CSCS Test Support and Reasonable Adjustments
If reading, hearing or writing under time pressure would make the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test harder for you than it should be, CITB will put support in place. It is free to ask and you arrange it when you book.
You do not need a diagnosed disability
This is CITB's own position, stated on their support page: a candidate does not necessarily have to have a disability as defined by the Equality Act 2010 to receive a reasonable adjustment. If you struggle with reading, or English is not your first language, or you know you freeze on a clock, that is reason enough to ask. Plenty of people who would qualify never ask because they assume they need a diagnosis first.
What CITB offers
A reader
A person who reads the questions and the possible answers to you, exactly as they appear on the screen. This is the usual route if reading is the barrier, including for dyslexia.
A reader-recorder
The same as a reader, and they also record your answers as you give them. Useful if writing or using the screen is the harder part.
A translator
Offered where there is no voiceover in your language. See the 14 languages that already have a voiceover on our test languages page before you request this.
British Sign Language
On the Operatives test, a BSL signer is recorded and plays on screen, and you book it in the normal online journey. On the Specialist and MAP tests you instead get a BSL interpreter in person, arranged through the Adjustments team.
A separate room and extra time
Provided automatically if you sit the test with a translator, a reader, a reader-recorder or a BSL interpreter. CITB does not publish how much extra time, so ask when you book.
Getting into the building
Access arrangements such as ramps and disabled parking vary by centre, and you can check your centre's arrangements during booking.
Which ones you can book yourself
Two of them are options in the standard online booking journey. The rest need a phone call or an email first, because CITB has to assign a real person to attend the centre with you.
Book online, no call needed
- Voiceover, Operatives, 14 languages
- BSL video, Operatives
- On-screen Welsh translation, MAP
Contact the Adjustments team
- Reader
- Reader-recorder
- Translator
- BSL interpreter, Specialist and MAP
- Anything not listed above
How to request it
Call 0344 994 4491 or email citb.adjustments@pearson.com. CITB asks you to include four things:
- 1. Which test you are taking, Operatives, Specialist or MAP
- 2. Which test centre you want
- 3. Which adjustment you need
- 4. Any evidence you have to support the request
Someone from the team then contacts you to talk it through and complete the booking. Do this as early as you can: CITB warns that waiting times can be longer than usual, because they have to find an appropriately qualified person for your appointment.
What counts as evidence
CITB asks for "any evidence you have", and gives three examples: a statement of special educational needs relating to secondary education, a psychological assessment carried out by a qualified psychologist, or a specialist assessment carried out by a specialist tutor. If you have none of those, contact the team anyway and explain your situation rather than assuming the answer is no.
Arrange it before the day, not on it
Every adjustment above is part of booking the test, and the ones involving a person have to be scheduled in advance. Turning up on the day and asking is not a plan: at best the centre cannot help, and the fee is not refunded when a candidate cannot sit a booked test.
CITB does not publish a deadline for requesting support, or a rule for what happens if you arrive and the adjustment was never booked. If you are close to your test date and something is not in place, phone the number above rather than waiting to see.
Next: the CSCS test languages if language is the barrier, or what happens on test day once support is booked. Support changes how you sit the test, not what is on it, so a free CSCS practice test is the same preparation either way.
Verified directly against CITB's support page for the HS&E test on 31 July 2026. We have deliberately left out figures that circulate on third-party sites but are not published by CITB, including a fixed percentage of extra time and specific notice periods. Ask the Adjustments team for those rather than trusting a number you read elsewhere, including here.