Course overview
Few cities put a site manager under more pressure than London. On any given week the capital has cranes turning over commercial towers in the City and Canary Wharf, residential blocks going up across the eastern boroughs and the Thames corridor, station and tunnel works tied to the ongoing upgrade of the transport network, and a steady churn of fit-out, refurbishment and heritage jobs squeezed into tight, occupied streets. The person holding all of that together on site is the manager, and the qualification a London principal contractor expects that person to hold is the CITB Site Management Safety Training Scheme, the SMSTS.
The Site Management Safety Training Scheme is the nationally recognised CITB standard for the people who plan, coordinate and take overall responsibility for safety on a construction site. Across London it is treated as a baseline by major developers, tier-one contractors and local authority clients alike. If you are running a project, or about to step up to that level, an in-date SMSTS certificate is usually the thing a contractor checks before they will let you take charge of a site. It signals that you understand the legal framework you are working inside and that you can turn health and safety law into a safe system of work that actually holds up on a live job.
Skills Training Group delivers the full five-day SMSTS as a live online course, so managers working anywhere in Greater London and the wider South East can qualify without losing a week to travel or booking into a fixed venue at the far side of the city. Whether you are overseeing groundworks in Stratford, a commercial fit-out in the West End, a residential scheme in Croydon or logistics-heavy works out towards Heathrow, you join the same CITB-approved course from wherever suits you. The price is £430, the certificate is the official CITB one recognised on every site in the country, and our SMSTS pass rate stands at 98.7%.
The nature of London construction is part of why the management qualification carries so much weight here. Sites in the capital rarely sit on open, empty ground. More often they are wedged into busy streets, share boundaries with occupied buildings, sit above or beside live transport routes, and operate under tight logistics plans, restricted delivery windows and strict controls on noise, dust and working hours. Add the mix of trades on a typical London job, the pressure of programme, and clients who audit safety closely, and the demands on the person managing it all are considerable. The SMSTS exists to make sure that person has the legal knowledge and the practical judgement to keep a complex site safe, and contractors across the capital treat the certificate accordingly.
Who the SMSTS course is for
The SMSTS is written for the people carrying overall responsibility for a site rather than a single work area. It is the right course if you are a site manager, project manager, site agent, contracts manager or a business owner who oversees construction works and needs to demonstrate management-level safety competence. It also suits experienced supervisors stepping up into a management role, and anyone whose contract or client is asking for a current SMSTS before they will hand over a London project.
It is worth being clear about where the SMSTS sits so you book the right course. The SMSTS is the five-day management qualification. The SSSTS, the Site Supervisors Safety Training Scheme, is the shorter two-day course aimed at first-line supervisors and gangers who lead a team or a work area under a manager. If you are the one with overall responsibility for the site, its programme and its safety performance, the SMSTS is the course you need. If you are unsure which level fits your role, speak to our team before booking and we will point you to the right one.
For many managers the SMSTS is also the qualification that unlocks the next step. On a lot of London projects a current SMSTS is written into the client’s or principal contractor’s requirements for anyone taking a management position, so holding it can be the difference between being considered for a role and being passed over. Employers use it too as a straightforward way to show clients and auditors that the people running their sites are competent, which is why so many put their whole management team through it.
There are no formal entry qualifications, but the course moves at management level and rewards some grounding. Ideally you will have spent time on construction sites and have a feel for how a job is run day to day, because a good deal of the learning comes from relating the syllabus back to real situations. You will also need a good standard of spoken and written English, since the course is taught and assessed in English throughout.
What you will learn
Over the five days you cover the full CITB syllabus, which spans the legal duties of a site manager and the practical control of the high-risk activities a London site throws up. In summary, the programme works through health and safety law and the manager’s responsibilities under it, the Construction (Design and Management) Regulations, and how to build, review and brief risk assessments and method statements so they mean something on the ground rather than sitting in a file.
Alongside the legal and planning content, the course covers behavioural safety and building a positive safety culture, managing occupational health and worker wellbeing, and the control of the hazards that dominate real projects: working at height and fall prevention, scaffolding, excavations and underground services, temporary works, electrical safety, confined spaces, demolition and other high-risk operations. Throughout, the tutor draws on case studies and worked examples so you can apply the principles to the kind of sites you actually run across the capital. A separate breakdown of the individual modules is set out elsewhere on this page, so the above is a summary of the ground the course covers rather than the full session-by-session list.
How the course runs
The London SMSTS runs over five consecutive midweek days, Monday to Friday, from 8:30 to 17:00 each day. You need to attend all five days in full to complete the qualification, so it is worth clearing the diary for the week and letting your site team know you will be tied up. Full attendance is a CITB requirement, not just our preference.
