How much does a CSCS card cost?

£36, paid to CSCS when you apply. CSCS states that cards it issues cost £36, with the Apprentice card the one exception: that card is issued free of charge. The fee is the same whether it is your first card or a renewal.

Why have I been quoted far more than £36 for a CSCS card?

Because you are on a reseller's website rather than the official one. CSCS says plainly that it does not endorse or approve any third-party CSCS card services, and it recommends applying directly so you receive the correct card and pay the right fees. The card itself never costs more than £36.

Is £36 the only thing I have to pay?

No. The CITB Health, safety and environment test is a separate £23.50 paid to CITB, and nearly every card also needs a qualification you pay a college or training provider for. The £36 is the card, not the route to it.

Is £36 for a replacement card good value?

It depends what you are buying. A replacement costs the same £36 as a new card but carries the expiry date printed on the original, so it buys you a card rather than extra time. If yours was nearly out of date when you lost it, paying £36 to renew instead gets you a full new term for the same money.

Is a CSCS card free for apprentices?

Yes. CSCS issues the Apprentice card free of charge. It is the only card on the scheme with no application fee, so if you are registered on an apprenticeship it is worth checking you are applying for the right one.

Does renewing a CSCS card cost the same as applying?

Yes, renewal is charged at the same £36. The thing to watch is timing rather than price: cards can only be renewed from six months before the expiry date printed on the card up to one year after it.

CSCS Card Cost

Published 3 August 2026

Getting carded for a UK construction site means paying up to three separate bills, and only one of them is the card. Here is what the card itself costs, what the CSCS test cost adds on top, and why some websites charge double for the same application.

Cards issued by CSCS cost £36. The Apprentice card is the single exception and is issued free of charge. Replacements and renewals are charged at the same £36.

The realistic total for a first card

The confusion about CSCS card prices comes from one fact: getting carded means paying up to three organisations, and only one of those payments is the card. CSCS takes the £36 by credit or debit card at the end of the application, through the My CSCS app or CSCS Online. CITB takes £23.50 for the Health, safety and environment test, which CSCS cannot sell or arrange, and which CSCS test cost covers in full. A college or training provider takes whatever your qualification costs. Two routes below, the same two fixed fees.

Cost	Paid to	Green Labourer card	Skilled card
CITB HS&E test	CITB	£23.50	£23.50
Card application	CSCS	£36	£36
Qualification	College or training provider	Varies. A Level 1 award in health and safety in a construction environment, priced by the provider.	Varies widely. An NVQ or SVQ at the right level, often part funded by an employer.
Fixed fees		£59.50 plus the qualification	£59.50 plus the qualification

We are deliberately not quoting a qualification price. Course fees are set by each provider, vary by region, and are often reduced or covered entirely by an employer or a funded programme. No official source publishes a single figure, so any site that gives you one has made it up. Ring two local providers and compare. Work out which card you need before you spend anything: the CSCS card types differ in both test and qualification, and do I need a CSCS card is worth reading first if nobody has actually asked you for one.

Warning: paying far more than £36

Search for a CSCS card and you will land on sites that are not CSCS, charging well above £36 for an application you can make yourself in the official app. CSCS puts it two ways on its own website. It recommends applying directly via CSCS to ensure you receive the correct card and pay the right fees, and it states that it does not endorse or approve any third-party CSCS card services. An organisation does not write either sentence unless overcharging is a live problem. Three checks before you pay:

The card fee should be £36, or nothing at all for an Apprentice card on first issue, though a replacement Apprentice card is charged at the standard £36. A higher figure is somebody's margin, not the price.
The test is booked with CITB, never bundled by a card seller. See how to book the CSCS test.
If a price looks wrong, ask CSCS. The CSCS contact number reaches the scheme itself, the only body that can tell you what your application should cost.

For the avoidance of doubt, this site sells nothing and cannot issue cards either. See our not affiliated notice.

Replacing and renewing: same fee, very different value

Both cost £36, and people mix them up in a way that wastes money. CSCS states that replacement cards are charged at £36 and carry the expiry date printed on the original card. Replacing a card with four months left buys you a card with four months left. Replacing is not renewing.

Renewing is the one that resets the clock, and it has a window: from six months before the expiry date on the card up to one year after it. Miss that and you may be reapplying rather than renewing. The detail sits on CSCS card expiry and replacement and CSCS card application and renewal. If the scheme is new to you, what is a CSCS card is the place to start.

Spend nothing on revision

Revision materials are an optional extra. CITB publishes the official GT100 book plus paid apps and downloads, and the CSCS revision book page prices them up and asks whether any of them earn their place. The cheapest saving, though, is not failing: each test attempt is charged in full, so one fail adds another £23.50 before you have paid CSCS anything.

Sit a free CSCS practice test first, and if you are consistently scoring 45 out of 50 on the Operatives mock test, the £23.50 only has to be paid once.

free CSCS practice test What the test costs

Fees checked August 2026 against cscs.uk.com. The £36 card fee, the free Apprentice card, the £23.50 CITB test fee, the recommendation to apply directly and the statement on third-party card services come from the CSCS contact and applying for cards pages; the £36 replacement fee and the original-expiry-date rule from the CSCS replacing a card page; the renewal window from the CSCS renew or replace page. The £23.50 is also confirmed on CITB's own site, at clause 3.1 of the test booking terms and conditions linked from its booking page: “The price for each type of HS&E Test shall be £23.50.” That is worth knowing, because CITB rebuilt its website in 2026 and the fee is no longer printed on the HS&E test or booking pages themselves. No qualification price is asserted here, because no official source publishes one.

CSCS card cost: common questions

How much does a CSCS card cost?: £36, paid to CSCS when you apply. CSCS states that cards it issues cost £36, with the Apprentice card the one exception: that card is issued free of charge. The fee is the same whether it is your first card or a renewal.
Why have I been quoted far more than £36 for a CSCS card?: Because you are on a reseller's website rather than the official one. CSCS says plainly that it does not endorse or approve any third-party CSCS card services, and it recommends applying directly so you receive the correct card and pay the right fees. The card itself never costs more than £36.
Is £36 the only thing I have to pay?: No. The CITB Health, safety and environment test is a separate £23.50 paid to CITB, and nearly every card also needs a qualification you pay a college or training provider for. The £36 is the card, not the route to it.
Is £36 for a replacement card good value?: It depends what you are buying. A replacement costs the same £36 as a new card but carries the expiry date printed on the original, so it buys you a card rather than extra time. If yours was nearly out of date when you lost it, paying £36 to renew instead gets you a full new term for the same money.
Is a CSCS card free for apprentices?: Yes. CSCS issues the Apprentice card free of charge. It is the only card on the scheme with no application fee, so if you are registered on an apprenticeship it is worth checking you are applying for the right one.
Does renewing a CSCS card cost the same as applying?: Yes, renewal is charged at the same £36. The thing to watch is timing rather than price: cards can only be renewed from six months before the expiry date printed on the card up to one year after it.