🇺🇸 United States · Civil Service
Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) Syllabus
The multiple-aptitude test used by all U.S. military branches to determine enlistment eligibility and job placement.. The complete Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) outline — 9 subjects, 28 chapters and 92 topics — laid out so you can see exactly what has to be covered and tick each item off as you go.
Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) subjects
Each subject below has its own page with the full chapter → topic → sub-topic tree and a set of real exam-style flashcards.
4 chapters · 14 topics · 47 sub-topics
Arithmetic Reasoning (AR)3 chapters · 10 topics · 24 sub-topics
Word Knowledge (WK)3 chapters · 9 topics · 18 sub-topics
Paragraph Comprehension (PC)3 chapters · 9 topics · 18 sub-topics
Mathematics Knowledge (MK)3 chapters · 11 topics · 30 sub-topics
Mechanical Comprehension (MC)3 chapters · 10 topics · 23 sub-topics
Electronics Information (EI)3 chapters · 9 topics · 22 sub-topics
Auto, Shop, and Assembling Objects3 chapters · 11 topics · 26 sub-topics
ASVAB Test Structure, Scoring, and Strategy3 chapters · 9 topics · 22 sub-topics
Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) flashcard decks
468 question-and-answer cards across 9 decks, written against this syllabus. Preview any deck free.
- General Science (GS) — 51 cards
- Arithmetic Reasoning (AR) — 50 cards
- Word Knowledge (WK) — 49 cards
- Paragraph Comprehension (PC) — 65 cards
- Mathematics Knowledge (MK) — 51 cards
- Mechanical Comprehension (MC) — 51 cards
- Electronics Information (EI) — 50 cards
- Auto, Shop, and Assembling Objects — 51 cards
- ASVAB Test Structure, Scoring, and Strategy — 50 cards
How to work through the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) syllabus
The outline on this page is arranged the way the syllabus itself is: subject, then chapter, then topic, then sub-topic. That last level is what most study plans skip, and it is where coverage actually goes wrong — a chapter marked "done" often has three sub-topics inside it that were never touched.
Weight your plan accordingly: General Science (GS) carries 14 topics while ASVAB Test Structure, Scoring, and Strategy carries 9. Giving both the same number of weeks is the most common planning mistake for Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB).
The ~115 hour estimate above is a first pass only: roughly 45 minutes per topic plus 12 minutes per sub-topic. Revision cycles, past papers and mocks sit on top of that number.
Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) syllabus FAQ
What subjects are in the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) syllabus?
Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) covers 9 subjects: General Science (GS), Arithmetic Reasoning (AR), Word Knowledge (WK), Paragraph Comprehension (PC), Mathematics Knowledge (MK), Mechanical Comprehension (MC), Electronics Information (EI) and Auto, Shop, and Assembling Objects, and 1 more. Together they contain 28 chapters and 92 named topics.
How big is the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) syllabus?
The full Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) outline breaks down into 28 chapters, 92 topics and 230 sub-topics. General Science (GS) is the largest single subject with 14 topics across 4 chapters.
How long does it take to cover the whole Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) syllabus?
Roughly 115 hours for one full pass. That estimate allows about 45 minutes per topic plus 12 minutes per sub-topic, so it is first-pass coverage — revision, past papers and mock tests sit on top of it. At 3 hours a day that is about 5 weeks.
Are there Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) flashcards?
Yes — 468 question-and-answer flashcards across 9 decks, one per subject, written against this syllabus. A sample of every deck is readable on this site for free, and the complete decks are in the Examius app.
Is this Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) syllabus free to use?
Yes. Every page here is free to read, and importing the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) syllabus into the Examius app to tick off topics as you finish them is free too, in United States and everywhere else. No account is needed to start.
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