What to do if you're referred
Failing an assessment can be disheartening and stressful, and it can sometimes be difficult to know what to do next. There can be a variety of things that contribute to a refer result, and should be considered when deciding on your next steps. The information below outlines the things you should consider, how to book your resit, what resources are available to you to prepare for your resit, as well as how you can appeal your result if you feel it is unfair.
Getting Feedback on Your Assessment
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Multiple Choice Assessment
Qualifications: NEBOSH Certificate in Process Safety Management (PSM) | NEBOSH Environmental Awareness (EAW)
If you have been referred on a multiple choice exam, there is no marking sheet or feedback available from NEBOSH. Instead, we would recommend reviewing the course materials and learning outcomes.
It is worth considering if there were specific topics that came up in the exam that you were uncertain on, and focus on those as you review the materials.
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Scenario-Based Assessment (SBA) - Certificates
Qualifications: NEBOSH National/International General Certificate (NG1/IG1) | NEBOSH Fire Safety Certificate (FSC1) | NEBOSH Health & Safety Management for Construction (UK - CN/International - CI) | NEBOSH Environmental Management Certificate (EMC1)
If you have been referred on an SBA, we would recommend the following:
- Review the course materials and learning outcomes.
- Read the SBA guidance and RRC blog advising on exam technique for your course.
- Read the NEBOSH examiners reports on the previous sittings.
- If you haven’t already, complete the mock exam on the RRC Learning Centre. Once completed, follow the steps outlined to share your mock with your RRC tutor, who can provide feedback on where you may have lost marks.
- If you have completed your mock assessment and received feedback, your RRC tutor may have additional practice questions you can work on to support your revision.
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Scenario-Based Assessment (SBA) - Diplomas
Qualifications: NEBOSH National Diploma (2023 Syllabus) | NEBOSH International Diploma (2023 Syllabus)
If you were referred on your NEBOSH Diploma Assignment, we would recommend the following:
- Review the course materials and learning outcomes.
- Read the SBA guidance and RRC blog advising on exam technique for your course.
- Read the NEBOSH examiners reports on the previous sittings.
- Contact your online tutor through the Learning Centre. They will be able to provide feedback and support on exam techniques and understanding the course materials.
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Paper-Based Exams
Qualifications: NEBOSH International Technical Certificate in Oil and Gas Operational Safety (IOG) | NEBOSH National/International Diploma (2015 Syllabus) | NEBOSH National/International Diploma in Environmental Management (ED1)
If you were referred on a paper-based exam, no detailed feedback is available on your paper. However, we would recommend the following:
- Review the course materials and learning outcomes.
- Read the NEBOSH examiners reports on the previous sittings.
- If you haven’t already, complete the mock exam on the RRC Learning Centre. Once completed, follow the steps to share your mock with your RRC tutor, who can provide feedback on where you may have lost marks.
- If you have completed your mock assessment and received feedback, your RRC tutor may have additional practice questions you can work on to support your revision.
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Risk Assessments - Certificates
Qualifications: NEBOSH National/International General Certificate (NG2/IG2) | NEBOSH Fire Safety Certificate (FSC2) | NEBOSH Environmental Management Certificate (EMC2)
If you have been referred on your risk assessment, you will receive feedback from the examiner. You should review the feedback thoroughly on the areas that are “Not Met”. To resubmit, you do not need to completely redo the risk assessment, just update the areas that were “Not Met”.
There are also RRC and NEBOSH resources to help you approach the risk assessment:
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Assignments - Diplomas
Qualifications: NEBOSH National/International Diploma (2015 Syllabus - DNI) | NEBOSH National/International Diploma in Environmental Management (NDEM2/IDEM2)
If you have been referred on a diploma assignment, you should receive your risk assessment back with a marking sheet highlighting sections where the standard has not been met. We recommend you review this feedback alongside the Marking Criteria and Level descriptors.
You do not need to submit an entirely new assignment - you can improve the existing one based on the examiner's feedback and resubmit the improved version.
Booking Your Resit
After you have been referred you can book a resit. This does not have to be done immediately, but please make sure you know what the registration deadline is for whichever sitting you would like to book onto. Details of exam sittings and registration deadlines can be found here.
When you are ready to book, simply complete the resit booking form and send the completed form to exams@rrc.co.uk. The form will detail the available dates, registration deadlines and cost.
For NEBOSH scenario-based exams, written exams, risk assessments, and assignments, a fee will be incurred for additional attempts. The cost varies depending on the assessment, and can be found on the relevant resit form. For in-person (invigilated) exams, venue fees may also apply.
Please note also that resits are only available if your tuition period is still valid (as per your Learning Agreement). If it has expired, we may send you a quote for re-enrolment instead - this replaces resit fees and you will get a discount on the course fees. This doesn’t affect any unit you already passed.
Will it be the same paper or do I need to start again?
