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Highways Site Manager NVQ Level 6
Highways Site Manager NVQ Level 6
Running highways schemes means managing the network, the client and the programme at once. Prove it with a Level 6 NVQ evidenced from your contracts, on the typical route to the Black Manager CSCS card. It costs £1,300 fixed with no VAT, typically takes 4–8 weeks with assessment carried out remotely or on site from your normal work — no exams, no classroom, and leads to the Black Manager card.
Qualification Overview
Highways site managers answer to the travelling public as much as the client: network occupancy booked months out, penalty clauses on late openings, multiple gangs and TM crews strung along the route, and stakeholders from the authority to the bus company. This Level 6 NVQ recognises that management discipline with its own pathway — evidenced from the schemes you already deliver.
A CTG assessor works with you across your contracts, reviews your management records — programmes, RAMS approvals, progress and cost reports — and gathers witness testimony and professional discussion. No exams and no classroom, and assessor visits are included as standard.
You achieve the GQA Level 6 NVQ Diploma in Construction Site Management (Construction), qualification code 610/1272/5, through the Highways Maintenance pathway — the typical qualification route to the Black Manager CSCS card.
Qualification Structure
Key information
| Full title | GQA Level 6 NVQ Diploma in Construction Site Management (Construction) |
| Qualification code | 610/1272/5 |
| Pathway | Highways Site Manager |
| Level | 6 |
| Awarding body | GQA |
| Price | £1,300 — fixed, no VAT |
| Typical completion | 4–8 weeks |
| Assessment | Workplace evidence — no exams, no classroom |
| Typical CSCS route | Black Manager |
What the Highways pathway covers
One of the formal pathways of the Level 6 Construction Site Management qualification, for managers whose evidence comes from highways maintenance and improvement schemes. Other pathways include Residential Development and Retrofit — see the parent qualification page. Supervisors not yet managing schemes fit the Highways Site Supervisor NVQ Level 4.
Who this NVQ is for
Site and scheme managers with term maintenance and highways contractors. You should be managing works with genuine accountability. Typical evidence: planning schemes around network occupancy and possessions, managing TM design and implementation, leading supervisors and subcontract gangs, controlling programme, cost and quality reporting to the client, managing incidents and public interface, and closing out schemes to authority acceptance.
Entry requirements
No formal entry qualifications. You must currently manage highways works a CTG assessor can review with you. Supervisors aspiring to management should look at the Level 4 route first — we advise honestly on level fit.
CSCS card route
This Level 6 NVQ is the typical qualification for the Black Manager CSCS card, together with the relevant CITB Health, Safety & Environment test. CSCS issues the card, not CTG. See our CSCS cards guide.
Units — mandatory and optional
You achieve the GQA Level 6 NVQ Diploma in Construction Site Management (Construction), qualification code 610/1272/5. The unit structure below comes from the official GQA specification — your assessor maps your day-to-day work to these units at enrolment.
Qualification mandatory units (all pathways)
- Developing and maintaining good occupational working relationships in the workplace
- Allocating work and monitoring people’s performance in the workplace
- Contributing to the identification of a work team in the workplace
- Establishing, implementing and maintaining organisational systems for managing health, safety, welfare and wellbeing in the workplace
- Establishing, controlling and monitoring environmental factors and sustainability in the workplace
- Evaluating and confirming work methods in the workplace
- Planning the preparation of the site for the project in the workplace
- Monitoring project activities in the workplace
- Ensuring that work activities and resources meet project work requirements in the workplace
- Organising, controlling and monitoring supplies of materials in the workplace
- Identifying and maintaining communication systems and organisational procedures in the workplace
- Controlling project progress against agreed quality standards in the workplace
- Controlling project progress against agreed programmes in the workplace
- Managing your personal development in the workplace
Highways Maintenance and Repair pathway — additional mandatory units
- Identifying, allocating and planning the deployment and use of plant, equipment or machinery in the workplace
- Planning highways maintenance and repair activities in the workplace
- Controlling project quantities and costs in the workplace
- Evaluating feedback and making recommendations in the workplace
Optional units (choose at least two)
- Enabling learning opportunities in the workplace
- Providing customer services in the construction workplace
- Planning activities to traditional and heritage structures in the workplace
- Planning demolition activities in the workplace
- Establishing dimensional control criteria in the workplace
- Planning and scheduling the maintenance activities of property, services or systems in the workplace
- Managing the project handover in the workplace
- Managing the installation, maintenance, monitoring and removal of temporary works in the workplace
Frequently asked questions
How long does the Highways Site Management NVQ take?
Typically 4–8 weeks — your existing management records do much of the evidential work.
How does assessment work for a manager rather than an operative?
Mostly through your real management outputs — programmes, reports, meeting records — plus professional discussion and witness testimony from those you manage and report to.
Do I need a degree for a Level 6 NVQ?
No. The NVQ assesses management competence in the workplace, not academic study — that’s exactly why the Black card route recognises it.
Can my employer put several scheme managers through together?
Yes — contract-wide enrolments are straightforward with national coverage.
Rated by the people we qualify
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Entry requirements
You manage a site or a project, with responsibility for programme, resources and health and safety.
To start Level 6 qualification you need:
- A relevant job to be assessed in. This is a competence qualification, so you must have access to real work of the right type while you are registered. No workplace, no evidence.
- Proof of identity — a passport, driving licence or similar, as the awarding body requires.
- A National Insurance number, so we can obtain your Unique Learner Number.
- Enough English to explain your work to your assessor and to talk through your evidence.
- A device with a camera — a phone is fine. Evidence is photos and short videos of your own work, uploaded to your e-portfolio.
You do not need: any prior qualification, any classroom attendance, or to sit an exam. Assessment is entirely in your workplace via a remote e-portfolio, nationwide.
Tell us about any support need, disability or learning difficulty when you enrol and we will arrange reasonable adjustments — it does not affect whether you can take the qualification.
The awarding body sets the final entry criteria for each qualification. If you are not sure whether your current role gives you the right evidence, ask us before you book — we would rather tell you honestly than register you for something you cannot complete.
What card does this NVQ lead to?
Leads to the Black CSCS Manager card
On completion you can apply for the Black CSCS Manager card, proving competence in your trade.
Your NVQ pathway
- Level 2 Skilled
- Level 3 Advanced
- Level 4 Supervisor
- Level 5 Senior Supervisor
- Level 6 Manager
Your current qualification is highlighted. Progress up the pathway as your career develops.
How the e-portfolio assessment works
- Enrol and be assigned a dedicated occupational assessor.
- Gather workplace evidence — photos, videos, witness statements — via our online portal.
- Complete a professional discussion and observations against the 610/1272/5 standards.
- Certification, then apply to CSCS for your card.