01244 722697
Mon–Fri 8am–6pm
info@ctg.org.uk
Kerbs and Channels NVQ Level 2
Kerbs and Channels NVQ Level 2
Kerb lines make or break the whole road’s finish. Prove your competence as a kerb layer with a work-based NVQ assessed on your own jobs, on the typical route to the Blue Skilled Worker CSCS card. It costs £750 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 Blue Skilled Worker card.
Qualification Overview
A good kerb layer works to millimetres over hundreds of metres — line, level and face all held through radius kerbs, crossings, drops and channel runs, on beds that won’t move under the paver. It’s a trade in its own right, and with manual handling rules pushing mechanical kerb-lifting, an evolving one. This NVQ documents your competence from the kerbing work you already do.
A CTG assessor visits your jobs, watches you set out, bed, align and finish kerbs and channels, and gathers photos, witness statements and professional discussion. No exams, no classroom — assessor visits are included as standard.
You achieve the GQA Level 2 NVQ Diploma in Construction Operations and Civil Engineering (qualification code 600/6515/1) through the Laying Kerbs and Channels pathway — the typical qualification route to the Blue Skilled Worker CSCS card.
Qualification Structure
Key information
| Full title | GQA Level 2 NVQ Diploma in Construction Operations and Civil Engineering |
| Qualification code | 600/6515/1 |
| Pathway | Laying Kerbs and Channels |
| Level | 2 |
| Awarding body | GQA |
| Price | £750 — fixed, no VAT |
| Typical completion | 4–8 weeks |
| Assessment | On-site evidence — no exams, no classroom |
| Typical CSCS route | Blue Skilled Worker |
What the Kerbs and Channels pathway covers
The pathway covers setting out, laying, aligning and finishing kerbs and channels in the workplace, plus the qualification’s mandatory site-work units. Block and flag laying is the separate Block Paving NVQ pathway of the same qualification — kerb-and-paving gangs often qualify across both; we’ll register what matches your trade.
Working on highways? Same trade, second route
Kerbs and channels is also a pathway of the Highways Maintenance qualification (601/8294/5). If your kerbing is on adopted highways for authority or highways contractors, that route may match your evidence better — same price, same card outcome, different qualification title. Tell us where you work and we’ll register the right one. See the Highways Maintenance NVQ.
Who this NVQ is for
Experienced kerb layers on developments, roads and public realm schemes. You should be laying with minimal supervision. Typical evidence: setting out from design levels and pins, preparing concrete beds and haunching, laying straights, radii, drop kerbs and crossings, aligning to string and level, laying channels to fall, mechanical kerb-lifting where your gang uses it, and quality-checking the finished line.
Entry requirements
No formal entry qualifications. You must be laying kerbs at work now, on jobs a CTG assessor can attend. New starters should build trade experience first — the NVQ assesses existing competence.
CSCS card route
This Level 2 NVQ is the typical qualification for the Blue Skilled Worker 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 2 NVQ Diploma in Construction Operations and Civil Engineering — Construction Operations, qualification code 600/6515/1. The unit structure below comes from the official GQA specification — your assessor maps your day-to-day work to these units at enrolment.
Mandatory units
- Conforming to General Health, Safety and Welfare in the Workplace
- Conforming to Productive Working Practices in the Workplace
Site safety units (10 credits required)
- Establishing Work Area Protection and Safety in the Workplace
- Segregating the Area for Highways Works in the Workplace
Laying Kerbs and Channels pathway units
- Laying Kerbs and Channels in the Workplace
- Setting Out Secondary Dimensional Work Control in the Workplace
Frequently asked questions
How long does the Kerbs and Channels NVQ take?
Typically 4–8 weeks — kerbing gangs lay daily, so evidence builds fast.
We use a kerb-lifter and vacuum lifting — does that change anything?
No, mechanical handling is good practice and good evidence. The trade competence being assessed is the same. (Machine operation itself may map to plant units — ask if you also want those.)
Kerbs one week, block paving the next — which pathway?
Whichever is genuinely your main trade — or both across the gang. One call sorts the registration honestly.
Can the gang enrol together?
Yes — kerb layers, paviors and groundworkers each on the right pathway in one visit plan.
Rated by the people we qualify
Live Google reviews from CTG candidates and employers across the UK. Read all 52 reviews.
Entry requirements
You are already doing the work day to day, as an employee or self-employed. There are no entry qualifications and no exams — you are assessed on the job you already do.
To start Level 2 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 Blue CSCS Skilled Worker card
On completion you can apply for the Blue CSCS Skilled Worker 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 600/6515/1 standards.
- Certification, then apply to CSCS for your card.