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Highways Maintenance Supervisor NVQ Level 4
Highways Maintenance Supervisor NVQ Level 4
Supervising live-traffic works is supervision with the stakes turned up. Prove your competence with a Level 4 NVQ built from the schemes you already run, on the typical route to the Gold Supervisor CSCS card. It costs £1,200 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 Gold Supervisor card.
Qualification Overview
Highways supervisors run works the public drives through: possessions and closures on the clock, traffic management that must hold, gangs and subcontractors spread along a route rather than inside a hoarding. It’s a distinct supervisory discipline, and this Level 4 NVQ recognises it with a pathway of its own — evidenced from the schemes you already supervise.
A CTG assessor visits your works, observes real supervision — briefings, inspections, coordination with TM and the client’s engineer — and gathers records, witness statements and professional discussion. No exams, no classroom, and assessor visits are included as standard.
You achieve the GQA Level 4 NVQ Diploma in Construction Site Supervision, qualification code 610/1090/X, through the Highways Maintenance pathway — the typical qualification route to the Gold Supervisor CSCS card.
Qualification Structure
Key information
| Full title | GQA Level 4 NVQ Diploma in Construction Site Supervision |
| Qualification code | 610/1090/X |
| Pathway | Highways Maintenance Supervisor |
| Level | 4 |
| Awarding body | GQA |
| Price | £1,200 — fixed, no VAT |
| Typical completion | 4–8 weeks |
| Assessment | Workplace evidence — no exams, no classroom |
| Typical CSCS route | Gold Supervisor |
What the Highways pathway covers
One of the formal pathways of the Level 4 Construction Site Supervision qualification, targeting supervisors whose workplace evidence comes from highways maintenance schemes. Related pathways include Residential Development, Traditional & Heritage and Retrofit — see the parent qualification page for all routes. Trade foremen may fit the Level 3 Occupational Work Supervision NVQ instead; we route you honestly.
Who this NVQ is for
Working supervisors on highways maintenance, resurfacing, drainage and street works contracts — for term maintenance and highways contractors. You should be supervising with genuine responsibility. Typical evidence: planning and briefing shifts inside possessions and TM, coordinating gangs, plant and materials along the route, inspecting work against the specification, managing health, safety and public interface, keeping records the client audits, and progress reporting.
Entry requirements
No formal entry qualifications. You must currently supervise highways works, with schemes a CTG assessor can visit. Aspiring supervisors not yet in the role should gain supervisory duties first — the NVQ assesses existing competence.
CSCS card route
This Level 4 NVQ is the typical qualification for the Gold Supervisor 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 (Highways Maintenance pathway)
The GQA Level 4 NVQ Diploma in Construction Site Supervision is built from units set out in the official GQA qualification booklet (610/1090/X). On the Highways Maintenance pathway you complete the ten qualification mandatory units, the pathway mandatory units, and at least one optional unit. Your assessor maps your normal supervisory work to these units at enrolment.
Qualification mandatory units (all pathways)
- Developing and maintaining good occupational working relationships in the workplace
- Implementing, maintaining and reviewing systems for health, safety, welfare, wellbeing and environmental protection in the workplace
- Assessing and agreeing work methods in the workplace
- Planning work activities and resources to meet project requirements in the workplace
- Co-ordinating work control in the workplace
- Controlling work progress against agreed programmes in the workplace
- Allocating and monitoring the use of plant equipment or machinery in the workplace
- Implementing communication systems for the project in the workplace
- Controlling work against agreed quality standards in the workplace
- Contributing to the control of work quantities and costs in the workplace
Highways Maintenance pathway — mandatory units
- Maintaining supplies of materials to meet project requirements
- Planning highways maintenance and repair activities
- Supervising highways maintenance or repair activities
- Managing your personal development
Optional units (choose at least one)
- Maintaining the dimensional accuracy of work
- Co-ordinating preparation for site operations
- Allocating work and monitoring people’s performance
- Enabling learning opportunities
- Contributing to the identification of a work team
- Providing customer services in the construction workplace
- Supervising activities to traditional and heritage buildings and structures
- Supervising the installation, maintenance, monitoring and removal of temporary works
Frequently asked questions
How long does the Highways Site Supervisor NVQ take?
Typically 4–8 weeks — live schemes generate supervisory evidence daily.
Does my SSSTS/SMSTS course count towards this?
Those are training courses; the NVQ evidences your actual supervisory competence and is what the Gold Supervisor card route recognises. They complement each other.
Night working and possessions — can assessment fit?
Yes — assessors attend nights and weekend possessions routinely.
Is there a manager-level version?
Yes — highways site managers should look at the Highways Site Management NVQ Level 6.
Rated by the people we qualify
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Entry requirements
You supervise others: planning work, allocating it, and checking it meets the standard.
To start Level 4 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 Gold CSCS Supervisor card
On completion you can apply for the Gold CSCS Supervisor 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 610/1090/X standards.
- Certification, then apply to CSCS for your card.