Armed Services vocational aptitude battery

What is the ASVAB

The Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery, or ASVAB for short, is a multiple-aptitude battery that measures developed abilities and helps predict future academic and occupational success in the military. The ASVAB has 10 tests. Your scores from four of the tests—Word Knowledge (WK), Paragraph Comprehension (PC), Arithmetic Reasoning (AR), and Mathematics Knowledge (MK)—are combined to compute your score on what is referred to as the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT). Scores on the AFQT are used to determine your eligibility for enlistment in the Army, Navy, Air Force, or Marine Corps. Scores on all of the ASVAB tests are used to determine the best job for you in the military.

Source: officialasvab.com

How to Register

Contact your local military recruiter to get set up with the ASVAB. Your college adviser or school counselor can connect you with a recruiter if you are not connected already, or you can visit the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, Marines, and Air Force websites.

Sometimes, high schools will host an ASVAB testing day where you can take the test without having to leave your school. Contact your college adviser, school counselor, JROTC instructors, or local military recruiters for more information. You can also request additional information through this website. 

How to study

There are ASVAB practice tests available online for free, as well as paid options on Amazon and other online sellers. You can also ask teachers at your school for additional tutoring options!

Interpreting Scores

• ASVAB scores are used primarily to determine enlistment eligibility, assign applicants to military jobs, and aid students in career exploration.

• ASVAB test scores are broken down by the individual sub-tests and composites of the sub-tests. One of the most critical of these scores is the Armed Forces Qualification Test (AFQT), which is used to determine if you are qualified to join the military service. Each service determines the minimum qualification AFQT score for enlisting in their service. 

  • • • • Air Force: 36

        • Army: 31

        • Marines: 31

        • Navy: 35 

        • Coast Guard: 45

• AFQT scores are reported as percentiles between 1-99. An AFQT percentile score indicates the percentage of examinees in a reference group who scored at or below that particular score. For current AFQT scores, the reference group is a sample of 18 to 23 year old youth who took the ASVAB as part of a national norming study conducted in 1997. Thus, your AFQT score of 62 indicates that you scored as well as or better than 62% of the nationally-representative sample of 18 to 23 year old youth. (Source)

• When you receive your score, you will have to attend a score interpretation session to understand your score and receive your official score report. Once you schedule and attend your ASVAB test, you will be given instructions for score interpretation.