The course is delivered live online over a Zoom video link, taught in real time by an experienced CITB-approved trainer. This is a proper tutor-led classroom rather than a set of recorded videos or a self-study workbook. You can see and hear the trainer, ask questions as they come up, and take part in the group discussions and exercises that make the five days work. The interaction matters on a management course: a lot of the value comes from talking through real scenarios with a room full of other site managers, comparing how different London jobs handle the same problem, and getting a considered answer from a trainer who has run sites themselves.
Joining is straightforward. You will need a laptop or desktop computer, a reliable internet connection, and a webcam and microphone or headset so you can take part fully. Tablets can work at a push but are not recommended for a five-day course. Before the course starts our support team can help you test your link, audio and video so day one begins on time. Our trainers keep the sessions engaging across the week, breaking up the syllabus with discussion and real project examples rather than reading through slides.
Spreading the course across a full working week rather than compressing it also gives the content time to settle. Each day builds on the last, and the daily knowledge checks let both you and the trainer see where anything needs revisiting before the week closes. For a manager juggling a live London job around the training, the online format means you can still keep half an eye on site during breaks and pick up urgent calls without the dead time of a commute eating into your day. Many delegates log in from the site cabin between visits, which keeps them close to the very projects the training is preparing them to run more safely.
Assessment and exam
Assessment on the SMSTS is continuous as well as final. Across the week you take part in group discussions and interactive tasks and complete daily knowledge checks, all of which build towards the end-of-course exam. Because the material is reinforced day by day and tied back to real site situations, the exam tends to reflect what you have already worked through rather than catch you out.
The final exam is a written paper made up of multiple-choice, multiple-response and short written-answer questions. It lasts approximately 30 minutes and the pass mark is 81%. The short written answers are the part most delegates want to prepare for, since they ask you to explain a manager’s actions rather than simply pick an option. We publish a free SMSTS practice test so you can see the style of questions and check your readiness before the course. You can take it at https://www.skillstg.co.uk/smsts-mock-test/. Working through the mock test is one of the simplest ways to walk into the real exam with confidence.
Why train online from London
London does not make it easy to pull a site manager off the job for a week. Between congestion, the cost and scarcity of parking, and the sheer time lost crossing the city, sending someone to a fixed training venue for five days rarely suits anyone. Delivering the SMSTS as a live online course takes that problem away. You qualify from a laptop at home, from the site cabin, or wherever you are based, with no cross-town commute, no parking to find and no travel costs to claim back afterwards.
To be completely clear, there is no physical training centre for this course. It is delivered online only, and that is a deliberate choice rather than a compromise. You are not sitting in a classroom on the other side of London; you are learning live with a CITB-approved trainer and a group of other managers over a video link. The certificate you earn is exactly the same official CITB SMSTS certificate you would receive from any in-person course, carrying the same recognition on every site in the capital and across the UK. The online format simply removes the travel and lets you fit the training around a live project. For teams, it also means managers spread across several London jobs can sit the same course without everyone converging on one building.
Certification and five-year validity
Pass the course and you receive the official CITB Site Safety Plus SMSTS certificate. It is recognised across the UK construction industry and is one of the qualifications most commonly asked for when contractors and clients across London are appointing or checking site management staff. As a national qualification it is fully portable: the certificate you earn on our London course carries the same weight on a site in Manchester or Glasgow as it does in the capital, which matters in a trade where managers move between jobs and employers.
The SMSTS certificate is valid for five years. To keep it live you complete the two-day SMSTS Refresher before it expires, which brings you up to date with any changes in legislation and best practice and renews the qualification for a further five years. It is well worth putting the expiry date in the diary in good time, because the shorter refresher route depends on renewing before the certificate lapses; let it run out and you are generally back to the full five-day course. You can read more about the refresher at https://www.skillstg.co.uk/courses/citb-smsts-refresher-course/.
CITB grant funding
If your business is registered with the CITB Levy, you may be able to claim a CITB grant towards the cost of this course, subject to CITB approval. The grant is paid directly by CITB to the employer after the delegate completes the course, so it works as a rebate against the training rather than a discount at the point of booking. To process a claim you will typically need your company name, registered business address and CITB Levy registration number. For many London contractors the grant meaningfully reduces the real cost of putting managers through their SMSTS, so it is worth checking your eligibility before you book.
How to book
Booking your London SMSTS course takes a couple of minutes. You can reserve a place online at https://booking.skillstg.co.uk/course/SMSTS, where you can see the upcoming dates and secure your seat. If you would rather talk it through, or you are arranging places for several managers, call our team on 0808 164 2780 and we will help you find a date that works around your projects.
