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NEE' ONIONS MATE!  
#1 Posted : 25 April 2012 14:28:34(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
NEE' ONIONS MATE!

Does anyone remember doing the original NEBOSH Diploma in the early 1990s? Two weeks I think it was. How did they compress all that learning into a fortnight or, conversely I suppose, how has it expanded into the two or three years it is now?
Often wondered?
Tomkins26432  
#2 Posted : 25 April 2012 14:40:36(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Tomkins26432

Blimey - I did the cert in Northern Ireland in the 90s - that took a couple of weeks intensive but was interesting. Diploma though?
Jane Blunt  
#3 Posted : 25 April 2012 14:47:59(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Jane Blunt

Are you confusing it with the Certificate? That was two weeks.

Our local provider did revision days for each of the modules, so that would be five days just doing revision.

I well remember meeting someone at a revision day of the law module who had failed it five times already.

NEE' ONIONS MATE!  
#4 Posted : 25 April 2012 14:55:10(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
NEE' ONIONS MATE!

Jane Blunt wrote:
Are you confusing it with the Certificate? That was two weeks.

Our local provider did revision days for each of the modules, so that would be five days just doing revision.

I well remember meeting someone at a revision day of the law module who had failed it five times already.



No, I'm sure it was a couple of weeks intensive with possibly a couple of exams near the end. I've probably still got the work books in the loft somewhere It was a training centre in leafy Warwickshire.
And yes, the cert was two weeks as well
Tomkins26432  
#5 Posted : 25 April 2012 15:03:26(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Tomkins26432

As I said - I was only doing Cert in 90s - didn't bother with Dip till the next century. I can't imagine the Dip I did was doable in 2 weeks unless you were a skilled and experienced H&S Officer (which I wasn't) - but I started the Dip when it had just gone to a single product, originally planned as a level 4 (A level equiv I think) but turned into a level 6 (Degree level) - not what I expected and struggled for it. Before that the Dip had been in 2 parts - creatively referred to as part 1 and part 2 - could part 1 have been completed intensively in just 2 weeks?
NEE' ONIONS MATE!  
#6 Posted : 25 April 2012 15:10:05(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
NEE' ONIONS MATE!

I'm sure it was a fortnight - at a push three weeks. Someone tell me I didn't imagine it! About 1993/94 time.
David Bannister  
#7 Posted : 25 April 2012 15:22:22(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
David Bannister

NEE', I did Cert in 1993: 2 weeks
Received Dip in 1997 after two years hard labour!
Jane Blunt  
#8 Posted : 25 April 2012 15:49:48(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Jane Blunt

Two weeks per paper might have been just about possible. But two weeks for the whole diploma I do not believe to be possible.

Heather Collins  
#9 Posted : 26 April 2012 10:38:37(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Heather Collins

I think I probably did mine in the same leafy-sounding centre in Warwickshire as Onions did... I have my nice blue A4 files in the loft I think - I'll have a look for them! This was in the late 1980s.

Cert was 2 weeks definitely. Diploma was at two levels - Can't recall what the first one was called but the second level was called "Higher" and it wasn't necessary to get this in order to qualify for what was then MIOSH if I remember rightly, so most people didn't bother with it

Wasn't there a "Conversion course" run by the centre in between the Cert and the Diploma to get you in a suitable academic frame of mind? I'm sure I recall doing one.

Diploma did still have 5 papers I think and I would have said it was more than two weeks. Are you sure it wasn't 2 x 2 weeks? I do recall also having a revision week which backed onto the exams themselves. I'm sure this all seems very easy compared with what people go through now but I recall working pretty hard for mine and I was only a few years out of Uni and so still in a "studying" frame of mind.
NEE' ONIONS MATE!  
#10 Posted : 26 April 2012 11:25:19(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
NEE' ONIONS MATE!

