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Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB)

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) is the U.S. Department of Defense's multiple-aptitude enlistment battery, administered annually to more than one million military applicants, high school, and post-secondary students: a 10-subtest battery measuring verbal, math, science/technical, and spatial aptitudes, delivered as the computer-adaptive CAT-ASVAB (135 questions, 197 minutes of fixed subtest time limits, average completion about 2 hours) at Military Entrance Processing Stations or as the paper-and-pencil P&P-ASVAB (225 questions, 149 minutes), with AFQT percentile scores used to determine enlistment eligibility for each military service.

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QuestionsCAT-ASVAB: 135 questions across 10 tests (GS 15, AR 15, WK 15, PC 10, MK 15, EI 15, AI 10, SI 10, MC 15, AO 15). P&P-ASVAB: 225 questions across 9 tests (AI and SI combined into one AS test)

Testing timeCAT-ASVAB: fixed per-test time limits totaling 197 minutes; self-paced, average completion about 2 hours. P&P-ASVAB: fixed per-test time limits totaling 149 minutes of testing (about 3 hours; 3 to 4 hours including administrative tasks and instructions)

ScoringNo universal passing score — the ASVAB itself is not pass/fail; scores from four tests (WK, PC, AR, MK) are combined into the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT), reported as a percentile from 1-99, and each military service sets its own minimum AFQT score for enlistment (e.g., the U.S. Army requires a score of at least 31)

Exam feeUSD 0 — no candidate fee; the ASVAB is administered free of charge (the official program page states the school-based administration is 'free of charge to participating schools', and no official page lists any fee for MEPS/MET enlistment testing, which is arranged through a military recruiter)

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Exam overview

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Who runs it: USMEPCOM
Category: Military Aptitude
Current version: Current specification; no public version label — the same battery is delivered in two published forms: the computer-adaptive CAT-ASVAB and the paper-and-pencil P&P-ASVAB (scores are statistically linked across the two modes)
Where it applies: United States — national
Exam languages: English
Score scale: AFQT percentile scores from 1 to 99 (normed against a 1997 national sample of 18-23 year-old youth); subtest standard scores have a mean of 50 and standard deviation of 10
Testing provider: USMEPCOM's Military Entrance Processing Stations (MEPS) and Military Entrance Test (MET) satellite sites
Format: Computer-adaptive test (CAT-ASVAB) at MEPS and most MET sites, with answers not reviewable once submitted; paper-and-pencil at a handful of MET sites; first-time takers may instead take the PiCAT, an online unproctored version from home, validated by a short verification test (Vtest, 25-30 minutes) at a MEPS/MET site; calculators are not permitted
Availability: Year-round by appointment scheduled through a military recruiter (testing at 65 MEPS across the U.S. and Puerto Rico plus MET satellite sites); school-based administration is scheduled by participating schools
Results: CAT-ASVAB scores are available immediately following the testing session; P&P-ASVAB answer sheets are scanned and scored at the MEPS, which usually takes a few days; PiCAT scores become official after passing the Vtest
Score validity: Scores may be used for enlistment for up to 2 years from the date of testing
Remote testing: Varies by jurisdiction

Exam structure

One battery of 10 multiple-choice aptitude tests measuring four domains (Verbal, Math, Science and Technical, Spatial): General Science (GS), Arithmetic Reasoning (AR), Word Knowledge (WK), Paragraph Comprehension (PC), Mathematics Knowledge (MK), Electronics Information (EI), Auto Information (AI), Shop Information (SI), Mechanical Comprehension (MC), and Assembling Objects (AO); AI and SI are administered as separate tests on the CAT-ASVAB but combined into one AS test on the P&P-ASVAB; the AFQT is computed from WK, PC, AR, and MK

Where rules vary

U.S. military enlistment test, given at 65 MEPS across the U.S. and Puerto Rico plus MET satellite sites; the battery contents are the same nationwide.

Eligibility

Testing is arranged through a military recruiter, who first conducts an interview screening for disqualifying factors (age, dependents, medical, drug usage, criminal history)

Retake policy

After the initial ASVAB, wait one calendar month to retake; an additional calendar month before a second retest; thereafter wait six calendar months between retakes