---
title: "What are competency roles?"
slug: "what-are-competency-roles"
tags: ["Explainer", "Totara Skills"]
updated: 2026-10-08T07:25:59Z
published: 2026-10-08T07:25:59Z
canonical: "totara.help/what-are-competency-roles"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://totara.help/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# What are competency roles?

Competency roles are reusable groups of [skills](/totara-20/docs/what-are-skills-1) within Totara Skills. They allow the organisation to manage common capability requirements once and apply them consistently across multiple [positions](/totara-20/docs/what-are-positions), rather than defining the same skill requirements repeatedly.

Competency roles can be used for:

- Grouping related skills into a reusable capability set
- Assigning common skill requirements to positions
- Keeping position skill requirements consistent across the organisation

When a competency role is assigned to a position, the Site Administrator does not need to add each skill in the role to the position individually. The skills contained within the competency role are applied to the position automatically, ensuring that skill requirements remain consistent wherever the same competency role is used.

> [!NOTE]
> Using competency roles to manage groups of related skills reduces duplication of effort and helps maintain consistency in skill requirements across similar positions.

## Next steps

- [Manage competency roles](/totara-20/docs/manage-competency-roles)
- [Assign competency roles to positions](/totara-20/docs/assign-competency-roles-to-positions)

Join the [Totara Community](https://totara.community/) for more resources to help you get the most out of Totara.

© Copyright 2026 Totara Learning Solutions. All rights reserved.