What is printed on it, how the three grades differ, and why looks prove nothing.
A lot of people want to see one before they commit money, or want to check that the one in their hand looks right. Fair enough. Here is what the document actually is.
A Nigerian trade test certificate is a physical A4 document printed on official government stationery by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment. It is not emailed, and there is no digital original.
What is printed on it:
The layout is the same. What changes is the grade line, and that single line is what an employer, a contractor or a foreign authority looks at first.
The entry level. It says you have been assessed and found competent at the foundation of your trade: straightforward tasks, done correctly and safely. Read more on Trade Test Grade 3.
The intermediate level. More complex work, less supervision, a deeper grasp of the theory. Read more on Trade Test Grade 2.
The advanced level, for experienced tradesmen. This is the grade that carries most weight for government contract work and for overseas applications. Read more on Trade Test Grade 1.
Knowing what a real certificate looks like does not tell you whether the one in your hand is real.
A counterfeit can reproduce the stationery, the layout, the wording and the seal. People who sell fake certificates are not careless about appearance, because appearance is the entire product.
What cannot be faked is the record. If the certificate was never issued against an examination, the Ministry has no entry for it, and that is what surfaces the moment somebody checks properly.
Treat the visual check as a first filter only. A document with no grade named, no seal, or printed on ordinary paper is clearly questionable. But a document that passes every visual check still needs the record confirmed.
The full process for that is on our page about how to verify a trade test certificate. It costs nothing but time, and it is worth doing before you rely on the document for anything that matters.
You cannot verify what does not exist. If you work in a trade and have never been formally certified, the trade test is how you fix that, and the application process is here.
ServHub Training is accredited by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment to conduct trade test examinations, and we examine on site. What you leave with is in the records, not a printout.
💬 Ask Us About ThisThe candidate name, the trade category, the grade level written as Grade I, Grade II or Grade III, and an official seal or stamp, printed on official government stationery.
The certificate is issued as a physical A4 document. There is no digital original and no online portal that produces one.
The layout is the same. The grade line differs, and that line is what employers and foreign authorities assess. Grade III is entry level, Grade II intermediate and Grade I advanced.
No. A counterfeit can reproduce the stationery, layout and seal. Only confirming the record with the Ministry or the examining centre settles it.
ServHub Training is accredited by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment to conduct trade test examinations, and we examine on site at our Port Harcourt centre. We run 24 courses across construction, electrical, mechanical, craft and digital trades.
ServHub Training is operated by ServHub Technologies Limited, RC 9494742. Search it at search.cac.gov.ng. Walk into the centre at 127 Igwuruta Road, Atali, Port Harcourt any weekday and see the workshop before you pay anybody anything.
See All Courses → How Certification Works →
Published 20 September 2026. Last reviewed 20 September 2026. Government processes change. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will correct it.