Free PSW Practice Test 2026
200 original questions for Ontario Personal Support Worker students: the PSW role, consent and residents' rights, abuse reporting, infection control, daily living, medication, palliative care and dementia. Built on the 2022 program standard. Tuned for mobile. No account needed.
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The PSW exam at a glance
Ontario has no single government PSW licensing exam. Every Personal Support Worker program, at public colleges, private career colleges and district school boards, must meet the 14 vocational learning outcomes of the Ministry of Colleges and Universities PSW program standard released in January 2022, and students sit their program's final exams; career college students usually write the NACC final exam, an online theory test taken after both placements. PSWs are not a regulated health profession, but since 1 December 2024 the Health and Supportive Care Providers Oversight Authority (HSCPOA) has kept a public register of PSWs.
Tigertest has 200 PSW practice questions with explanations, all free with no account required.
- Program standard
- Ontario PSW standard, January 2022 (14 learning outcomes)
- Final exam
- Set by each program; NACC final for career colleges (online, theory)
- Pass mark
- Set by the program (70% here is a readiness line)
- NACC program length
- 700 hours, including placements
- Key laws
- Fixing Long-Term Care Act 2021, Health Care Consent Act, PHIPA, RHPA
- Oversight
- HSCPOA public register since December 2024
- Where PSWs work
- Long-term care, retirement homes, home and community care, hospitals
Updated by the Tigertest team. Practice questions follow the Ontario Personal Support Worker program standard (Ministry of Colleges and Universities, January 2022). Exam rules change, so confirm current details with Ontario.ca: College program standard, Personal Support Worker.
How It Works
Train, Then Test
Four training sets, one per practice test: Set 1 holds exactly the 50 questions of Test 1, and so on. Master Set 1, take Test 1, then move on. Questions you miss come back until you have mastered them.
Practice Tests
Four 50-question tests across all 14 program outcomes, with a 70 percent readiness line and an explanation of the right answer and the common wrong pick on every item.
Built on the 2022 PSW Program Standard
Ontario's program standard sets 14 vocational learning outcomes that every PSW graduate must meet. The questions here group them into eight topics. The standard does not weight its outcomes, so the split below is ours, leaning toward the daily care and safety you will do every shift.
For PSW Instructors
Teach PSW at a college, career college or school board? Set up a free class, share one link, and see which topics your cohort misses most before placements and the final exam.
Set Up a ClassHow to Pass Your PSW Exam
1. Know where your role stops
Many questions turn on scope: a PSW observes, reports and records, follows the plan of care and works under the direction of the team. Diagnosing, changing medication or doses, and re-delegating a controlled act are never the answer. When in doubt, the right move is usually to keep the client safe and tell the nurse or supervisor.
2. Learn the laws by what they make you do
In long-term care, suspected abuse or neglect is reported at once to the Director under the Fixing Long-Term Care Act; in a retirement home, to the Registrar under the Retirement Homes Act. Consent must be informed and voluntary, a capable person may refuse, and the Health Care Consent Act ranks who decides when they cannot. PHIPA means health information stays in the circle of care.
3. Practise the safety routines until they are automatic
Hand hygiene and the four moments, routine practices and when to add contact, droplet or airborne precautions, the order for putting on and taking off PPE, RACE and PASS for fire, the emergency codes, safe body mechanics and fall prevention. These are quick marks on any test.
4. Fix your misses, then retest
Tigertest tracks your accuracy by topic. After each test, drill the questions you missed and retrain that test's set, then take the four tests back to back in the week before your final exam.
PSW Exam Frequently Asked Questions
What is on the Ontario PSW exam?
PSW programs in Ontario, at public colleges, career colleges and school boards, all follow the Personal Support Worker program standard released by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities in January 2022. It sets 14 vocational learning outcomes: the PSW role and the law, professional accountability, teamwork, person-centred and culturally safe care, communication and boundaries, observing and reporting, safety and infection control, activities of daily living, medication assistance, household management, supporting caregivers, abuse and neglect, palliative and end-of-life care, and mental health and responsive behaviours. Final exams, including the NACC PSW exam, test that theory.
What score do I need to pass?
It depends on your program. Each college, career college or school board sets its own pass marks, and NACC does not publish the current pass mark for its final exam on its website, so ask your program. The practice tests here use a 70 percent line as a readiness target: clearing it on all four tests means you have covered every outcome.
Which Ontario laws do I need to know?
The Fixing Long-Term Care Act, 2021 (which replaced the Long-Term Care Homes Act, 2007 in April 2022) with its Residents' Bill of Rights and duty to report abuse to the Director, the Retirement Homes Act, 2010, the Health Care Consent Act, 1996 and its list of substitute decision-makers, the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004, the Regulated Health Professions Act, 1991 and its controlled acts, and the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The questions here use the current laws.
Do PSWs in Ontario have to register?
PSWs are not a regulated health profession in Ontario. Since 1 December 2024 the Health and Supportive Care Providers Oversight Authority (HSCPOA) has run a public register of PSWs with a code of ethics. Check the HSCPOA and your employer for current registration rules.
Is this an official PSW exam?
No. Every question is original and written to the 2022 program standard and current Ontario law; none come from NACC, a college or a textbook. Employer policies and the client's plan of care still decide what you do on the job. It is a study tool, not a credential.
I teach a personal support worker program. Can my students use Tigertest?
Yes, for free. Make a class at tigertest.io/teach, post one link, and students join with just their name. You see who practiced, their test scores and the topics your class misses most.
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