Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) — exam facts
United States (military enlistment testing)
Every source below was read on 2026-09-22
| Administering body | U.S. Department of Defense Applicants are tested at Military Entrance Processing Stations (MEPS) — which DoD describes as a Department of Defense joint-service organization, with 65 across the U.S. and Puerto Rico — or at satellite Military Entrance Test (MET) sites, after a recruiter schedules the test. The same test is also given in high schools through the ASVAB Career Exploration Program, where the Assembling Objects test is not included. Retakes: wait one calendar month after the first test, another month before a second retest, then six months before each later one; scores can be used for enlistment for up to two years. Source: Official ASVAB — What to Expect When You Take the ASVAB (2026-09-22) |
|---|---|
| Questions | 135 questions The computer version, CAT-ASVAB, which DoD says is used at all MEPS: 135 scored questions across 10 tests (10 or 15 per test). On top of those, each examinee also gets unscored “tryout” questions in 2 to 4 of the tests, so the number of questions you actually see is higher and varies. The paper version, P&P-ASVAB, has 225 questions. CAT-ASVAB is adaptive — each question is chosen from your answers so far — so two people do not see the same questions. Source: Official ASVAB — ASVAB Fact Sheet, Enlistment Testing Program (PDF, revised April 2025) (2026-09-22) |
| Time limit | 197 minutes The sum of the CAT-ASVAB's 10 separate test time limits as DoD prints it, without tryout questions. Each test is timed on its own; when tryout questions are added to a test, that test gets extra time (Arithmetic Reasoning goes from 55 to 113 minutes, for example). Most people finish well inside the limits, but DoD's own pages disagree on the typical length — its Fact Sheet says about 1 1/2 hours on average, its What to Expect page about 2 hours. The paper version's time limits total 149 minutes. The unproctored PiCAT has no time limits on its tests. Source: Official ASVAB — ASVAB Fact Sheet, Enlistment Testing Program (PDF, revised April 2025) (2026-09-22) |
| Passing score | There is no pass mark. Enlistment eligibility turns on the AFQT score, which is computed from four of the tests (Arithmetic Reasoning, Mathematics Knowledge, Paragraph Comprehension, Word Knowledge) and reported as a percentile between 1-99 — a rank against a 1997 national sample of 18 to 23 year olds, not a percentage of questions answered correctly. DoD's ASVAB pages do not state a minimum AFQT for enlistment. What we read and found nothing in: Official ASVAB — Understanding ASVAB Scores (2026-09-22) · Official ASVAB — Frequently Asked Questions (applicants) (2026-09-22) · Official ASVAB — ASVAB Fact Sheet, Enlistment Testing Program (PDF, revised April 2025) (2026-09-22) |
| Fees | Not published by U.S. Department of Defense None of DoD's ASVAB pages states a fee — or states that there is none — for enlistment testing at a MEPS or MET site; the test is arranged through a recruiter. For the school version, DoD states that the ASVAB Career Exploration Program “is free of charge to participating schools”. What we read and found nothing in: Official ASVAB — What to Expect When You Take the ASVAB (2026-09-22) · Official ASVAB — Frequently Asked Questions (applicants) (2026-09-22) · Official ASVAB — ASVAB Fact Sheet, Enlistment Testing Program (PDF, revised April 2025) (2026-09-22) · Official ASVAB — ASVAB Career Exploration Program (counselors & educators) (2026-09-22) |
| Languages offered | English English only. DoD answers “Why is there no Spanish version of the ASVAB?” directly: the ASVAB is given only in English, because all military members need to be able to speak English and a translated test would not measure the same thing. Source: Official ASVAB — Frequently Asked Questions (applicants) (2026-09-22) |
Change log
- 2026-09-22Fact sheet drafted from DoD's official ASVAB site — the ASVAB Fact Sheet PDF, What to Expect, Understanding ASVAB Scores, the applicant FAQs and the Career Exploration Program page. The counts and times are the CAT-ASVAB totals DoD prints; the paper version's totals are in the notes. There is no pass mark, and the AFQT percentile is not converted into one.