Frequently Asked Questions

Below is a list of some of the most Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) we receive. If the question you have is not answered here, please get in touch by clicking on Contact Us.

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In the event of an Enquiry About Result changing a learner's unit result and/or overall grade, corrected unit certificates and (where relevant) qualification parchment will be issued free of charge. 

Even if no change is made to the unit mark, any issued certificates will be re-printed to reflect the EAR declaration date for that unit.

However, the original certificate and/or parchment must be returned by the learner and NEBOSH will not issue replacements until the originals have been received. Replacements for certificates following an EAR will not be marked ‘reissue’. 

Please return original certificates to:

Replacement Certificates
NEBOSH
Dominus Way
Meridian Business Park
Leicester
LE19 1QW

NEBOSH is an awarding body approved to offer vocational qualifications. Only institutions with degree-awarding powers such as universities may offer degrees.

Level

The allocation of a qualification ‘level’ is based on the standard, challenge or difficulty of the learning. Using “Qualifications can cross Boundaries”, SCQF Level 10 is comparable to Level 6 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland or Honours Degree standard. 

In other words, the level of challenge of a NEBOSH Diploma qualification rated at SCQF Level 10 is considered to be comparable to Honours Degree standard.

Credit

The term ‘credit’ refers to the length or size of the qualification, the amount of time that it would take a typical learner to complete the qualification or learning programme. A UK degree typically takes three years of full-time study, approximately 360 FHEQ credits (3600 hours of learning time) in the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (FHEQ). Further information on credit in Higher Education can be found on the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education's website: QAA.ac.uk.

The total tuition time of (for example) the NEBOSH National Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety) is 243 taught hours with 225 hours of private study and 9 hours of assessment time (477 hours or 48 SCQF credits); much less than a degree. A NEBOSH FAQ regarding SCQF levels and credit can be found here.

The SCQF level and credit ratings of NEBOSH Diploma qualifications can be found on the SQA website

For these reasons, NEBOSH does not (and would not be permitted) to state that a NEBOSH Diploma qualification is the direct equivalent of a 3-year full-time university degree.

For further information on how to use the “Qualifications can cross boundaries” chart see the FAQ “How should the ‘Qualifications can cross Boundaries’ leaflet be used?"

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No. The Department for Education (DfE) in England and their counterparts in Northern Ireland, and Wales each have their own strict qualification and technical criteria regarding vocational qualifications that can be offered to 14-19 year olds in schools, in some cases including lists of approved qualifications.

  • England: Section 96. Further information can be found on the UK Gov website.
  • Wales: Initial Vocational Education and Training (IVETs) for 14-19 year olds and Continuing Vocational Education and Training (CVETs) for 16-19s only
  • Northern Ireland: Entitlement Framework.

Normally only qualifications accredited by the Office of the Qualifications and Examinations Regulator (Ofqual) in England and Northern Ireland and the Welsh Government in Wales, in the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) or the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) are eligible for these schemes.

NEBOSH qualifications are accredited by SQA Accreditation in the Scottish Credit and Qualifications and Credit Framework (SCQF).

NEBOSH qualifications are primarily intended for adult (post-19) learners operating in the workplace and have not been designed to meet national technical, funding and other criteria for vocational qualifications that can be offered to 14-19 learners in UK schools.

NB: Based on latest information available (as of October 2014), NEBOSH qualifications do not appear on approved 14-19 vocational qualification lists for schools in England, Wales or Northern Ireland and are not currently eligible to be offered in schools in these countries.

With NEBOSH qualifications not being eligible for, or funded for use, in maintained schools or academies, our understanding is that any activity related to the qualification including tuition, private study or examinations may not normally take place on school premises, during school time or as part of any other school-sponsored activities.

Information provided is offered in good faith and should not be taken to imply eligibility, recognition or acceptance of NEBOSH qualifications to be offered to learners aged under 19 or to be accepted for a pre-19 funding scheme.

Eligibility and funding is normally assessed on a case-by-case basis and may vary according to individual, provider, local and national circumstances and scheme-specific eligibility criteria. Please contact the relevant Learning Partner and/or government agency for the latest information regarding eligibility criteria, which are subject to change. 

It is the responsibility of maintained schools and academies to check the suitability and eligibility of qualifications offered on school premises or during school time or school-funded activities with the relevant local authority and/or national education department (England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland).

No liability is accepted by NEBOSH for information provided by external websites or for any decisions made on the basis of information given here.

Department for Education (DfE) – England 
Welsh Government
Department of Education Northern Ireland (DENI)

You must register/enrol for a NEBOSH qualification and be certificated under your legal name. 

