What to Expect From Your NEBOSH Diploma Exams: A 2024 Astutis Guide

To achieve your full NEBOSH Level 6 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 Included in 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:

a. NEBOSH National Diploma for Occupational Health and Safety Management Professionals

• Unit DN1
• Unit DN2
• Unit DN3

b. NEBOSH International Diploma for Occupational Health and Safety Management Professionals

• Unit DI1
• Unit DI2
• Unit DI3

Sitting Your NEBOSH Diploma Exams: Assessment Units

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.  

Unit DN1/DI1 NEBOSH Diploma Assessment Timeframe

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.

Prior to the May 2023 Syllabus change the equivalent units were named ND1/ID1. To discover more about ND1/ID1, read our blog here.

For the latest unit guidance, following the May 2023 syllabus update, visit our blog here.

Unit ND2/ID2 and Unit ND3/ID3 Assessments Timeframe

Units DN2/DN2 and DN3/DI3 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 DN1/DI1:

The assessment for Unit DN1/DI1 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 your 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 DN2/DI2 and Unit DN3/DI3:

Units DN2/DI2 and DN3/DI3 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 Availability 

The following unit assessments DN1/DI1, DN2/DI2, DN3/DI3 are online open book assessments.

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

Register 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 Receive 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.