Excavation Marshal Training Gloucestershire – NPORS N027 Course
Building Skills for a Safer Tomorrow
NPORS Accredited • Established 2014 • One-to-One Novice Training • On-Site Nationwide
NPORS N027
Excavation Marshal – Banksperson
NPORS training and assessment covering excavation hazards, safe digging, underground services, communication and Excavation Marshal responsibilities.
Experienced Worker Test
For experienced Excavation Marshals who already have the required knowledge and competence. This is a test-only route with no training included.
Novice & Refresher Training
1 Day • Maximum 3 Candidates
For employees who are new to the Excavation Marshal role or need refresher training. Candidates receive training before completing the required assessment.
On-Site Gloucestershire Training
At Your Workplace or Construction Site
We deliver Excavation Marshal Training at suitable company sites across Gloucestershire, including Gloucester, Cheltenham, Stroud, Cirencester, the Forest of Dean and surrounding areas.
CITB Funding
Training Provider Network Member
Eligible CITB-registered employers may be able to claim funding towards qualifying Excavation Marshal Training, subject to current CITB requirements.
Individuals Welcome
Train at Our Tewkesbury Centre
Need to book your own course? Individuals can complete Excavation Marshal Training at our Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire training centre, close to M5 Junction 9.
EXCAVATION MARSHAL TRAINING ACROSS GLOUCESTERSHIRE Got a Team Working Around Excavations? We'll Come to You.
If your employees are involved in groundworks, drainage, utilities, construction or civil engineering, we can deliver NPORS Excavation Marshal Training at your Gloucestershire site. Train new Marshals, refresh existing employees or put genuinely experienced workers through their assessment without sending your whole team away for training.
GLOUCESTERSHIRE ON-SITE TRAINING • NPORS N027 • NOVICE & EXPERIENCED ROUTES • INDIVIDUAL BOOKINGS
Got a Team Working Around Excavations? We'll Come to You.
If your employees are involved in groundworks, drainage, utilities, construction or civil engineering, we can deliver NPORS Excavation Marshal Training at your Gloucestershire site. Train new Marshals, refresh existing employees or put genuinely experienced workers through their assessment without sending your whole team away for training.
Need Excavation Marshal Training for Your Team? We’ll Come to Your Gloucestershire Site.
Looking for Excavation Marshal Training in Gloucestershire for your workforce? If you’ve got employees working around excavations, underground services, groundworks or civil engineering projects, we can come directly to your site and get them trained without sending your whole team away.
Vally Plant Training provides NPORS N027 Excavation Marshal – Banksperson Training across Gloucestershire, with 1-day novice and refresher training for new or returning Marshals and a 1-day Experienced Worker Test for competent workers who are already doing the job.
Whether you need to train one new Excavation Marshal or get several experienced employees assessed together, we can help you arrange the right route. Company group bookings, on-site training and individual courses at our Tewkesbury centre are available.
Not sure what your employees need? Call 01684 297167 and tell us how many people you have and what experience they already have. We’ll help you get the right training booked.
For full details of the qualification and certification options on our site visit our main NPORS Excavation Marshal Training Course.
Excavation Marshal Training Gloucestershire at a Glance
✓ NPORS Category: N027 Excavation Marshal – Banksperson
✓ Novice Training: 1 Day • Maximum 3
✓ Experienced Test: 1 Day • Maximum 6
✓ Refresher: Training Route Available
✓ Gloucestershire: On-Site Company Training
✓ Training Centre: Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire
✓ Industries: Groundworks • Utilities • Construction
✓ Delivery: Company Groups & Individuals
Who Normally Books an Excavation Marshal Course?
We get enquiries from all sorts of companies because excavation work turns up in far more jobs than people sometimes realise.
It could be a groundworks contractor digging foundations on a housing development, a drainage company opening a trench, a utilities team installing new services or a civil engineering contractor carrying out larger infrastructure work.
Typical candidates include:
- Groundworkers
- Excavation Marshals
- Excavation Bankspersons
- Utilities operatives
- Drainage teams
- Site supervisors
- Construction operatives
- Civil engineering workers
- Employees involved with permits to dig
- Workers given responsibility around excavation activities
You don’t have to be an excavator operator to take the course.
If you’re expected to operate the machine as well, that’s different. Operator competence should be dealt with separately through suitable 360 Excavator Training.
Which Course Should We Book?
Never Done the Role Before?
Book the novice Excavation Marshal course.
