Training a site team in South Yorkshire: public dates, live online or in-house?
Training in South Yorkshire 5 min read Updated
When several people need the same course, how you book matters as much as what you book. Here's how employers around Sheffield, Doncaster, Barnsley and Chesterfield choose between public dates, live online and in-house training.
Booking one person on a course is easy. Booking a whole supervisory team, or every new starter on a project, takes more thought: who can be spared, when, and whether it makes sense to bring the course to you. This guide is for employers across South Yorkshire and North Derbyshire planning training for a group.
Three ways to train a group
- Public classroom dates at our Rotherham venue, shared with delegates from other companies.
- Public live online dates, taught in real time by a tutor, joined from home or the site office.
- In-house: a course run only for your people, on dates you choose, at your site or a venue near your team.
The certificate is the same whichever route you take. A CITB course leads to the same CITB certificate in a classroom, online or in-house.
Public classroom dates in Rotherham
Our regional classroom is at BizSpace Business Centre, Bradmarsh Business Park, Rotherham S60 1BY, reached from the A6178 Sheffield Road. From the south and from Doncaster you leave the M1 at junction 33; from the north, junction 34. Outside rush hour it's about 20 minutes from Sheffield city centre, about 25 from Barnsley, about 30 from Doncaster and about 35 from Chesterfield. Rotherham Central station, served by the tram-train from Sheffield and by trains from Doncaster and Wakefield, is about 1.2 miles away. The venue page has the full directions and the next dates.
Public dates suit you when:
- you have one to three people who need a course
- you want to spread people across different dates so the site stays covered
- your people benefit from hearing how other contractors do things
The CITB courses we schedule at the Rotherham venue include SSSTS, SMSTS, both refreshers, the temporary works courses, Health and Safety Awareness and SEATS. Each course page shows the dates currently available.
Live online
Live online courses are classroom courses delivered over video, with a tutor teaching the group in real time. They save travel, which matters if your team is spread between sites in Sheffield, Doncaster and North Derbyshire. Each person needs a laptop or desktop with a webcam, a reliable connection and a quiet room. A site cabin can work if the door shuts; a canteen won't. Our guide to how live online courses work covers the set-up.
Our NEBOSH and IOSH courses run live online, as do most CITB courses, so online is often the quickest way to find a date for everyone.
In-house at your site
When you have a group needing the same course, in-house training is usually the most practical answer. You choose the dates around your programme, the tutor can use examples from your own work, and nobody travels. We can run it at your site if it has a suitable room, or arrange a venue near your team.
In-house works particularly well for:
- supervisory teams on a new project who all need SSSTS before starting
- new starters who need CITB Health and Safety Awareness on their first days
- whole shifts or departments taking IOSH Working Safely
- several managers due for the SMSTS Refresher at around the same time
CITB sets class sizes for its courses: for SMSTS, for example, the maximum is 20 in a classroom and 12 online. Tell us how many people you have and we'll suggest how to split them. Ask for a quote on the in-house training page.
Planning without leaving a site short
Start with a list
Write down each person, the course they need and, for renewals, their certificate expiry date. SMSTS, SSSTS, SEATS and the temporary works coordinator certificates all last five years, and refreshers must be taken before expiry, so your list shows what's urgent.
Spread the people, not the course
Sending every supervisor on the same block week leaves a site without supervision. Either split them across dates, or choose day release, where the course runs one day a week. Our guide to block, day release or weekend explains each pattern.
Check every date, not just the first
CITB courses must be attended in full. If someone misses a day, they normally have to make it up on another course within 30 days. Check the dates against pours, inspections and handovers.
Sort funding before you book
If you're a CITB-registered employer hoping to use CITB funding, talk to your CITB adviser first. Since January 2026, most short courses are funded through CITB's Employer Networks, and CITB says only training booked through the network qualifies. Our guide to SMSTS costs and CITB funding has more detail.
Different towns, different needs
Teams across the region tend to need different things. City-centre schemes in Sheffield bring a lot of supervisors and temporary works roles. Large logistics and industrial builds around Doncaster and along the M1 at Barnsley need SSSTS, SMSTS and SEATS for site teams. In North Derbyshire, where the Rotherham classroom is a longer drive, employers lean more on live online dates and in-house courses. Each area page sets out the options:
- Health and safety courses in Sheffield
- Courses for Doncaster site teams
- Training for Barnsley employers
- Courses for Chesterfield and North Derbyshire
Or see every town we cover on the South Yorkshire training page.
Where to take it
For one or two people, book public dates in Rotherham or online. For a group, ask us about in-house training. Either way, call us with the list of people and courses and we'll suggest the quickest way to get everyone trained without stopping the job.
Published by Site Safety Training on 5 October 2026, last updated 14 October 2026. Course rules and card schemes can change: if you're unsure what applies to you, call 07939 593032 or check with the awarding body.