Heather
2x2 weeks does ring a bell - I duffed it the first time around - I think I'd only just come off the certificate a few weeks previous. I do recall it being very intensive with lots of lectures and scribblings.
peter gotch  
#11 Posted : 26 April 2012 12:53:25(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
peter gotch

The leafy centre sounds like Ashorne Hill, Leamington. Set up by British Steel and still operated by Corus
NEE' ONIONS MATE!  
#12 Posted : 26 April 2012 13:44:52(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
NEE' ONIONS MATE!

No. It's the other one
DP  
#13 Posted : 26 April 2012 14:32:13(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
DP

Part 1 of the old dip could be done in two weeks
Heather Collins  
#14 Posted : 26 April 2012 14:46:55(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Heather Collins

DP wrote:
Part 1 of the old dip could be done in two weeks


This isn't the one I'm talking about though. I think you're referring to the first part of the two part structure that was introduced in the late 90s, with Part 1 getting you TechSP or whatever it was then called?

I think we're talking about earlier than that, when you only needed to sit one set of Diploma papers to get the Diploma.

Certainly I'm talking about the late 80s when I did mine.
decimomal  
#15 Posted : 26 April 2012 14:48:46(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
decimomal

I did my part 1 and it certainly took a lot longer than 2 weeks. I never went on to do the part 2 but eventually did the new level 6 Diploma.
DP  
#16 Posted : 26 April 2012 14:59:59(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
DP

Sorry Heather too early for me - I'm talking 90's - don’t recall that one.

Earliest I recall is Parts 1 and 2 then in moved onto the new version


I do recall the old Construction Certificate being a tough old nut to crack though - the old version where you had to answer 5 very detailed multi-choice questions - sorry for taking the thread off track.
HSSnail  
#17 Posted : 26 April 2012 15:02:30(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
HSSnail

Started my Diploma late 80,s early 90's when there were no part 1 and 2 just a single set of papers, which were Safety Management, Occupational Health, Law and an in depth Case Study if I remember correctly. Passed the Safety management paper but had then to take a break after that. I studied with one of the well known distance learning providers. Don't remember anyone offering a two week intense course, most people seamed to take day release for at least 1 year. There was a big failure rate at the time. I seen to recall that at that time the British Safety council offered a diploma that was 2 weeks study and was a multy choice exam at the end. This was before the course levels were harmonised.
Jane Blunt  
#18 Posted : 26 April 2012 22:27:02(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Jane Blunt

When I took mine, in the mid 90s, there were five papers. Reading from my results letter they were entitled:
A Risk Management
B Health and Safety Law
C Occupational Health and Hygiene
D Safety Technology
E Case Study

Not physically possible to learn this lot in two weeks
Stedman  
#19 Posted : 27 April 2012 11:24:12(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Stedman

Jane Blunt wrote:
When I took mine, in the mid 90s, there were five papers. Reading from my results letter they were entitled:
A Risk Management
B Health and Safety Law
C Occupational Health and Hygiene
D Safety Technology
E Case Study

Not physically possible to learn this lot in two weeks


I did an intense NEBOSH Diploma course in 1993 with AMT. This I remember was undertaken in a hotel setting. It was five weeks over three months plus 4 x 3 hour exams and the 2 hour Case Study.

I remember in those days the law paper only had a 23% pass rate.
mootoppers  
#20 Posted : 27 April 2012 16:45:08(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
mootoppers

Gosh - bringing back serious memories....widespread panic on my course (day release) when the results came back for 2 modules and only 1 person managed to pass both - 5 passed one of them (me included) and 5 passed none at all!
Zyggy  
#21 Posted : 30 April 2012 10:07:04(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Zyggy


At about this time I was lecturing at Manchester College of Arts & Technology (MANCAT) on two of the Modules, i.e. Safety Technology & Case Study.

Safety Technology was taught every Monday afternoon for a full academic year & the Case Study on 6 Saturday mornings.

I can't really see how all the Modules (+ revision days) could have been condensed into two weeks!

