What to expect from your NEBOSH Diploma exams

This blog was updated in August 2022 to reflect the new syllabus release in 2021 and the changes to the assessment process.

To achieve your full NEBOSH Diploma in Occupational Health and Safety Management Professionals qualification, you will need to complete, submit and pass three online digital assessments.  Don't worry - you'll get lots of assessment preparation and support throughout your course, and here we've gone through everything you need to know about the NEBOSH Diploma assessments so you know just what to expect. 

What assessments are there for the NEBOSH Diploma?

The NEBOSH Diploma digital assessment is an assessment that needs to be downloaded, completed and submitted on the NEBOSH online assessment platform within a specified time period.

Digital assessments have been introduced for the following units:

NEBOSH National Diploma for Occupational Health and Safety Management Professionals

• Unit ND1
• Unit ND2
• Unit ND3

NEBOSH International Diploma for Occupational Health and Safety Management Professionals

• Unit ID1
• Unit ID2
• Unit ID3

Sitting your NEBOSH Diploma exam

To sit a NEBOSH Diploma digital assessment, you must register with your Learning Partner for a specific sitting. Astutis have a dedicated NEBOSH exam team and will be with you every step of the way with information on what happens next and the registration process.  

ND1/ID1 Assessment: The assessment is split into 4 parts. All the tasks and activities in all parts are mandatory.

Part 1: contains questions based on a fictitious, but realistic scenario.

Part 2: contains tasks that you will need to complete in a suitable workspace

Part 3: contains reflective tasks

Part 4: is a short research project

You will have 6 weeks (30 working days) to complete all four parts of the assessment. The assessment is not invigilated, and you are free to use any learning resources to which you have access, e.g your Astutis course notes, or helpful websites such as the HSE website

ND2/ID2 and Unit ND3/ID3 Assessments: Units ND2/ID2 and ND3/ID3 are each assessed with a case-study and scenario based questions. 

You will have 4 weeks to complete each question paper and submit it for marking. We recommend you spend at least 40 hours on each paper (around 10 hours per week).

What marks do I need to pass my NEBOSH Diploma?

The NEBOSH Diploma for Occupational Health and Safety Professionals has 3 assessments (previously called exams):

Unit ND1/ID1 assessment

The assessment for Unit ND1/ID1 is split into 4 sections:

• Scenario based questions (150 marks)
• Workplace activities (150 marks)
• Reflective tasks (100 marks)
• A short research project (150 marks)

You will have 6 weeks to complete you assignment and submit it to the NEBOSH online portal. We recommend you spend at least 60 hours on your assessment, which equates to around 10 hours per week.

The assessment is worth 550 marks and you need to achieve at least 50% to pass. 

Unit ND2/ID2 and Unit ND3/ID3 assessments

Units ND2/ID2 and ND3/ID3 are each assessed with a case-study and scenario based questions.

You will have 4 weeks to complete each question paper and submit it for marking. We recommend you spend at least 40 hours on each paper (around 10 hours per week).

NEBOSH Diploma Exam Dates

For learners studying the latest 2019 syllabus, which was released when the new course came on sale in 2021, the following unit assessments ND1/ID1, ND2/ID2, ND3/ID3 are online open book assessments.

Please click here to see all the latest upcoming dates in our Exam Hub.

Registering for your NEBOSH Diploma Exam

Once you’ve chosen your exam or submission date, you’ll need to let your learning provider know in plenty of time so that they register you with NEBOSH. You’re usually required to give 8 weeks notice, but it’s always a good idea to check these fine details at the time you book your course. It is not possible to register directly with NEBOSH.

When will I get my NEBOSH Diploma exam results?

Results will be issued 50 working days from the assessment submission date and will be sent to the email address registered to your learner record.

Please add info@nebosh.org.uk to your safe-senders list to help your results email reach you. This is particularly important for gmail.com and googlemail.com email addresses as these have previously had problems with rejected emails.

Results are sent out via email directly from NEBOSH in the days leading up to results day. This means that some people may receive theirs early, but everyone will still receive their result on or before results day as planned. The time you receive your result is not a reflection of a pass or refer mark, so please do not worry that you have been referred if you receive your result later than a friend or classmate.  

We recommend that you keep a copy of your original submission until your results are declared should there be any technical difficulties.