For scenario based assessments, it will be a different scenario and different set of questions. The feedback from your online tutor and the advice provided across our range of resources will still be useful as this can be applied to all scenarios.
For risk assessments you don’t need to start again. You can simply improve your previous RA based on the feedback you received from the NEBOSH examiner. Just remember changes you make can affect other sections of the document (eg suggested control measures, timescale, review date, etc) so keep the whole risk assessment in mind as you amend it. Also, make sure you always use the latest template (so check the version number on the NEBOSH website before you update your existing document).
Do I need to redo the other unit I passed? Do I get a certificate for this?
Once you achieve a pass, it remains valid with NEBOSH for 5 years so you only need to retake the unit(s) you haven’t passed.
NEBOSH only issue unit certificates for Diploma courses. If you’re studying a certificate course, you will need to pass all units to receive a parchment. You can however order a unit certificate for a small fee. This is called a “First issue unit certificate” and it is covered by the NEBOSH replacement certificate policy here.
Should I dispute my results?
If you’re surprised or disappointed by your result, you might be thinking about disputing the outcome. NEBOSH has a process called “Enquiry About Results” (EAR) which allows you to challenge the mark on your assessment. The price for this varies from £18 for a Type 1 Enquiry to £118 for a Type 2 enquiry, and is only refunded if your result changes from “Refer” to “Pass”.
With this in mind, it is important to consider whether an EAR would be worthwhile, and how likely it is to be successful.
Things to Consider
1) How close to a pass mark are you?
It is important to consider how much your mark would need to be changed to switch from a referral to a pass before submitting your EAR. We normally recommend this if you are within 5% of the pass mark, although larger changes do happen occasionally.
Because of this, we would only recommend you submit an EAR if you are within 5 marks of the pass mark and are confident in their answers/submission.
2) How confident are you that your result is wrong?
There is no guarantee that your mark will change for the positive with an EAR. As well as remaining the same, your result could be decreased upon remarking. With this in mind, we do not recommend submitting an EAR simply to improve a pass mark. It’s also important to think about how you felt on the day of the assessment, how confident you felt when reviewing the questions and whether there are any other issues that might have affected your performance on the day:
- How well did you sleep the night before?
- Were there distractions around you while you were completing your assessment?
- Were there any other factors that might have affected your performance on the day - e.g. stress, sickness, dependents)?
- How much time did you devote to revision?
- Did you use all of the course content, resources and revision aids available to you?
- If there was a mock assessment available, did you complete it and did you receive feedback from your online tutor?
- Were there any questions or topics on the paper that you did not feel confident in, or took you by surprise?
If you are considering submitting an EAR for a risk assessment (NG2, IG2, FSC2, EMC2), there is an additional consideration - Are you confident that all “Not Met” marks are unjustified. A risk assessment will only move from Refer to Pass if all criteria receive a “Met”. This means that if just 1 “Not Met” remains after an EAR, your mark will remain as a Refer.
Submitting an Enquiry About Results (EAR) to NEBOSH
If you are still unhappy with your result and would like to challenge it with NEBOSH, you will need to submit an EAR to NEBOSH directly. There are 2 versions of the EAR:
- Enquiry Type 1: clerical check - This is a clerical check to ensure all parts of the assessment have been marked and that marks have been totalled correctly. The fee is £18 per unit and the outcome is provided within 10 working days.
NOTE: NEBOSH have a robust procedure for declaring results and to date, we’ve not seen any Type 1 EAR make a difference in a grade so we would not recommend this - but the option is available. -
Enquiry Type 2: Re-mark of script - This consists of a re-mark of the script by the next level of NEBOSH Examiner and also includes a clerical check. The fee is £118 per unit and the outcome is provided within 40 working days of the EAR request deadline.
Please be aware, NEBOSH will only refund EAR fees if the outcome upgrades a refer to a pass, (or from Pass to Credit/Distinction)
You have 20 working days from the date your results were released to submit an EAR.
Booking a resit while awaiting an EAR outcome
You can book a resit while you’re waiting for the EAR outcome, in line with our registration deadlines. We would recommend you book a resit for the assessment date that follows the EAR outcome date. This means you will have the resit booked in the event your grade does not change. However, if your result is upgraded to a pass, and you have not submitted an assessment on the booked resit, RRC will refund the resit fee. Please note that if you do submit a resit before the EAR outcome, RRC cannot refund the fee regardless of the outcome.
You are welcome to wait for the EAR outcome and only book a resit later on, if necessary.
If you’re not sure what date to register for, please contact the Exams Team who will advise.
Diploma EAR and booking a resit
Due to the Diploma unit assessments only being held twice per year per unit, you might need to begin your resit assessment while awaiting your EAR outcome. Please rest assured that, as long as you have not submitted your new assessment, RRC will refund the resit in full if your EAR is successful.