Zyggy
walker  
#22 Posted : 30 April 2012 10:31:02(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
walker

Jane Blunt wrote:
When I took mine, in the mid 90s, there were five papers. Reading from my results letter they were entitled:
A Risk Management
B Health and Safety Law
C Occupational Health and Hygiene
D Safety Technology
E Case Study

Not physically possible to learn this lot in two weeks


Thats brought on a cold sweat!
I still feel sick when I drive past the place I took the exams
I had to retake 2 and remember I was the only one in my cohort ( x15) that passed Law first time.


Onions - most people I know did this over a 2 year period.
I think you are thinking of the Cert and Woodland Grange






Franky  
#23 Posted : 30 April 2012 21:14:42(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
Franky

stedman wrote:
Jane Blunt wrote:
When I took mine, in the mid 90s, there were five papers. Reading from my results letter they were entitled:
A Risk Management
B Health and Safety Law
C Occupational Health and Hygiene
D Safety Technology
E Case Study



Eeek, memories that bring bad nightmares of burning the midnight oil. It took me three years to secure the NEBOSH National Diploma, chuffed to bits when I finally passed the Law paper after three attempts, any five from eight questions. Then awarded the NEBOSH National Diploma, Tech SP followed a couple of years later by RSP then eventually CMIOSH.

Some say that the British Safety Council Diploma is on par with the old Diploma!!! Yeah right!!! I would loved to have sat the British Safety Council multi choice answer paper rather than being subject to fourteen hours worth of NEBOSH Diploma gravel in your guts questions. :O)
darby  
#24 Posted : 02 May 2012 15:26:22(UTC)
Rank: New forum user
darby

I did a 3 week Diploma in Safety Practice with CMTC (Woodland Grange) (now EEF) in 1993 in Leamington Spa ie leafy Warwickshire. This built on the NEBOSH Diploma but didn't meet the full criteria for IOSH Membership but did get membership of IIRSM. Robin Bloodworth; Bob King; Colin Preston; Chris Webb and Dian Young were among the presenters. Maybe that will ring bells

The NEBOSH Diploma was definitely 5 weeks spread over a minimum of 6 months - I took all 4 modules plus case study in one sitting with an exam a day (I couldn't begin to contemplate that now!)

Darby
NEE' ONIONS MATE!  
#25 Posted : 02 May 2012 15:37:36(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
NEE' ONIONS MATE!

darby wrote:
I did a 3 week Diploma in Safety Practice with CMTC (Woodland Grange) (now EEF) in 1993 in Leamington Spa ie leafy Warwickshire. This built on the NEBOSH Diploma but didn't meet the full criteria for IOSH Membership but did get membership of IIRSM. Robin Bloodworth; Bob King; Colin Preston; Chris Webb and Dian Young were among the presenters. Maybe that will ring bells

The NEBOSH Diploma was definitely 5 weeks spread over a minimum of 6 months - I took all 4 modules plus case study in one sitting with an exam a day (I couldn't begin to contemplate that now!)

Darby


Yeah, you're right matey. It might have been another course from my distant past. Some of them lads are still kicking aroond
aud  
#26 Posted : 16 May 2012 17:14:45(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
aud

Ah yes the 'old' Diploma. Replaced previous two-parter in the very late 80s. I was one of the first to do this new syllabus, the class were nervous about this.

I chose a condensed block provider - leafy Warwickshire - in fact I camped on the Warwich racecourse campsite for most of the sessions, as I paid for the course myself. I am sure there was at least 5 one week modules, over a few months. I was in a rush to get qualified, and a 2 year day release did not appeal.

The 5 topics were as already posted, the case study (I later worked out!) was Littlebrook D, the exams were a nightmare all in one week and I was sure I'd flunked the Case Study on the final Friday afternoon. I drove back to Oxfordshire in a blur, caravan swinging wildly behind on all those A43 roundabouts. Amazingly - passed!