The name which appears on your Unit Certificates and Qualification Parchment is taken from your formal identification. Please check your confirmation of enrolment and examination entry confirmation to ensure that your name is spelt correctly. If your name is recorded incorrectly please inform us of the correct spelling in writing as soon as possible.

Requests for changes to Certificates and Parchments fall into four categories:

  • Certificates with naming errors (misspelling etc.)
  • Changing name as registered to ‘preferred’ name (e.g. Jonathan James Smith to Jim Smith or vice versa)
  • Changing order of names (e.g. reversing surname and first name for certification purposes)
  • Name change for legal purposes (e.g. due to marriage or by deed poll)

The rules and timescales governing correcting naming errors and making name changes depend on the type of name change being requested. Further details are set out in the relevant section of the NEBOSH Policy regarding candidate certificates including corrections and reissues.

NB: NEBOSH is obliged to follow regulatory rules in relation to issuing, correcting and reissuing certificates and may be unable to re-issue Unit Certificates/Qualification in all instances. 

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NEBOSH offers Vocationally-Related Qualifications (VRQs).

In Scotland, these are known as ‘Other Accredited Qualifications’.

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SCQF credits are allocated to SCQF-rated NEBOSH qualifications.

The Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) uses two measures to describe qualifications and learning programmes within the framework:

  • The level of the outcomes of learning
  • The volume of outcomes, described in terms of the number of credits

This credit value specifies the number of credits gained by learners who complete that unit and/or qualification/learning programme. One SCQF credit represents ten notional hours of learning, showing how much time the average learner would take to complete the unit or qualification. SCQF points are allocated to outcomes of learning that are subject to valid, reliable methods of assessment. 

For further information regarding the level and credit allocated to SCQF-rated NEBOSH qualifications please refer to the individual qualification descriptions on the NEBOSH website or search for ‘NEBOSH’ in the SCQF database.

SCQF credit points may be used to assist learners to transfer between programmes offered by different awarding bodies or other educational organisations (e.g. universities). However, it is ultimately the decision of the receiving organisation involved whether they accept units and/or qualifications with SCQF credit points. For further explanation of SCQF credit and levels please refer to the SCQF or the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) website.

Please note that NEBOSH does not currently accept any non-NEBOSH units or qualifications as credit or exemption for NEBOSH qualifications. Please refer to NEBOSH website FAQs.

For further information regarding NEBOSH unit exemptions accepted for other NEBOSH qualifications, please refer to the NEBOSH website FAQs under "NEBOSH’s unit-based approach".

NEBOSH keeps records of all examination learners and all persons who have been awarded one of our qualifications.

Each Unit Certificate and Qualification Parchment has a number of anti-forgery and anti-fraud features, including a unique identifying number enabling us to cross check the details of the person to whom that numbered Certificate or Parchment was issued. We will assist employers and recruitment agencies in verifying that prospective or existing employees actually do hold NEBOSH qualifications. Falsifying qualifications in order to obtain a job is a reason for instantly dismissing the employee concerned for serious misconduct under the Employment Rights Act 1996.

Falsely claiming to hold a qualification is also a criminal offence under the Fraud Act 2006. The person making the claim is guilty of “Fraud by False Representation” under Section 2 of the Act.

NEBOSH will report such cases to the police and will provide evidence to support a prosecution.

Further, we may inform appropriate professional bodies of the attempted fraud where their members have participated (for example by supplying a genuine parchment from which the forgery was made).

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Certificates provide proof of achievement and are valuable documents that should be kept safe.

Employers, professional bodies and academic institutions may ask to see Unit Certificates and/or overall Qualification Parchment as evidence of the award holder’s achievement..

 

 

Your result letter will show the result for each unit or paper, this will be listed as either a Pass or Refer and the unit or paper mark for all units or papers undertaken at that examination sitting. If results from previous sittings mean that the learner has achieved the overall qualification, the letter will also show the overall result and grade. 

If papers and/or units are taken separately (i.e. at different national and/or on demand sittings) a Result Notification letter will be issued after each sitting.

The 'high mark' column refers to resit learners only and will show the highest mark achieved across all examinations taken. 

For more information, please see our Unit Results Notification Information.

If you receive your results and contains a 'refer', this shows that you have not met the pass standard in the examination or assignment.

Referred learners have the opportunity to re-register for a written examination or practical assessment (or re-register to re-submit written assignments and projects). The exact rules vary according to the qualification, these can be found in each qualification syllabus guide, that can be found in the qualification section under resources.

All examination re-sits should be arranged via a Learning Partner. NEBOSH are unable to accept examination bookings directly.

If you require assistance in finding an examination please visit the Where to study section of our website and select 'Find an Examination'. Alternatively, you can contact our Customer Enquiry Team; Contact Us.

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