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WSP and ATR submission is the yearly filing of your Workplace Skills Plan (the training you plan for the year ahead) and your Annual Training Report (the training you actually delivered) with your SETA, due by 30 April each year.[1] It is done on your SETA’s online portal, usually compiled by your Skills Development Facilitator (SDF). Submitting on time, with your levies up to date, is what qualifies you for the mandatory grant. To build the in-house skills to do this yourself, see BOTI’s train the trainer, ETDP and skills development courses.
This guide walks HR, L&D and finance leads through the process step by step. It also shows how to build a training plan whose evidence holds up when the ATR is checked.
The business problem: miss the deadline, lose the money
For levy-paying employers, the WSP/ATR submission is the gateway to recovering part of the Skills Development Levy. Get it wrong and the cost is immediate:
- No mandatory grant: you lose the grant if the submission is late or missing, or if your levies are not up to date. The grant is 20% of the levies you have paid.[1] Unclaimed mandatory grant money moves to the SETA’s discretionary funding by 15 August.[1]
- Weaker skills records: skills development spend counts on the B-BBEE scorecard. A thin or missing WSP/ATR leaves you with little organised evidence of the training you did.
- No discretionary grants: many SETAs require a compliant WSP/ATR before you can apply for discretionary grants, learnerships or bursaries.
- Audit exposure: training claimed without evidence (attendance registers, certificates, invoices) does not survive verification.
The fix is a steady annual rhythm:
- appoint an SDF;
- plan the training;
- capture it as you go;
- submit before 30 April.
This guide is for the people who own that rhythm: HR and L&D managers, business owners, finance leads, Skills Development Facilitators (SDFs) and operations managers developing their own staff.
Step-by-step: how to submit your WSP and ATR
The process is the same in principle across SETAs, though portal screens differ. Follow these steps in order. For a closer look at the date itself, see our guide to the WSP submission deadline.
Step 1: Confirm you are a levy payer registered with the right SETA
Employers whose annual payroll is above the SDL threshold (currently R500,000)[2] pay the Skills Development Levy, which is 1% of payroll[2] paid monthly through SARS. Your SETA is set by your main business activity, not by your choice. If you are unsure, read which SETA your company falls under. Also check that your SDL number and SARS registration are current.
Step 2: Appoint or confirm your Skills Development Facilitator (SDF)
The submission is compiled and signed off by a registered SDF. This can be a trained internal employee or an external consultant. Confirm that the SDF is registered on your SETA’s system for the current cycle, because an unregistered SDF cannot sign off the submission.
Step 3: Conduct a skills audit and training needs analysis
Map the gap between the skills your business has and the skills it needs. The skills audit and Training Needs Analysis (TNA) come before the WSP: they give you the evidence base for what training to plan, for whom and at what NQF level.
They also help you decide which interventions should lead to a qualification, part-qualification or skills programme, and which can be short, skills-only courses. If you want a structure to work from, ask BOTI to help you scope a skills audit and TNA. You can also read our training needs analysis guide.
Step 4: Compile the Workplace Skills Plan (WSP)
The WSP is your forward-looking plan for the year ahead. Our explainer on what a workplace skills plan is covers it in more depth. It captures:
- Planned training interventions, mapped to your skills audit.
- The number of learners broken down by race, gender and disability. This demographic detail feeds your SETA and B-BBEE reporting.
- Occupational categories and, where relevant, scarce or critical skills, with each intervention flagged as accredited or not.
Step 5: Compile the Annual Training Report (ATR)
The ATR is the backward-looking report on the previous WSP: the training you actually delivered against what you planned. Back each entry with evidence, such as attendance registers, certificates and provider invoices. The cleaner your records, the smoother the verification. See our guide to the annual training report for more on ATR submission.
Step 6: Submit through the SETA online portal before 30 April
Capture both documents on your SETA’s online submission system. Have the SDF and an authorised company representative sign off, then submit before the 30 April deadline[1]. Some SETAs open their submission window earlier in the year, so start early.[3] Late submissions forfeit the mandatory grant for that year, so build in buffer time.
Step 7: Track approval and claim your grant
Monitor the portal for approval. Once the submission is approved and your levies are up to date, the mandatory grant (20% of the levies you paid)[1] is paid according to the SETA’s schedule. You can also apply for discretionary grants, learnerships and bursaries where your SETA offers them.
Remember that the WSP is a plan, not a guarantee. Approval does not mean every planned intervention will happen. Delivery depends on your budget, staff availability and follow-through, and the next ATR records what actually took place.
Need the training behind a clean WSP? Phone 011 882 8853 or use the BOTI contact form. You can also ask BOTI to help you scope a skills audit and training needs analysis for your WSP before the deadline.
WSP vs ATR at a glance
The two documents are submitted together but do opposite jobs:
| Workplace Skills Plan (WSP) | Annual Training Report (ATR) | |
|---|---|---|
| Looks | Forward: the year ahead | Backward: the year just completed |
| Purpose | Plan the training you intend to deliver | Report the training you actually delivered |
| Evidence | Skills audit, TNA, planned interventions | Attendance, certificates, invoices |
| Signed off by | Registered SDF + company rep | Registered SDF + company rep |
| Deadline | 30 April | 30 April (same submission) |
How BOTI fits: the training behind the plan
BOTI does not file your submission; that is your SDF’s role. But a WSP and ATR are only as strong as the training behind them, and this is where a training partner helps:
- Accredited or skills-only courses to suit each intervention: BOTI is a QCTO-accredited Skills Development Provider for occupational certificates and skills programmes. It also holds Services SETA accreditation 12582 for legacy qualifications that are still open to enrolment. Practical, non-accredited short courses cover everything else.
