Many people vacillate over which professional health and safety qualification to take — the NEBOSH Diploma or the City and Guilds Diploma Level 5 in Occupational Health and Safety Practice?

While these two are not the only options for qualifications for suitable Graduate Membership leading to CMIOSH listed by IOSH and many universities themselves actually now offer undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications in health and safety, the NEBOSH Diploma and the City and Guilds Diploma Level 5 in Occupational Health and Safety Practice remain the top players in the field.

If you ask health and safety consultants and providers of risk management solutions, one isn’t really better than the other. Nonetheless, many health and safety practitioners tend to have their own preferences, mainly the path that they themselves ended up personally undertaking.
The reality, however, is that one isn’t more credible or impressive than the other. The main difference lies in the learning process.

The NEBOSH Diploma is considered an excellent qualification. The learning involved follows the traditional method of teaching and testing by way of exams. It’s ideal for those who are really after theoretical knowledge acquisition in the process of obtaining the official qualification that would further their career. It’s suitable for both beginners and experienced professionals who want to brush up on their knowledge.

The Diploma Level 5, on the other hand, is specifically designed for those who already hold a practitioner role and have achieved a high level of both theoretical knowledge and practical experience. It’s mainly about students proving their competence by submitting high quality evidence. Currently, its standards demand that students already perform an autonomous role for managing health and safety in a company with real and complicated risks.

Choosing between the two qualifications is mainly a question of what you personally want to get out of the endeavour. The NEBOSH Diploma may sound like the easier option, but this is not the case. It has really tough exams that require you to work hard to pass. The City and Guilds Diploma Level 5, meanwhile, requires you to provide a really good selection of excellent evidence demonstrating just as much knowledge.

City and Guilds Level 5 Diploma can be a quicker to finish than the comparable NEBOSH Diploma course. At the end of the day, your choice will be dictated by where you are in your career and the amount of time you can devote to studying these courses. Depending on your existing evidence, it could take only six to nine month to complete the City and Guilds course but you can use up to two full years of evidence.
To determine which one is the best fit for you, take the time to carefully research both options. This way, you can ensure an informed decision that will eventually get you the experience and the end result you’re after.

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