From service to safety: Compassa NEBOSH results confirm strong assessment performance
Following the November 2025 assessments, Compassa has now confirmed the latest student results across both national and international NEBOSH general certificate qualifications.
Choosing a NEBOSH provider is not simply about course content. For many MoD personnel and Service leavers, it comes down to outcomes: how effectively military experience is translated into civilian-recognised qualifications, how well candidates are prepared for NEBOSH assessments, and how clearly exam expectations are explained for those returning to formal study after service.
November 2025 Compassa results:
NEBOSH NG2 Practical Project – 93% pass rate
NEBOSH IG1 Open Book Exam – 80% pass rate
These outcomes reflect performance across Compassa’s online NEBOSH programmes and provide a useful benchmark for Service leavers researching approved learning providers, assessment formats, and realistic expectations when transitioning into civilian health and safety roles.
This article explains what these results mean, why these assessments can be challenging for military learners, and how Compassa’s approach is designed to support candidates through both the learning and assessment process.
Understanding the NEBOSH Assessments Behind the Results
To properly interpret pass rates, it is important to understand what each assessment is designed to test, particularly for learners accustomed to military reporting, operational orders, or command documentation rather than academic assessment formats.
NEBOSH Practical Project
The Practical Project requires candidates to complete a workplace-based risk assessment and produce a structured report. It is not an academic exercise. NEBOSH expects candidates to demonstrate that they can:
- Identify realistic hazards in a real workplace
- Assess risk sensibly and proportionately
- Recommend control measures that are appropriate, practicable, and justified
- Communicate findings clearly to a non-specialist audience
For Service leavers, this assessment often aligns well with existing experience in risk management, safety briefs, and operational planning. However, success depends on translating that experience into NEBOSH’s required structure and terminology.
The assessment rewards applied judgement rather than generic lists. High marks depend on clarity, relevance, and alignment with the task brief.
Achieving a 93% pass rate reflects strong candidate understanding of:
- What NEBOSH is actually looking for in the practical project
- How to avoid common pitfalls such as overly tactical language, vague hazards, or controls that are disproportionate for civilian workplaces
- How to present information in a clear, structured, professional format suitable for a civilian audience
NEBOSH Open Book Exam
The Open Book Exam is widely regarded as one of the more demanding NEBOSH assessments, particularly for candidates who have not sat formal exams for several years.
Although candidates have 24 hours and access to learning materials, the exam tests much more than knowledge recall. Successful candidates must demonstrate that they can:
- Read and interpret questions accurately
- Apply health and safety principles to a realistic workplace scenario
- Select relevant information rather than reproduce course notes
- Structure answers clearly within time constraints
- Support points with appropriate evidence from the scenario
Many Service leavers initially underestimate the NEBOSH OBE, assuming that access to materials makes it easier. In practice, the open book format introduces additional challenges, including time management, information overload, and adapting from military-style reporting to NEBOSH’s mark-focused answer style.
An 80% pass rate in the NEBOSH General Certificate exam reflects disciplined exam technique as much as subject knowledge.
Why Pass Rates Alone Don’t Tell the Full Story
Headline results matter, but they are only meaningful when combined with an understanding of how candidates are prepared, particularly those transitioning from military to civilian learning environments.
NEBOSH assessments do not reward volume of text or operational detail. They reward relevance, clarity, and applied understanding. Candidates often struggle not because they lack experience, but because they:
- Answer a different question to the one set
- Provide generic or policy-based information with no link to the scenario
- Over-write and lose focus
- Mismanage time across the assessment
Compassa’s teaching approach is built specifically to address these issues for learners from structured, command-driven backgrounds.
How Compassa Prepares Candidates for NEBOSH Assessments
Compassa delivers both the NEBOSH National General Certificate and NEBOSH International General Certificate through fully online programmes, making them accessible to serving personnel, resettling Service leavers, and veterans balancing study with work or family commitments.
However, the delivery model goes beyond recorded lectures alone.
Video-Based, Structured Learning
All core content is delivered through structured video lessons designed to explain:
- Health and safety principles clearly and practically
- How military risk management experience maps to civilian health and safety systems
- Why certain approaches score marks and others do not
- How theory translates into real workplace decision-making
This reduces reliance on dense reading and supports learners who may not have studied formally since leaving service.
Strong Emphasis on Assessment Technique
A key focus of Compassa’s courses is assessment literacy. Candidates are taught:
- How NEBOSH questions are constructed
- How to identify what the question is really asking
- How to plan answers before writing
- How to support points using scenario evidence rather than policy statements
- How to control answer length and time spent per question
This is particularly important for the Open Book Exam, where poor technique is one of the most common causes of failure among Service leavers.
Tutor Support and Mock Assessment Guidance
Compassa provides active tutor support throughout the course, including:
- Clarification of complex topics
- Feedback on mock exam responses
- Guidance on practical project structure and expectations
- Support with interpreting NEBOSH assessment criteria
This ensures that candidates are not left guessing what “good” looks like, a common concern for those unfamiliar with civilian awarding bodies.
National vs International NEBOSH Routes
Both the National and International General Certificates share a similar structure but are applied to different legal contexts. The National qualification focuses on a UK-based audience and includes reference to UK legislation, while the International qualification refers to ILO standards and global best practice.
This flexibility is particularly relevant for Service leavers considering roles within defence contracting, overseas operations, or international organisations.
Compassa supports candidates on both routes by ensuring that:
- Legal principles are clearly explained within the appropriate jurisdiction
- Candidates understand how to apply core health and safety management concepts regardless of sector or location
- Assessment technique remains consistent across National and International routes
The November 2025 results include candidates from both pathways.
What These Results Indicate
The November 2025 outcomes suggest several key points for MoD personnel and Service leavers:
- Candidates can succeed in NEBOSH assessments with the right preparation, even when returning to study after a long gap
- Strong outcomes are linked to how experience is translated into assessment-ready answers, not simply prior knowledge
- Structured guidance, exam technique training, and tutor support significantly improve confidence and performance
These results reflect overall performance across the assessment window, not selectively reported outcomes.
Looking Ahead
NEBOSH qualifications continue to evolve, with increasing emphasis on judgement, relevance, and communication rather than rote learning.
For Service leavers entering civilian health and safety roles, providers that focus solely on content delivery without addressing assessment technique and transition support are likely to leave candidates underprepared.
Compassa’s approach is designed to reflect how NEBOSH assessments actually work in practice and how military experience can be effectively applied within them.
Summary
November 2025 Compassa NEBOSH results:
NG2 Practical Project: 93% pass rate
IG1 Open Book Exam: 80% pass rate
These outcomes reflect a teaching model that prioritises:
- Applied understanding
- Clear translation of military experience into civilian practice
- Structured exam preparation
- Ongoing tutor support
For MoD personnel and Service leavers considering the NEBOSH National or International General Certificate, understanding how assessments are approached is just as important as the syllabus itself.
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