimination against ethnic or cultural minorities
   3. Discrimination against women
7. Performance-related problems
   1. Inadequate job performance
   2. Inadequate school performance
8. Crime and juvenile delinquency
9. Neighborhood/community apathy and deterioration
10. Squatting and homelessness

History, Philosophy and Ethics, Social Welfare Policy and Social Welfare Programs, Research, Social Agency Administration and Supervision – 20%

Historical Evolution

1. Social Welfare
2. Public Welfare
3. Social Work

Theoretical Framework

1. Philosophy and Ethics
2. Conceptual Definitions
   1. Social Work
   2. Social Welfare
   3. Social Service
   4. Social Development
   5. Social Welfare Programs
   6. Social Work Strategies
   7. Social Welfare Agencies by auspices, target population, geographical coverage
   8. Client/Client categories
   9. Primary and Secondary Settings for Social Work Practice

Objectives and Functions of Social Welfare

1. Institutional
2. Remedial
3. Residual
4. Restorative
5. Rehabilitation
6. Preventive
7. Developmental

Social Welfare Programs

1. Major Fields
   1. Public Assistance/Emergency Assistance
   2. Family Welfare
   3. Child and Youth Welfare
   4. The welfare of Disabled Persons
   5. Women’s Welfare
   6. Community Welfare
   7. The welfare of Special Categories: squatters, slum dwellers, refugees, displaced immigrants, victims or armed conflict, rebel surrenderees, etc.
   8. History, Philosophy, and Ethics, Social Policy, Etc.
2. Specialized Services
   1. Medical Social Services
   2. Psychiatric Services
   3. School Social Services
   4. Industrial Social Service
   5. Crisis Intervention

Social Policies

1. Social Welfare Policies
   1. Philippine Constitution – 1987
   2. R.S. #4373
   3. R.A. #5416
   4. Child and Youth Welfare Code
   5. Family Code in the Philippines
   6. Local Government Code
   7. Updated Laws, Executive Orders, and others
2. Contemporary Challenges for Social Welfare
   1. National Development Plans
   2. U.N. Strategies
   3. Philippine Realities

Functional Competencies

1. Policy Formulation and Policy Analysis
2. Social Planning
3. Program Development
4. Social Action and Advocacy

Auxiliary Methods in Social Work

1. Research
   1. Principles and Basic Concepts
   2. Process
2. Social Agency Administration
   1. Principles and Basic Concepts
   2. Administrative Functions
3. Supervision
   1. Principles and Basic Concepts
   2. Rules and Functions

Social Work Method (Primary) – 30%

Social Case Work (10%)

1. Value Orientation and Scientific Foundation of Social Casework
2. Concepts and Principles
   1. Concepts of Social Casework
   2. Basic Concepts Relevant to Casework
   3. Concepts of Stress
   4. Professional Communication
3. The Casework relationship
   1. Components of relationship
   2. Principles of the casework relationship
   3. Workable-Client-Worker Relationship
4. Scientific Method of the Helping Process
   1. Components of the Problem-Solving Process
   2. Process
   3. Assessment of Clients Workability
5. Tasks and skills required in the Helping Process
6. Emerging trends in Social Casework Practice

Social Group Work (10%)

1. Historical and philosophical foundations of social group work.
2. Basic elements of social group work
   1. the group or client
   2. types and composition of groups
   3. dynamics of individuals in the group and the group as a whole (group life)
3. Helping process in group work
   1. goals and objectives
   2. group information
   3. program development
   4. program media (values attached to various media forms)
   5. the group and the community
      1. federated groups (inter-group relationship)
      2. use of community resources
      3. understanding conditions in the community that affect group life
4. Agency functions, programs, services
5. The helping relationship
   1. the social group worker – function, responsibilities and roles
   2. workers- professional knowledge and competence; use of professional self
   3. indigenous leader
   4. individual members
   5. the group as a whole
6. Emerging trends in social group work practice.

Community Organization (10%)

1. The Conceptual Framework of Community Organization
   1. Definitions
   2. Theories/Concepts
2. The Philosophical base of Community Organization
   1. Values
   2. Assumptions
   3. Principles
3. Goals and Objectives of the Community Organization
4. Models of Community Organization
   1. Community Development
   2. Social Planning
   3. Social Action
5. The Community Organization Process
   1. Pre-helping Phase
   2. Helping Phase
6. Roles, Functions, Strategies of Community Organization Worker
7. Emerging Process
   1. People Empowerment
   2. Disaster Management

Field Practice – 30%

1. Case Situation – demonstrating beginning skills in case analysis and problem-solving in casework practice.
2. Case Situation – demonstrating beginning skills in case analysis and problem-solving in group work practice.
3. Case Situation – demonstrating beginning skills in case analysis and problem-solving in community organizing or community organization. A single/comprehensive case situation may be used (instead of three separate case situations; work with an individual, group, and community) to give the examinee the opportunity to demonstrate the application of social work knowledge and skill in case analysis and problem-solving in an integrated manner.

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