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beginner ⏱️ 8 min read

skillSYMS Platform Overview

Understand how skillSYMS is organised — roles, portals, navigation, and multi-tenancy — before you dive into the role-specific guides.

For: Training Providers Employers Assessors Moderators Learners Administrators
On this page(8 sections)

Summary

skillSYMS is a QCTO-aligned Skills Development Management System. It brings the entire skills-development lifecycle — enrolment, training delivery, evidence, assessment, moderation, results, and regulatory reporting — into one platform. This guide explains how the platform is structured so the role-specific guides make sense.

Who This Guide Is For

  • Anyone using skillSYMS for the first time, in any role
  • Decision-makers evaluating how the platform fits their organisation

The roles

skillSYMS uses role-based access control. Each role sees its own portal and only the features it needs:

RolePortalWhat they do
Platform Administrator (SuperAdmin)/adminManage all tenants, users, billing, catalogues, and system settings
SDP Administrator/sdpRun a Skills Development Provider: learners, programmes, assessment, compliance, reporting
Facilitator/facilitatorDeliver training, manage classes, take attendance
Assessor/assessorAssess learner evidence and record competency decisions
Moderator/moderatorVerify assessment quality through sampling and moderation
Employer / Supervisor/employerMonitor workplace learners and sign off work products
Learner/learnerSubmit evidence, track progress, view results and certificates

Tip: A person can hold more than one role. Where audit integrity matters — for example assessor vs. moderator — use separate accounts so the audit trail stays clean.

Multi-tenancy and logging in

skillSYMS is multi-tenant: each provider (tenant) has its own isolated data, branding, and optionally its own login domain.

  • Standard login — go to /login and sign in with your email and password.
  • Tenant subdomain / custom domain — some providers have a branded login at their own subdomain or custom domain. Use the link your provider gave you.
  • Invitations — staff and learners are often added by an administrator and receive an email invite. Follow the link to set your password and activate your account.

If you belong to more than one tenant, you’ll be asked to choose which one to enter after signing in.

Finding your way around

Every portal shares the same layout:

  1. Top navigation / command bar — search and jump to any feature quickly.
  2. Side menu — grouped by feature area (e.g. Learners, Assessments, Reports).
  3. Dashboard — your role’s home screen, with the tasks and metrics that matter to you.

The core QCTO lifecycle

Most work in skillSYMS follows this flow:

  1. Set up programmes and curriculum (SDP Admin)
  2. Enrol learners into programmes/offerings (SDP Admin)
  3. Deliver training and record attendance (Facilitator)
  4. Collect evidence into a Portfolio of Evidence (Learner)
  5. Assess the evidence (Assessor)
  6. Moderate a sample of assessments (Moderator)
  7. Issue Statements of Results and certificates (SDP Admin)
  8. Report to QCTO and other bodies via MIS exports (SDP Admin)

Web and mobile

skillSYMS has a web app (full feature set) and a mobile app for field work — evidence capture, attendance, timeclock, and offline use. See the Mobile App: Getting Started guide.

Next Steps

What's new in skillSYMS

  1. MicroQuests in the browser, in the app and by email
    • skillsyms.com/learn: take LearnChat MicroQuests in any browser with buttons instead of chat replies. You get the same quests, wallet, progress and certificates as on WhatsApp
    • Learn by email: anyone can ask for a personal learning link on skillsyms.com/learn. There's no account and no password, and the link keeps you signed in on that device for 30 days
    + 6 more
  2. Schools & Early Learning (alpha): grades, registers, marks, promotion and SA-SAMS import
    • Learners → Schools & ECD: set up a school or ECD centre under its provincial department, with grades, classes and subjects for each academic year
    • Choose your institution type (primary, secondary, combined, independent, ECD centre and more) to switch on the matching pack
    + 12 more
  3. Schools & Early Learning: learner support, behaviour, governance, ECD development and a guardian portal
    • My classes: a teacher's registers still to take today, open assessment tasks and which learners need accommodations
    • Teaching assignments and teaching scope: start by observing captures outside a teacher's classes, then limit teachers to their own classes and subjects
    + 10 more
Full changelog