How to read a training product code.

Every nationally recognised training product has a code, and the code tells you more than most people realise. Once you can read one, you can spot the package, the level and roughly how recent it is before you open a single file.

Where codes come from

Nationally recognised training in Australia is largely built from training packages. A training package groups the qualifications, units of competency and skill sets for an industry or field. Each package has a three-letter prefix, and that prefix starts the code of nearly everything inside it. BSB is Business Services. CHC is Community Services. TAE is Training and Education. The index lists the prefixes in alphabetical order on its thumb edge.

Reading a qualification code

A qualification code is normally three letters followed by five digits. Take CHC30125, read from left to right.

• CHC is the training package.
• 3 is the level, following the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF). 1 is Certificate I, 2 is Certificate II, 3 is Certificate III, 4 is Certificate IV, 5 is Diploma, 6 is Advanced Diploma, and 8 is a graduate certificate or graduate diploma.
• 01 is a sequence number. It separates this qualification from others at the same level in the same package.
• 25 is usually the year the qualification was endorsed, in this case 2025.

So CHC30125 is a Certificate III from the Community Services package, dating from 2025. Its title, Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care, comes from the register, not from the code.

Reading a unit code

Unit codes look different, because they carry a second set of letters. Take BSBWHS311.

• BSB is the training package.
• WHS is the competency field, here work health and safety.
• 3 is usually a guide to the level of the unit, but it is not a rule. A unit can sit inside qualifications at other levels.
• 11 separates this unit from others in the same field.

Skill sets and accredited courses

Skill set codes carry the letters SS after the package prefix, followed by digits. Accredited courses sit outside training packages and use a different pattern, often digits followed by a state abbreviation such as VIC. If a code does not fit any pattern here, look it up instead of guessing.

What a code cannot tell you

A code does not tell you whether a product is current. Only the record on training.gov.au can do that. It shows the status of the product, including whether it has been superseded, and what replaced it where one exists. A newer code does not always mean the same content, so read the mapping information before you assume two versions are equivalent.

A code does not tell you whether your RTO may deliver the product. That depends on your scope of registration. Nor does it tell you whether a set of resources is ready for your learners. Under the Standards for RTOs 2025 your organisation is still responsible for its assessment system. Whatever you buy, you still contextualise it, validate it and implement it. Validation sits at Standard 1.5 of the Outcome Standards, and ASQA's page on the Standards explains what the regulator looks for.

Using a code to buy well

Start with the register, then come to the store with the exact code. Check three things on the product line before you buy.

• The code is the one on your scope, or the one you plan to add. Similar codes can be different versions.
• The format is the one you need. An assessment kit and a learner guide for the same unit are separate products. The format entries say what each one holds.
• The size is right. A unit is priced as a unit and a qualification as a qualification, so a code that starts the same way can carry a very different price.

If you would like to see the work first, request a sample or open the 32 interactive SCORM samples.

Look up a code