SMSTS mock test
Free practice questions across the Site Management Safety Training Scheme syllabus. Site managers, agents and project managers responsible for a site as a whole. Every answer comes with an explanation, because the questions that catch people out are the judgement ones, not the facts.
Practice test
20 questions drawn at random from 30, with an explanation after every answer. You need 80% here to pass.
- Course
- 5 days
- Assessment
- Multiple choice, plus written exercises
- Certificate
- Valid 5 years
- Refresher
- 2 days, before the 5 years are up
Common questions
- What is the SMSTS course?
- The Site Management Safety Training Scheme is CITB's five-day course for site managers, agents and project managers — anyone accountable for a site rather than a gang. It covers the legal framework, CDM 2015 duties, planning and organising work, and managing the risks that recur on construction sites. It is assessed by multiple-choice questions and written exercises, and the certificate lasts five years.
- Are these the real SMSTS exam questions?
- No, and treat any site claiming to have them with suspicion. Official question banks are copyright and cannot be republished. These are original questions written against the same published syllabus areas, so they test the same understanding without reproducing the exam.
- What is the difference between SMSTS and SSSTS?
- SMSTS is for managers and runs five days; SSSTS is for supervisors and runs two. The difference in the questions reflects the difference in the job — SMSTS asks what you plan, procure and authorise, SSSTS asks what you check, brief and escalate. If you run a site, you need SMSTS.
- How long does an SMSTS certificate last?
- Five years. Renewing means a two-day SMSTS refresher, which must be completed before the certificate expires — let it lapse and you have to sit the full five-day course again.
- Do I need a CSCS card as well?
- Usually yes. SMSTS is training; the CSCS card is the credential checked at the gate. A managers or professionally qualified person card generally requires both the relevant qualification and a pass in the CITB Health, Safety and Environment test.
- Is the SMSTS mock test free and current for 2026?
- Yes, no sign-up. The questions follow the current CITB syllabus — CDM 2015, the Work at Height and Confined Spaces regulations, temporary works and the hierarchy of control — and are reviewed when guidance changes.
- What does the SMSTS refresher test cover?
- The two-day refresher assumes you passed the full course within the last five years and concentrates on what has changed and on management judgement: planning, monitoring, briefing and stopping work. These practice questions suit refresher revision as well as the full course.
- What is the SMSTS pass mark?
- Providers set the course assessment within CITB's framework; the multiple-choice paper is marked alongside the written exercises and your participation across the five days. Treat 80% here as the bar — a comfortable pass on the practice set is a good sign for the real paper.
- What do people find hardest?
- Not the facts — the judgement questions. Anything asking what you do when the programme slips, when a subcontractor's RAMS is generic, or when you are pushed to accelerate is testing whether you reassess risk before agreeing, and that is where answers most often go wrong.
Next
These are original practice questions written against published syllabus areas. They are not official CITB material and passing here is not a qualification — book the course through a CITB-approved training provider.