- Clean evidence: attendance registers, certificates and invoices in the format your SDF needs.
- In-house delivery for whole teams: a clearly documented block of skills development spend against a single intervention.
Delivery formats
BOTI delivers the training that populates your WSP in whichever format suits your operation:
- In-house at your premises: usually practical for a group, and the easiest to document as ATR evidence.
- At BOTI’s venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg: scheduled courses for individual staff.
- Live online: instructor-led sessions for teams spread across several sites.
Funding: how your WSP turns the levy into grants
A compliant WSP/ATR is what makes the skills development system pay you back. As general guidance:
- The Skills Development Levy (SDL) is 1% of payroll[2]. It is split as follows[1]:
- 49.5% to SETA discretionary grants;
- 20% to mandatory grants;
- 10% to SETA administration;
- 0.5% to the QCTO;
- 20% to the National Skills Fund.
- The mandatory grant pays back 20% of the levies you paid.[1] It depends on two conditions: the WSP/ATR is submitted by 30 April, and your levy payments are up to date.
- Discretionary grants are mainly aimed at PIVOTAL programmes, meaning programmes that lead to qualifications or part-qualifications on the NQF.[3] Each SETA sets its own funding windows and criteria.
- Skills development spend also counts on the B-BBEE scorecard, so the records behind your WSP and ATR are worth keeping in good order.
This is general information, not financial or legal advice. Confirm the specifics with your SETA, your SDF or your B-BBEE verification professional.
Why BOTI
BOTI (Business Optimization Training Institute) is a South African corporate training provider. Its credentials include:
- a QCTO-accredited Skills Development Provider;
- a Level 1 B-BBEE contributor;
- Services SETA accreditation 12582 for legacy qualifications;
- 450 courses;
- clients that include Sasol, Glencore and the City of Johannesburg.
Where your WSP calls for credit-bearing outcomes, BOTI offers QCTO occupational certificates and skills programmes, documented so your SDF can report them cleanly. Other topics are delivered as practical skills programmes with a certificate of attendance.
A WSP rarely sits alone. Most clients build a path across related programmes:
- Skills Development Facilitator (SDF) Training Course: build the in-house skills to plan and report your WSP and ATR.
- Accredited course catalogue: QCTO occupational certificates, QCTO skills programmes and legacy SETA qualifications.
- In-house and on-site training: group delivery that produces a clean, documented block of spend.
- Management and leadership development: high-value interventions for your plan.
- The full BOTI course range: sales, management, finance, HR and compliance training for teams.
Not sure which courses belong in your WSP? Our team can help map a plan that fits your skills audit, compliance goals and budget.
Frequently asked questions
What do WSP and ATR mean?
WSP stands for Workplace Skills Plan, the employer’s plan for the training it intends to deliver in the year ahead. ATR stands for Annual Training Report, the report on training actually delivered in the previous year, backed by evidence such as attendance registers, certificates and invoices. Both are submitted together to the employer’s SETA.
When is the WSP and ATR submission deadline in South Africa?
The deadline is 30 April each year. The WSP and ATR are submitted together through your SETA’s online portal. To receive the mandatory grant, which is 20% of the levies you paid, you must submit on time and be up to date with your levy payments. Unclaimed mandatory grant money moves to discretionary funding by 15 August.
Is the training needs analysis conducted before the WSP process?
Yes. The skills audit and training needs analysis come first, because they show the gap between the skills your business has and the skills it needs. The WSP then turns that gap into planned training interventions for specific people and occupations.
Does submitting the WSP guarantee that all planned training will take place?
No. The WSP is a plan, not a guarantee. Planned training still depends on budget, staff availability and the employer following through. The next year’s ATR reports what actually took place against the plan.
Does training have to be accredited to count in our WSP and ATR?
No. Both accredited and non-accredited training can be planned in the WSP and reported in the ATR. SETA discretionary grants mainly target PIVOTAL programmes that lead to qualifications or part-qualifications on the NQF. BOTI offers QCTO occupational certificates and skills programmes as well as non-accredited short courses, and provides the attendance registers, certificates and invoices your SDF needs.
Plan your WSP training with BOTI
A clean submission starts with someone who knows the process and well-documented training behind it. BOTI’s Skills Development Facilitator (SDF) Training Course builds the skills to run your skills audit, compile the WSP and report the ATR before the 30 April deadline. Training runs in-house at your premises, at BOTI’s venue in Sunningdale, Johannesburg, or live online.
Call BOTI on 011 882 8853 or email [email protected], or request a quote. This course is not accredited. It is delivered as a professional skills programme, and delegates receive a BOTI certificate of attendance.
Sources
- Mandatory Grants – Health and Welfare SETA (HWSETA), 2026.
- Skills Development Levy – South African Revenue Service (SARS), 2026.
- Grants Policy 2025/26 – merSETA, 2024.