What affects the cost of SMSTS, and can your employer get CITB funding?

"How much does SMSTS cost?" is one of the most searched questions about the course. The fee for each date is on our SMSTS course page, and it changes from time to time, so we don't repeat it here. What this guide covers is everything else that decides what SMSTS really costs you or your employer, and how to keep that down.

How our prices are shown

Every price on our site is shown ex VAT, written as "+ VAT". VAT is added at checkout, so the total you pay is the listed price plus VAT. If your business is VAT-registered, you can usually reclaim it in the normal way; if you're paying personally, budget for the VAT-inclusive total.

The price is per delegate, per date. If several people are booking, each place is priced separately, and you can book them together in one booking.

Classroom or online: same certificate

SMSTS runs in the classroom and live online with a tutor. The content, the exam and the CITB certificate are the same either way. What differs is the cost around the course:

• Classroom: five days of travel, parking and, for some, an early start. Worth it if you learn better face to face or don't have a reliable computer and connection.
• Live online: no travel, but you need a laptop or desktop with a webcam, a stable connection and a quiet room for five full days. See how live online courses work.

The biggest cost is usually time

For most employers, five days away from site costs more than the course fee. A site without its manager either slows down or needs cover. That's why the course pattern matters as much as the price:

• Block week: five consecutive days. Quickest to the certificate, hardest to cover.
• Day release: CITB allows SMSTS to run as one or two days a week over up to five weeks, so the site is never without its manager for long.
• Weekends: no weekdays lost, which suits self-employed managers.

Our guide to choosing a course pattern goes through the trade-offs.

Costs people forget

Missing a day

Every full day of SMSTS must be attended. Under CITB's rules, if you miss a day you have to make it up on another course, normally within 30 days, so a missed day can mean another day away from site. Check every date in the pattern against pours, handovers and holidays before you book.

Failing the exam

The exam has 25 questions and a pass mark of 81%. A delegate who falls just short may be offered one re-sit; one who fails the re-sit has to take the course again. Reading the course notes each evening and taking part in the exercises is the cheapest insurance there is.

Letting the certificate expire

This is the expensive one. An SMSTS certificate lasts five years. Take the two-day SMSTS Refresher before it expires and you're certified for another five years. Miss the expiry date and CITB's rules send you back to the full five-day course. Put the date in your diary now and book the refresher a few months ahead; our refresher guide explains the timing.

Booking the wrong course

Sending a new supervisor on SMSTS, or a site manager on SSSTS, wastes time and money. The two-day SSSTS is written for supervisors. If you're unsure, read can you run a site with SSSTS? before you book.

CITB funding for employers

CITB funding is paid to employers, not to individual delegates, and only to employers registered with CITB and up to date with their levy returns. How it works for short courses changed in January 2026, so advice you read before then may be out of date.

• The main grants scheme now covers a short list of courses, mainly plant operations, scaffolding and some specialist occupations.
• Most other short courses, including health and safety training, moved to CITB's Employer Networks. South and West Yorkshire is one of CITB's Employer Network areas.
• Through an Employer Network, a CITB adviser helps identify the training and it's booked through the network's booking team. CITB part-funds approved training and the employer pays the rest. CITB says the money comes from an annual budget, so it isn't guaranteed, and that Employer Network support is for employers with fewer than 250 employees.

The important practical point: CITB says only training booked through the Employer Network booking team is eligible for that funding. If you want to use it, speak to your CITB adviser before booking a place yourself. Funding rules are CITB's and change from time to time, so check the current position on the CITB website or with your adviser.

Training several managers?

If a number of your managers need SMSTS or the refresher at around the same time, a course run just for your team can work out better than separate public dates, mainly because you choose the dates around your programme. See in-house training and our guide to training a site team in South Yorkshire.

Where to take it

SMSTS runs in the classroom at our Rotherham venue at Bradmarsh Business Park, reached from M1 junction 33 or 34 and the A6178, and live online with a tutor on consecutive days, day release or weekends. For people coming from the Doncaster side, our page on health and safety courses in Doncaster covers the M18 route and the hourly train to Rotherham Central.