How Much Is a CSCS Card? The Full Cost Breakdown

A CSCS card costs £36, paid to CSCS when you apply, and the Apprentice card is free. You'll also need a pass in the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test, which costs £23.50 when you book it with CITB. That makes £59.50 in official fees for most cards. The qualification behind the card comes on top, and whoever trains you sets that price, not CSCS.

Anything you pay above £59.50 buys one of two things. One is the qualification. The other is someone doing the booking and the paperwork for you. Both are fair to pay for, as long as you know which one you're buying.

The official CSCS and CITB fees

Item	Fee	Charged by
CSCS card application, every card except Apprentice	£36	CSCS
Apprentice card	Free	CSCS
Renewed card	£36, the standard card fee	CSCS
Replacement for a lost, stolen or damaged card	£36	CSCS
CITB HS&E test, any of the three types	£23.50	CITB
Resit after a fail	£23.50, booked as a new test	CITB

Official fees from cscs.uk.com and citb.co.uk, accurate as of October 2026.

The fees are the same for every card, except the free Apprentice card.

CSCS's application page lists the £36 fee, and card fees aren't refundable. It doesn't list a separate renewal fee, and its terms say cards cost £36 each. The CITB test went up to £23.50 on 1 April 2026, after CITB had held its prices since 2022, so a lower figure, even on some official pages, is out of date.

What the qualification costs

CSCS doesn't run courses, and it says training prices vary by provider and area.

The Labourer card, known on site as the green card, needs a Level 1 Award in Health and Safety in a Construction Environment. CSCS accepts some alternatives, but the Level 1 Award never expires. Alternatives with an expiry date count once only, so you'd pay for one again at renewal.

The Builders Academy's Level 1 course is studied online, with a remote exam and one free resit.

For skilled cards, the Blue card needs a level 2 NVQ or a finished apprenticeship, and the Gold card needs level 3. The guide to which CSCS card you need matches each card to its qualification.

What a CSCS card package costs, and what it adds

A Green Card package bundles the steps so someone else does the arranging. At The Builders Academy, that means the Level 1 online course, the remote exam with one retake, the CITB Operatives test booked at a Pearson centre, the CSCS application and delivery of the card.

The CSCS Green Card package is £229.99. Buying for a team brings it down to £206.99 each for five or more, and £195.49 each for ten or more.

The extra over the official fees pays for that arranging. Booking the CITB test yourself costs £23.50. When The Builders Academy books the test for you, you upload your ID, someone calls to agree a date at your nearest Pearson centre, and the slot is booked.

CSCS says third-party card services aren't connected to it and often cost more. If you're paying more than £36 for a card, it suggests checking what the extra gets you. If you're happy using the My CSCS app and booking online, do those parts yourself and keep the difference.

Worked totals for common routes

Official fees only. Add your course or package price where it applies.

• Qualified worker, such as an NVQ holder applying for a Blue card. £23.50 for the test and £36 for the card. Total £59.50.
• Apprentice. The card is free. Use the CITB test as your health and safety proof and you pay £23.50. CSCS also accepts the health and safety unit from your apprenticeship, which can bring the official cost to nothing.
• New labourer. £59.50 plus the Level 1 Award if you pass first time. Fail once and the resit adds £23.50, making £83 in official fees.
• New labourer on the Green Card package above. One price covers the course, the exam with one retake, the test booking and the card application. A CITB resit costs extra.

What else can cost money

• Resits. Each one is a new booking at £23.50, and CITB won't let you resit within 48 hours.
• Moving your test. It's free online up to 72 hours before, and £5 by phone. Inside 72 hours you can't move it.
• Cancelling. Cancel online at least 72 hours ahead for a full refund. By phone, CITB keeps £10. Any later and the fee is lost.
• The wrong ID. You won't be let in, and the £23.50 isn't refunded.
• A lost pass certificate. It's free to download from your CITB account and £10 by phone.
• An interpreter. CITB pays the interpreter's fee once. After that, you pay it.
• Renewal. Expect CSCS's standard £36, plus £23.50 if your test pass is out of date. For a first two-year Labourer card, your original pass counts if it's under three years old. See the guide to renewing a CSCS card.
• Replacement. A lost, stolen or damaged card is £36 to replace, and the new one keeps the old expiry date.

What's free, and what employers can claim

• The Apprentice card, which lasts four years and six months.
• Practice. The free mock tests include 20 CITB Operatives mocks and 10 Level 1 mocks, with no login.
• Funding in England. From August 2026, the Adult Skills Fund can pay the £36 card fee and the CITB test for learners on a level 2 or 3 building and construction qualification who meet its rules, including earning under £26,800. The course provider claims it, not you. Areas with their own devolved adult skills budget aren't covered.

CITB grants go to employers registered with CITB, not to individuals. If you're employed, ask whether your employer is registered and can claim. For an approved NVQ at level 2 to 6, CITB pays a standard £600. For an approved award at level 2 or higher, it pays £240.

How to avoid paying twice

• Check your card before you buy anything. The My CSCS app or Card Finder will confirm it. CSCS says skilled workers holding a Labourer card will be refused site access.
• Skip the Level 1 Award if you don't need it. If you already have a qualification for a skilled job, or you're signed up to one, CSCS says that qualification and the right test get you the card for your role.
• Time your test. CSCS only accepts a pass from the last two years, so don't sit it long before you apply.
• Compare packages on what's in them. One without the test or the application leaves you paying for those on top.

The guide to getting a CSCS card sets out the steps in order.

Getting your card for the right price

The official cost of a CSCS card is £59.50 for the test and the card. Everything else pays for the qualification and for how much of the arranging you hand over. We can do as much or as little of that as you like, from the Level 1 course on its own to the full CSCS Green Card package, which books the test and sends your application too.

Frequently asked questions