Test length, the pass mark, which version you sit, what the questions are like, and how booking and the day work.
Almost every skills card depends on a recent pass in the industry safety test, so this is the one assessment that sits under the whole scheme. CITB owns and runs it. The standard format is 50 on-screen questions in 45 minutes. Question styles can vary, so use the test provider’s demonstration and tutorial to understand how to enter an answer. Arrange any needed test support in advance.
Versions
You sit the version that matches your job, not a single universal paper.
- Operatives: the standard version for people doing the work. Its questions come from five core knowledge areas: the working environment, occupational health, safety, high-risk activities and a specialist area.
- Specialist: the same core plus questions on a trade or activity with particular risks, such as plumbing (JIB), heating and plumbing services, demolition, highway works or work at height, and a version for supervisors. It is additional ground, not a shorter or easier route.
- Managers and professionals: legal and management duties, occupational health and welfare, general safety, high-risk activities and the environment.
Pass mark
The current Operatives, Specialist and MAP tests each require at least 45 correct out of 50 (90%). That allows no more than five incorrect answers. An old pass-mark table can be misleading: use the current requirement for the version you book.
What the questions are like
Every question is a knowledge question. The behavioural case-study section the test used to include was removed in June 2019, so revision advice that still describes it is out of date. CITB also warns that the real questions are worded differently from those in its revision material: learn why an answer is right rather than memorising the question.
Booking and the day
Book through CITB’s service or directly with an approved test centre. Arrive 15 minutes before the appointment and check the current identification rules before the day. A passport or an accepted photocard driving licence is a usual primary document. Other approved routes include an eVisa and a specified pair of secondary documents; the eVisa has a signature exception. A qualifying CSCS card can supply the photographic part of secondary ID, but needs the accepted second document. Exceptional circumstances have a separate photographic waiver process.
You receive the result at the centre. After a failed attempt, you cannot resit within 48 hours; use the result to plan further preparation before rebooking.
A card application normally needs the relevant pass from within two years. Check the card route and any accepted alternative. For renewal of the initial two-year Labourer card, acceptance of the original test is extended to three years.
What the test does and does not prove
- The test checks baseline health, safety and environment awareness before a card is issued. It is not a trade-skills or first-aid assessment, and it does not replace a site induction or the training a task needs.
- Its environmental questions deal with reducing the impact of work: handling waste properly, preventing pollution and using water and energy carefully.
- For a site situation, identify the hazard and who is exposed, then choose the suitable control or escalation under the stated arrangements. Reporting alone does not make an unsafe area safe; affected work may also need to stop and people may need to be kept clear.
- If you do not pass, review the weak topics and practise across the published areas before booking the retest.
- Book the test in advance for a date and time at a test centre, and bring acceptable photographic ID.