I have to say that training itself stood me in very good stead, and I do not believe that the degree-style Diploma courses today provide the same practical basis, having since managed a number of SAs with this style of course.

Never did pass the Certificate, which also came in at this time - rather overtaken by events.
Steve e ashton  
#27 Posted : 17 May 2012 17:26:30(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Steve e ashton

Good Grief the old memory cells have just been kicked into action!

Woodland Grange in the early '80s for the 'ordinary' certificate, the in the mid / late '80s for what was supposed to be the 'higher certificate' but was awarded as the 'Diploma' - then brand spanking new. I'd need to check the vellum parchment, but I think it was '87. Winner of the MMI trophy for 'best performance in the national exams' - the carriage clock is still on my mantle shelf.

Five exams as previously identified, from memory it was three weeks very intensive study, followed by a week 'revision' and exams...

Some of the tutors from there are still around in various roles in the industry - and several of the students from my class still post on here occasionally.

The swimming pool was always empty when I was there - but it always seemed to be raining except during late night staggers back from the grab-a-granny disco up the road. And the evening when the hotel kitchen caught fire - I evacuated (from my rooom) and watched everyone else from the course being chivvied out of the bar by the hotel manager.

The learning has served me in good stead - especially the oft-repeated phrase so the effect ' we don't educate you to pass exams - we train you to learn how to be a safety officer" Chris Gilbertson, Ed Hall, and others - good education and good memories..
NEE' ONIONS MATE!  
#28 Posted : 17 May 2012 18:56:41(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
NEE' ONIONS MATE!

That's the place -it was CMTC when I first went there. We moaned all day about the course, and then moaned later on about the food. You had to get in the dinner queue pretty sharpish - especially if there were any veggietarians about. They seemed to spend forever discussing the menu and deconstructing it in great detail while us carnivours stood patiently and seethed!

I thought the diploma was two weeks but my memory is poor - it may have been four in hindsight.

I was there a couple of years ago and some of the guys are still about - Robin B and ?- a chap from the car industry.
Happy days like...
blodwyn  
#29 Posted : 22 May 2012 11:35:33(UTC)
Rank: Forum user
blodwyn

You need to go back and visit...its like a plush hotel - hot tubs, gym, ensuite rooms oh and the training is still pretty exceptional too! They have ahuge client base from Landrover Jaguar so parking amongst the big cars is a challenge.

Not many of the original team left.

I taught on the old diploma with the EEF in the late 80s and it was 6 weeks over 6 months - darby has got it - cert has always been 2 weeks.

Indeed happy days!! Life was so much simpler then - paid your IOSH membership - got your badge job done!!! LOL
HSSnail  
#30 Posted : 22 May 2012 12:49:51(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
HSSnail

Jane

Thanks for that your right 5 papers not 4. Passed my Safety Management paper, remember going into the law exam and someone saying they were taking it for the 5th time! Did not inspire me with confidence needless to say marginal fail for me! Even though my study provider gave me a boarder line distinction in the mock! And no I was not cheating. After much head scratching and because I was self funding took a break and then did the PgC with Portsmouth University in 1999/2000 one of the first on that course I think. Did anyone ever read the old style examiners reports? Still have sleepless nights thinking about those!
Heather Collins  
#31 Posted : 23 May 2012 09:11:00(UTC)
Rank: Super forum user
Heather Collins

steve e ashton wrote:
Woodland Grange in the early '80s for the 'ordinary' certificate, the in the mid / late '80s for what was supposed to be the 'higher certificate' but was awarded as the 'Diploma' - then brand spanking new. I'd need to check the vellum parchment, but I think it was '87.

The learning has served me in good stead - especially the oft-repeated phrase so the effect ' we don't educate you to pass exams - we train you to learn how to be a safety officer" Chris Gilbertson, Ed Hall, and others - good education and good memories..


Sounds like the same one I did Steve, can't recall exactly which year but late 80s before the exam structure changed again. I certainly remember those tutors' names!
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