CSCS Highway works Specialist Test
HIWOperatives working on roads, streets and highway maintenance.
50
questions
45
minutes
45/50
to pass (90%)
£23.50
test fee
What the Highway works test covers
The Specialist test combines the five core Operatives knowledge areas with questions specific to highway works. Expect the specialist section to focus on:
- Temporary traffic management and Chapter 8
- Cones, signing, lighting and guarding
- High-visibility clothing requirements
- Working near live traffic
- Excavations and reinstatement in the highway
Practise Highway works questions
5 exam-style questions with worked explanations, drawn from our highway works (specialist) bank.
Highway works (HIW) — practice questions
- 5 questions · pass mark 90%
- Untimed practice — you see the correct answer immediately after each question.
- Some questions need more than one answer — these are clearly marked.
How the Highway works test is structured
CITB builds every Specialist test the same way: the five core knowledge areas from the Operatives test, plus questions specific to your specialism. Those core areas are working environment, occupational health, safety, high risk activities and specialist, and they account for the larger share of the 50 questions. The practical consequence is that most of your revision for the HIW test is the same revision every operative on site does, so start there and add the specialist material on top.
Same format as every HS&E test
50 questions in 45 minutes with a 45 out of 50 pass mark. Five wrong answers are allowed and a sixth fails you.
Booked as one exam
The core and specialist questions come in one 45-minute appointment costing £23.50, not as two separate sittings.
Your card decides it
The specialism follows from the CSCS card you are applying for. Confirm with the official Card Finder before booking.
Revising for Highway works when the specialist bank is thin
Because the core is shared, the fastest way to raise your score on any specialist test is to fix weaknesses in the core knowledge first. Sit a full timed 50-question mock cold, read the per-topic breakdown, then drill whichever of the 21 topic question banks cost you the most marks. Come back to the specialist material once the core is reliable, because a specialist section cannot rescue a weak core: the core is simply the bigger half of the paper.
When you are clearing 45 out of 50 consistently rather than once, read what ID to bring and how to book. Turning up without the right identification means no test and no refund, which is the commonest avoidable way to lose the £23.50.
Related specialist tests
These sit closest to Highway works in trade and in hazard. If you are unsure which specialism your card requires, compare them before you book.
Next steps
Confirm this is the right test with the official CSCS Card Finder, then book your Specialist test. Compare the other 11 specialist topics if you are unsure.
Topic name and code verified against citb.co.uk, July 2026.