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NEBOSH General Certificate Courses by Location
The 2026 Specification Change
What changed, and does it affect you?
NEBOSH reviewed the General Certificate and confirmed the syllabus itself was largely fit for purpose, so content changes were minor. The substantive changes were administrative:
- Units renamed — NG1 became GNC1, NG2 became GNC2. The unit titles did not change.
- Unit 2 submission moved onto the NEBOSH Assessment Platform, in line with Unit 1.
- Unit 2 marking moved from a met / not met outcome to points-based marking with a published mark scheme and a 60% pass mark.
- Results for both units are now released together, 60 working days after the GNC1 assessment date.
Teaching of the revised specification began on 2 February 2026, with the first assessments on 4 March. The final assessments under the old 2018 specification took place in early August 2026, so that route is now closed and all current learners study GNC1 and GNC2.
If your CV or training records refer to NG1 and NG2, they describe the same qualification. There is nothing to retake, and holders of the older certificate are not disadvantaged in any way.
Why the marking change matters
Under the old arrangement the practical unit was marked met or not met against its criteria, so missing a single element — even a minor one — could result in a referral with little indication of what went wrong.
Points-based marking replaces that with a score out of 100 and an automatic mark breakdown showing where points were awarded. A resubmission can now be targeted at the weak areas rather than rewritten wholesale.
About NEBOSH
The National Examination Board in Occupational Safety and Health is an independent awarding body founded in 1979. It sets the syllabus and the assessments and approves the Learning Partners who deliver the training, but does not run courses itself.
The General Certificate is accredited and credit rated by the Scottish Qualifications Authority. Browse all NEBOSH courses.
Where the General Certificate Fits
The General Certificate is the middle rung of a fairly clear progression:
- IOSH Managing Safely — three days, for managers who need working knowledge of risk as part of a wider role. Not a health and safety qualification as such.
- NEBOSH General Certificate — the practitioner entry point, and the qualification employers name when recruiting for health and safety roles.
- NEBOSH National Diploma — Level 6, for those pursuing chartered status and senior practitioner roles.
Working in a specific sector? The NEBOSH Construction Certificate and the NEBOSH Fire Certificate apply the same approach to construction and fire risk. For roles based overseas, the International General Certificate covers the same ground against international standards rather than UK law.
Working in construction?
NEBOSH and the CITB Site Safety Plus schemes serve different purposes and neither replaces the other. NEBOSH demonstrates depth of health and safety knowledge; SMSTS and SSSTS are what principal contractors require to run or supervise a site, and they expire after five years.
Not sure which construction course your role calls for? Our free Site Safety Plus course finder works it out in three questions.
Keeping track of what you hold
The NEBOSH General Certificate never expires, but most other safety qualifications do, and the dates rarely line up. The free Certificate Expiry Checker covers 65 qualifications and works out when each one runs out and what renews it.
More free planning tools are in our templates and tools range.