The training matrix an auditor asks for
Roles down, courses across, and every person marked, so the competence question gets answered in one page.
- Format
- Roles down, courses across, every person marked
- Cell states
- Complete, due, expired, not applicable
- Needs matrix
- Within a week of the needs conversation
- Completed matrix
- Returned with the evidence pack
- Refresh dates
- Held on the matrix, not on certificates
A training matrix maps every role in your organisation to the competence it needs, and every person in each role to the training they have completed. It is the evidence an auditor looks for under ISO 9001 clause 7.2 and its equivalents. ITF builds it before a programme starts and returns it completed at the end.
- 01 Enquiry
- 02 Needs analysis
- 03 Programme design
- 04 Scheduling
- 05 Delivery
- 06 Assessment
- 07 Certification
- 08 Records
The training matrix an auditor asks for sits at step 8 of the delivery cycle. You receive a competence evidence pack.
A matrix with nothing behind it is a plan
An auditor picks a role, picks a person in it, and asks for the evidence behind one cell.
The matrix points to the certificate number, the certificate points to the assessment record, and the chain closes. A matrix with no evidence behind it is a plan, not a record, and it is how a training finding usually gets written.
The other failure is the blank cell. A role that does not need a course should say not applicable, because a blank is a question the auditor has to ask, and the answer given on the day is rarely as good as the one written down in advance.
What each cell can say
Each cell holds exactly one state, and each state carries its own evidence.
| State | What the cell holds | Where it applies |
|---|---|---|
| Complete | The course date and the certificate number | Any course, once the participant has met the assessment criteria |
| Due | A target date | Any course the role needs and the person has not yet completed |
| Expired | The expiry date | Emergency response only, one year after the course date |
| Not applicable | A mark that the role does not need the course | Any course outside the role's competence needs |
What you hold
The needs matrix
Every role mapped to the competence it needs, before any course is scheduled. You challenge it, and the programme is built from what survives.
The completed matrix
The same matrix after the programme, with every person marked complete, due or not applicable, and the date and certificate number in every complete cell.
The evidence behind every complete cell
The certificate and the marked assessment for each one, assembled so an auditor can follow any cell to its record.
Emergency response expiry dates
Each first aider's and fire responder's valid-until date on the matrix, so renewals are booked before a certificate lapses rather than after.
How the matrix gets built and filled
- 01
The needs conversation
Your roles, the standards you hold, the audits that are coming and the findings you already have.
- 02
The needs matrix
Roles down, courses across, sent to you to challenge. A role that does not need a course is marked not applicable, never left blank.
- 03
Cells filled as courses run
Each participant who meets the assessment criteria turns a due cell into a complete one, with the date and the certificate number.
- 04
Handover
The completed matrix and the evidence pack behind it, in a format you can maintain in your own system.
Forty roles, two sites, one transition audit
A contractor with forty roles across two sites had a transition audit booked, and training records spread across two HR systems and a shared drive.
The needs matrix put all forty roles on one page, with each marked against the courses it needed and the rest marked not applicable. The programme then filled the due cells in order, awareness first and internal auditors second.
Before the audit, the contractor used the matrix to show its certification body which roles were complete, which were due before the transition audit, and which emergency response certificates would lapse in the next quarter. Each complete cell pointed to a certificate number, and each certificate to its assessment record.
When a cell needs refreshing
Emergency response refresh is fixed. Every other refresh is your competence decision, and the matrix is where you record it.
A fixed one-year date
Fire safety and first aid certificates are valid for one year from the course date, because the skill decays. The matrix shows the date, and the cell turns expired the day after it passes.
A new edition, a new cell
When a standard is revised, the people who work to it need the new edition. ISO 9001:2026 and ISO 14001:2026 both mean a new due cell for the roles that hold the old one.
The row moves with the person
A person who changes role takes on the new role's courses. The completed ones that still apply carry over, and the rest show as due on the day of the move rather than at the next audit.
Retraining as a corrective action
When a finding shows a competence gap, the affected cells go back to due. Check first that competence really was the cause, because retraining people does not fix a procedure that is wrong.
About the matrix
Can we keep the matrix in our own system?
Yes. We hand it over in a format you can maintain, and it should live in your system, not ours.
Is a training matrix the same as a training plan?
No. The matrix says what each role needs and what each person holds. A plan says what will happen next, and a good one is built from the matrix's due cells.
Why can only emergency response cells expire?
Because those certificates carry a one-year validity for a physical skill that decays. Every other certificate records a course on a date, and that record stays true. When to retrain on those is your decision, and the matrix is where you record it.
Do you build the matrix if we already have one?
We start from yours. The needs conversation checks it against your roles and the standards you hold, and the matrix that comes back keeps your structure where it works.
Where the matrix connects
In-house and corporate programmes
How the needs matrix turns into a programme, and what the company holds at the end.
Read moreCertificateWhat the certificate records
The field that goes into every complete cell, and the one kind with a valid-until date.
Read moreCalendarScheduling and the calendar
Planning due cells back from your audit date, around Ramadan and the hot months.
Read moreDivisionITF Digital dashboards
For a matrix that updates itself from your training records.
Read morePart of one system
Every division keeps records to the same standard, so the second one you need works the way the first one did.
Start from the roles you have
Send the organisation chart, and any training findings from your last audit. The needs matrix comes back within a week of the conversation, and it is yours whatever you decide next.