If you are training a group, we also run the full SMSTS as an in-house course for organisations with six or more delegates, delivered to your own team so the discussions can be tailored to your current London projects and procedures. For more background on the course, including all the scheduled dates, see the main CITB SMSTS course page.
Frequently asked questions
How long is the SMSTS course and when does it run?
The SMSTS is a five-day course. We run it over five consecutive midweek days, Monday to Friday, from 8:30 to 17:00 each day. You need to attend all five days in full to gain the qualification, as full attendance is a CITB requirement. The course is delivered live online, so once you have the dates in the diary you can join each session from wherever you are working in London.
Is the SMSTS course delivered at a training centre in London?
No. There is no physical venue for this course. It is delivered live online over a Zoom video link with a CITB-approved trainer, so you take part from home, from your site cabin, or wherever suits you across London and the South East. You still get a real, interactive classroom with live teaching and group discussion, and you receive the same official CITB SMSTS certificate as any in-person course.
How much does the SMSTS course cost, and can I claim a CITB grant?
The course costs £430. If your business is registered with the CITB Levy, you may be able to claim a CITB grant towards that cost, subject to CITB approval, with the grant paid directly to the employer after completion. Many London employers use the grant to reduce the real cost of training their managers, so it is worth checking your eligibility before booking.
What does the exam involve and how hard is it?
The exam is a written paper of multiple-choice, multiple-response and short written-answer questions. It lasts around 30 minutes and the pass mark is 81%. Because the course reinforces the material daily and ties it back to real site situations, most delegates find the exam a fair reflection of the week rather than a hurdle. We also provide a free practice test at https://www.skillstg.co.uk/smsts-mock-test/ so you can prepare in advance.
What is the difference between SMSTS and SSSTS?
The SMSTS is the five-day course for site managers and others carrying overall responsibility for a project and its safety. The SSSTS is the two-day course for first-line supervisors, gangers and team leaders who oversee a work area under a manager. If you run the site, you need the SMSTS. If you supervise a team within it, the SSSTS is usually the right level. If you are not sure which suits your role on your current London job, get in touch and we will help you choose.
Will my certificate be recognised across London and the rest of the UK?
Yes. The SMSTS is a nationally recognised CITB qualification, not a regional one. The certificate you earn on our London course is accepted by principal contractors and clients right across the capital, from Canary Wharf to Croydon, and carries exactly the same weight on sites anywhere else in the UK. That portability is one of the reasons the SMSTS is so widely required for site management roles.
My certificate is due to expire soon. What do I do?
The SMSTS certificate is valid for five years. To stay qualified you take the two-day SMSTS Refresher before it expires, which updates you on any changes to legislation and best practice and renews the certificate for another five years. If you let it lapse, you generally have to complete the full five-day course again, so book the refresher in good time. You can find it at https://www.skillstg.co.uk/courses/citb-smsts-refresher-course/.
Ready to book your place? Secure your London SMSTS course online at https://booking.skillstg.co.uk/course/SMSTS, or call our team on 0808 164 2780 for help with dates, CITB grants or group bookings. Get the qualification London contractors expect from their site managers, delivered live online and built around your projects.
Modules breakdown
Across the five days, your tutor works through the full CITB Site Management Safety Training Scheme syllabus, blending live teaching with group discussions, case studies and daily knowledge checks. Every module is taught with the site manager’s responsibilities in mind, covering the following key areas:
Health and safety legislation
- Health and Safety at Work Act fundamentals and their implications for construction
- Environmental legislation affecting construction sites
- Recent developments and new guidance in safety regulations
- Responsibilities under relevant legislation, and industry best practice beyond the legal minimum
Risk management
- Conducting thorough risk assessments and implementing the necessary control measures
- Ensuring safe working practices across different site activities
- Managing common safety issues on construction sites
- Creating systems for continual safety awareness
Leadership and communication
- Developing a positive safety culture on site
- Techniques for communicating safety protocols effectively
- Engaging the workforce in health and safety initiatives
- Managing subcontractors and supporting site supervisors in their safety responsibilities
Practical site management
- Day-to-day safety management techniques
- Responding to incidents and near misses
- Documentation and record-keeping requirements
- Site inspections, audits, toolbox talks and safety briefings
Special site hazards
- Working at height safety protocols
- Plant and equipment safety
- Excavation and groundworks safety
- Managing hazardous substances
- Electrical safety on construction sites
You attend all five training days, take part in the group activities and knowledge checks, then sit the final exam. On passing, you receive the official CITB SMSTS certificate, valid for five years, which you keep current with the two-day SMSTS Refresher Course before it expires. If you supervise rather than manage a site, the two-day SSSTS course may be the better fit – our team can help you choose.
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