Browse the QCTO Catalogue & Link a Qualification

Summary

skillSYMS ships with the official QCTO catalogue — occupational qualifications, learnerships, skills programmes, higher occupational certificates and part qualifications. This guide shows you how to search the catalogue, open a qualification’s detail page, and link it to the programmes you deliver so that curriculum, modules and exports stay aligned with QCTO records.

Who This Guide Is For

• Training providers setting up their first programmes
• Administrators mapping internal programmes to official qualifications
• Anyone who needs SAQA IDs, NQF levels and credits straight from the source

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure you have:

• An active SDP login with programme-management access
• The qualification code, SAQA ID or title you are looking for
• (Optional) An existing programme you want to link

Step 1: Open the Catalogue

Navigate to Catalogue (/sdp/catalog).

The catalogue browser shows a stats bar (total items, occupational qualifications, learnerships, skills programmes and higher occupational certificates) and a searchable, sortable table with Code, Title, Type, NQF, Credits and Status columns.

Tip: The stats bar is a quick health check — if a count looks low, the catalogue sync for that type may still be running.

Step 2: Search and Filter

Use the search box to find qualifications by title or code. Narrow results with the filters:

• Type — Occupational Qualification, Learnership, Skills Programme, Higher Occupational Certificate or Part Qualification
• NQF Level — NQF 1 through NQF 10
• Status — Registered, Part Registered or Expired

Tip: Prefer qualifications with a Registered status. Expired qualifications can still be viewed for historical learners but should not be used for new intakes.

Step 3: Open a Qualification

Click any row to open the qualification detail page (/sdp/catalog/<id>).

The detail page shows:

• The official title, code, type, NQF level and credits
• A SAQA link that opens the qualification on the SAQA registry in a new tab
• A Linked Programmes panel listing programmes in your organisation already mapped to this qualification

Step 4: Link the Qualification to a Programme

From the Linked Programmes panel:

1. If programmes are already linked, review them to avoid duplicates.
2. If nothing is linked yet, click Create your first programme to start a new programme pre-filled from this catalogue item.

You can also link from the other direction — see the Create Programmes guide, where the “From Offering” flow carries the catalogue item through automatically.

Tip: Linking is what lets QCTO and MIS exports resolve your learners against the correct qualification. Always link before you enrol learners.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Linking an expired qualification — Check the status filter before linking a new intake.
2. Creating a custom programme when an official one exists — Search the catalogue first; custom programmes go through extra superadmin review.
3. Mismatched NQF level or credits — Copy these from the catalogue detail page rather than typing them from memory.
4. Duplicate links — Review the Linked Programmes panel before creating another programme.

Verification Checklist

Before proceeding, verify:

• You found the qualification by code or title
• The qualification status is Registered (or intentionally not)
• The detail page shows the correct NQF level and credits
• At least one of your programmes appears in Linked Programmes

Next Steps

• Create Programmes — Turn a catalogue item into a deliverable programme
• Modules & Outcomes — Review the KM/PM/WM module structure
• Offerings & Intakes — Open a cohort against the qualification