It’s a 1-day course for up to 3 candidates and includes training before the assessment.
This is the route we’d recommend for employees who are taking on the role for the first time or who don’t have enough existing experience to simply be tested.
The NPORS Novice Training Guide explains the training route in more detail.
Already Doing the Job?
An experienced employee may be suitable for the Experienced Worker Test.
This is a 1-day test-only route for up to 6 suitable candidates.
The important bit is test only.
We’re assessing what the candidate already knows. We’re not teaching the course before testing them.
If you’re looking at the experienced option because you’ve got several employees to put through, make sure they’re genuinely ready first. Our Experienced Worker Test Guide will help you decide.
Need a Refresher?
That’s fine too.
If someone has done Excavation Marshal training previously but needs their knowledge brought up to date, we put them through the training route used for novice candidates.
That means they receive training before assessment rather than being treated as an experienced test-only candidate.
What Is NPORS N027 Excavation Marshal – Banksperson?
N027 Excavation Marshal – Banksperson is the NPORS category covering the Excavation Marshal role.
The course is aimed at people who need to understand the hazards and controls associated with excavation activities and their responsibilities when helping monitor excavation work.
NPORS itself lists N027 as Excavation Marshal – Banksperson.
The course involves both knowledge and practical elements rather than simply learning a list of questions. Our main Excavation Marshal Training page gives the full course information if you need to check the category and prices before booking.
What Will Your Employees Learn?
We keep the course relevant to what people actually need to understand around excavation work.
Training can cover:
- The role and responsibilities of the Excavation Marshal
- Excavation Banksperson duties
- Understanding the work being carried out
- Risk assessments and method statements
- Permit-to-dig arrangements
- Pre-excavation checks
- Underground service hazards
- Service information and drawings
- Safe digging principles
- Excavation hazards
- Communication with the excavator operator
- Communication with groundworkers
- Safe positioning
- Working and exclusion areas
- Emergency arrangements
- Changes to the excavation
- Knowing when work should stop
- CAT & Genny awareness
- Theory and practical assessment
Industry course specifications commonly include pre-excavation checks, communication arrangements, safe positioning, underground services and identifying excavation risks.
The point isn’t just to pass an assessment. We want the person leaving the course to have a better understanding of what they’re responsible for when they’re back on site.
Underground Services – The Bit You Can’t Afford to Guess
One of the biggest concerns with excavation work is what you can’t see.
There may be electricity cables, gas mains, water pipes, fibre, telecommunications, drainage and other services beneath the ground. That’s why excavation shouldn’t start with somebody simply pointing at a drawing and saying, “it should be over there.”
Service information needs to form part of the planning process, but it also needs to be backed up by appropriate locating methods and safe excavation procedures.
Our Working Near Underground Services Guide explains the subject in more detail, including service plans, cable avoidance equipment and safe digging.
Does Excavation Marshal Training Include CAT & Genny?
This is something worth clearing up because the two courses are often booked by the same type of company.
Excavation Marshal Training and CAT & Genny Training are not the same course.
The Excavation Marshal course looks at the wider excavation activity and the responsibilities of the Marshal. CAT & Genny training is specifically about using cable avoidance equipment and the Signal Generator to help locate underground services. If your employee is going to carry out the service locating, take a look at our CAT & Genny Training Course. For groundworks and utilities teams, having the right people trained in both areas can make sense.
What Hazards Should an Excavation Marshal Be Looking For?
Underground services are important, but they’re not the only issue around an excavation.
Excavation hazards can also include:
- Collapse of excavation sides
- Falling or dislodged material
- People falling into excavations
- Plant operating too close to the edge
- Water entering the excavation
- Undermining nearby structures
- Poor access or egress
- Uncontrolled plant movements
- People entering working areas
- Changes in ground conditions
The Marshal needs to stay aware of what’s happening as the work develops rather than only looking at the original plan.
What Happens If Something Unexpected Is Found?
Stop and check it. That’s the simple answer.
If a service appears where nobody expected it, an unidentified object is uncovered or the actual site conditions don’t match the information being worked from, carrying on and hoping for the best isn’t the answer.
The same applies if communication breaks down, the excavation moves outside the planned area or the agreed safe system of work can no longer be followed. The issue needs to be raised and the work reassessed before excavation continues.
Excavation Marshal and Excavator Operator – Two Different Jobs
An Excavation Marshal doesn’t automatically become competent to operate an excavator, and an excavator ticket doesn’t automatically make the operator a trained Excavation Marshal. They’re separate roles.
