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Red CSCS Industry Placement card
A student or learner doing a work placement that forms part of a construction qualification.
- Valid for
- 2 years
- CITB test
- Operatives
- You need
- You are registered on a T Level, a Foundation Apprenticeship, or a trade related Level 2 or Level 3 Certificate or Diploma
- Renewable
- No
CSCS changed this card on 16 July 2026. The placement requirement dropped from 30 days to three weeks, and the card went from three years to two. Most sites still quote the old rules.
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 Industry Placement card
-
1
Get registered on the qualification
The card follows the course, so you apply once you are enrolled. Your college or provider supplies the registration document, or completes the CSCS Enrolment Evidence Form for you.
-
2
Cover the health and safety part
Any one of three things is accepted: a CITB Health, Safety and Environment test pass from the last two years, a one day Health and Safety Awareness course certificate, or a Certificate of Unit Credit for the construction health and safety unit.
-
3
Apply to CSCS
Send the registration evidence and the health and safety evidence. The card arrives in the post.
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 are registered on a T Level, a Foundation Apprenticeship, or a trade related Level 2 or Level 3 Certificate or Diploma
- Your programme requires a work placement of at least three weeks
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. The Industry Placement card cannot be renewed. When it runs out you move to whichever card your finished qualification earns you.
The other cards
Other CSCS cards
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 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.
1 year
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 Industry Placement card: common questions
Two years. CSCS reduced it from three years on 16 July 2026 so it lines up with the length of the qualifications it covers.
At least three weeks. This was 30 days until 16 July 2026.
No. It cannot be renewed. Once you finish your qualification you apply for the card that qualification earns, which for a Level 2 NVQ is the blue Skilled Worker card.
Not necessarily. A one day Health and Safety Awareness course certificate or a Certificate of Unit Credit for the construction health and safety unit are both accepted instead.
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