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Red CSCS Experienced Worker card
Someone who has done the work for years but never got the qualification. This is the card that buys you time to fix that.
- Valid for
- 1 year
- CITB test
- Operatives
- You need
- You normally have at least one year of on the job experience in the last three years
- Renewable
- No
Industry Accreditation, often called grandfather rights, is fully closed. Renewals stopped on 30 June 2024 and the last cards expired on 31 December 2024. This card and the Experienced Technical, Supervisor or Manager card are what replaced that route.
Card checker
Which CSCS card do I need?
Two questions. No sign up, nothing stored, and it tells you the qualification and the test as well as the card.
The pathway
How to get the Red Experienced Worker card
-
1
Register for the Level 2 NVQ
This is the step that unlocks the card. The NVQ is assessed on the job, so your experience is the evidence rather than something you have to go and get.
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2
Pass the right CITB test
The test that matches your occupation.
-
3
Finish the NVQ inside the year
The card lasts one year and cannot be renewed, so the NVQ has to be done in that window. Then you move straight to the blue Skilled Worker card.
Applying for the card
Apply on the CSCS website£36Paid to CSCS, not to us. Do not pay more than this: CSCS say the standard application fee is all it costs.
You qualify for this card if
- You normally have at least one year of on the job experience in the last three years
- You are registered for a construction related NVQ or SVQ at Level 2 or above, dated within the last two years
Course and test on the same day
We run our own CITB Health, Safety and Environment test centre, so you do not have to finish the course here and then go and find a test somewhere else. Course in the morning, test in the afternoon, one trip.
Renewal
When this card runs out
No. It cannot be renewed. It exists to keep you on site while you finish the NVQ.
The other cards
Other CSCS cards
Red Industry Placement card
A student or learner doing a work placement that forms part of a construction qualification.
2 years
Red Provisional card
Someone brand new to construction who needs to get on site quickly while they sort out a qualification.
6 months
Black Manager card
A site manager, contracts manager or project manager running construction work.
5 years
Green Labourer card
A general site operative doing labouring work. It is not for skilled trades.
2 years on the first card, then 5 years on renewal
Gold Supervisor card
A site supervisor, foreman or ganger running a team on site.
5 years
Gold Advanced Craft card
An experienced tradesperson who has taken their trade to Level 3.
5 years
Blue Skilled Worker card
A qualified tradesperson: bricklayer, joiner, plasterer, painter, glazier, roofer, tiler and so on.
5 years
White Academically Qualified Person card
Someone with a construction related degree, HNC, HND or an accepted NEBOSH or CIOB qualification.
5 years
White Professionally Qualified Person card
A current member, at a professionally qualified grade, of a CSCS approved professional body.
5 years
Red Trainee card
Someone registered on a construction qualification and working towards it. There are now two different routes with two different cards.
5 years on the competence route, 2 years on the non competence route
Red Apprentice card
Someone registered on a recognised construction apprenticeship.
4 years and 6 months
Red Experienced Technical, Supervisor or Manager card
An experienced supervisor, manager or technical worker who has not yet got the qualification to match.
3 years
Red CSCS Experienced Worker card: common questions
One year, and it cannot be renewed.
No. Industry Accreditation, which people called grandfather rights, closed completely. Renewals ended on 30 June 2024 and the last cards expired on 31 December 2024. The Experienced Worker card is one of the routes that replaced it, and it requires you to register for an NVQ.
A construction related NVQ or SVQ at Level 2 or above, registered within the last two years.
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