If you need operators as well as Marshals, we provide NPORS 360 Excavator Training for novice and experienced operators.
For companies training a full groundworks team, we can discuss the different NPORS Courses you need and whether they can sensibly be arranged around the same visit.
Is an Excavation Marshal the Same as a Plant Banksman?
No.
There’s some crossover because both roles can work around construction plant, but their main responsibilities are different.
The Excavation Marshal is focused on the excavation activity, including safe digging, ground disturbance, underground services and what’s happening within and around the excavation.
The Plant Banksman or Plant Marshal is primarily concerned with helping control and guide moving construction plant.
If your employees are expected to guide excavators, dumpers, telehandlers or other plant movements, our Plant Banksman Training Course is the relevant course to look at.
On-Site Excavation Marshal Training Across Gloucestershire
Being based in Gloucestershire means we’re well placed to deliver training to local businesses without sending your workforce halfway across the country.
We can provide on-site training at suitable locations across:
Gloucester • Cheltenham • Stroud • Cirencester • Tewkesbury • Stonehouse • Dursley • Coleford • Cinderford • Lydney • Moreton-in-Marsh and surrounding Gloucestershire areas.
This is aimed particularly at employers with several people to train. You provide a suitable site and the required arrangements; we provide the instructor, training and assessment.
Before booking, check our On-Site Plant Training Requirements so you know what needs to be in place.
Individual Excavation Marshal Training in Gloucestershire
If you’re searching for an Excavation Marshal course near me in Gloucestershire and you’re paying for your own training, you don’t need an employer to arrange it for you.
You can book directly with us at:
Vally Plant Training
Newton Farm
Ashchurch
Tewkesbury
Gloucestershire
GL20 7BE
We’re close to M5 Junction 9 and around a 5-minute walk from Ashchurch for Tewkesbury railway station.
That makes the centre accessible for candidates travelling from Gloucester, Cheltenham and other parts of the county as well as those coming by train. Novice and experienced individual bookings are welcome.
Check the main Excavation Marshal Training Course for current centre course information and prices.
In-House Excavation Marshal Training Gloucestershire
NPORS isn’t the only option in every workplace.
Some Gloucestershire companies only require employees to carry out Excavation Marshal duties within their own controlled working environment. In those circumstances, in-house training and certification may be an option. An in-house certificate can provide evidence of training and assessment, but it isn’t the same as an NPORS card.
Acceptance is down to the employer, client, principal contractor, site and insurer.
If your employees work on different construction sites for different clients, check what’s required before choosing in-house certification.
Our In-House Training vs NPORS Accredited Training Guide explains the difference.
CITB Funding for Gloucestershire Employers
Vally Plant Training is a CITB Training Provider Network Member.
Eligible CITB-registered employers may be able to access funding towards qualifying training, subject to the current CITB rules and eligibility requirements.
If you’re looking to train a group of employees, tell us how many candidates you have and whether they’re novice, refresher or experienced when asking for your quote.
PPE Required for Excavation Marshal Training
Candidates should wear suitable PPE for the practical Excavation Marshal training environment. This would normally include:
Candidates completing on-site training must also comply with any additional PPE requirements specified by the customer site.
Excavation Marshal Training Gloucestershire Prices
For on-site company training in Gloucestershire, we quote according to your actual requirements rather than using a one-price-fits-all figure.
The cost can depend on:
- How many employees need training
- Whether they’re novice, refresher or experienced
- Your site location
- The training arrangements available
- Travel requirements
- Whether you’re booking other courses at the same time
If you’ve got several employees to train, tell us all the courses you need when you enquire. We can look at the most sensible way of arranging the training. For an on-site quotation call 01684 297167.
Individuals can find the current Tewkesbury centre prices on our main Excavation Marshal Training Course.
Why Choose Vally Plant Training in Gloucestershire?
- Gloucestershire-based family-run training provider
- Established in 2014
- NPORS Approved Training Provider
- CITB Training Provider Network Member
- Dedicated training centre in Tewkesbury
- On-site training across Gloucestershire
- Direct provider – not a broker
- NPORS N027 Excavation Marshal training
- Novice and refresher training
- Experienced Worker Tests
- Company group bookings
- Individual bookings
- Training for groundworks, utilities and construction
- In-house certification where suitable
- Nationwide on-site training available
Related Training
Other courses commonly booked by groundworks, utilities and excavation teams across Gloucestershire.
CAT & Genny Training Training for employees who need to use cable avoidance equipment when locating underground services.
360 Excavator Training Novice and experienced NPORS training for excavator operators working in groundworks, drainage and construction.
Plant Banksman Training For workers who need to safely assist and control the movement of excavators, dumpers and other construction plant.
Excavation Marshal Training Visit the main course page for full N027 course information, certification, training routes and centre bookings.
Related Guides
Useful reading for anyone responsible for excavation work, underground services or choosing the right NPORS training route.
Working Near Underground Services Practical guidance on service drawings, buried utilities, locating equipment and safer digging.
NPORS Novice Training Guide Not sure whether somebody needs training? Find out how the novice training route works.
Experienced Worker Test Guide Check what an experienced candidate should already know before being booked onto a test-only route.
In-House Training vs NPORS Compare the two certification options before deciding what’s right for your employees.
Need to Get Your Groundworks Team Trained?
Give us a call and tell us how many people you’ve got, what experience they already have and where you’re working in Gloucestershire. We’ll help you work out whether they need novice training, refresher training or the Experienced Worker Test and get the right course arranged.
Let’s Get You Trained and Certified — Enquire About NPORS Courses Now
Join thousands of successful operators who’ve advanced their careers with Vally Plant Training — simple booking, fast results, real qualifications.
Fill out the form, and one of our training co-ordinators will get in touch without delay.
Established in 2014
Hundreds of Five-Star Reviews
48+ Training Courses Available
Nationwide On-Site Training
Your Frequently Asked Questions Answered
Not necessarily. The people, supervision and controls required depend on the excavation, site conditions, risks and the safe system of work being used. Where somebody is appointed to carry out the Excavation Marshal role, they need to understand the responsibilities they’re being given and the hazards involved.
Yes. Groundworkers are commonly well placed to take Excavation Marshal Training because they’re already involved in excavation activities. If they’re new to the actual Marshal role, we’d normally put them through the novice training route rather than straight into a test.
They should understand how available underground service information relates to the planned excavation and, importantly, understand its limitations. A service drawing shouldn’t simply be treated as proof that a buried service will be exactly where expected. Our Working Near Underground Services Guide explains this in more detail.
Yes. Excavation Marshal assessment involves both knowledge and practical competence rather than being purely a classroom course. Other NPORS N027 course specifications also describe theory and practical assessment as part of the qualification.
Yes. You don’t need to be an excavator operator to become an Excavation Marshal. If your job also requires you to operate the machine, you’ll need separate operator competence such as 360 Excavator Training.
The terms are sometimes used differently across sites, which is why checking the actual role and qualification matters. The NPORS category is N027 Excavation Marshal – Banksperson. If your main job is controlling general construction plant movements rather than monitoring excavation work, look at Plant Banksman Training instead.
Yes, subject to candidate ratios and having a suitable training environment. Novice Excavation Marshal Training is limited to 3 candidates, while the experienced test-only route allows up to 6 suitable candidates. Check our On-Site Training Requirements before arranging company training.
If you don’t meet the required standard, the next step will depend on which part of the assessment caused the problem and whether further training is needed. This is one reason we don’t recommend booking an Experienced Worker Test simply because it’s a test-only option if you’re not genuinely ready. Read our Experienced Worker Test Guide before choosing that route.
Yes. Individual candidates can book directly with Vally Plant Training at our Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire training centre. You don’t need a company to make the booking for you. Current course information is available on the main Excavation Marshal Training Course.
They’re separate competencies, so it depends on your job. If you’re expected to use cable avoidance equipment to locate buried services, you should have suitable training for that equipment. Our CAT & Genny Training Course covers that role, while Excavation Marshal Training deals with the wider control and monitoring of excavation work.
Real Customers. Real Training Experiences.
Our Experience Is Your Advantage
Hear from the people who have trained with us. Read our customers’ Google reviews and discover their experiences of NPORS training and testing with Vally Plant Training.
Family-Run Since 2014 • Direct Training Provider • NPORS Approved
Vally Plant Training is an NPORS-approved plant training provider based in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire, delivering accredited plant operator training courses across Gloucester, Cheltenham, Bristol, Worcestershire, Birmingham, Wiltshire, and the wider Midlands and South West.
We offer flexible, practical NPORS training for individuals and businesses in construction, industrial, agricultural, and private sectors, ensuring compliance with UK health and safety standards while helping operators gain recognised certification and real-world skills.