Setting: Cluster Units

When multiple Units of Competency share overlapping content or workplace activities, delivering them separately can lead to repetitive assessments and unnecessary burden on both students and trainers. A Cluster unit brings these related competencies together into a single, integrated learning experience reduce assessment fatigue while ensuring each unit's national identifier is still captured correctly for compliance reporting.

What's Covered in This Article

This article walks through what a Cluster unit is, when to use one, and how to configure and publish it in Nimbu.

What a Cluster Is: How clusters differ from standard units.
When to Use a Cluster: Ideal scenarios for holistic delivery.
Configuration Guide: Step-by-step setup from creation to publishing.

What a Cluster Is

A Cluster is a standalone unit type in Nimbu that allows you to deliver and assess two or more Units of Competency as a single, unified experience. Rather than linking to existing units already in your registry, a Cluster captures the national codes and titles of the competencies it covers directly within its own settings. These are entered manually and exist only within the cluster itself.

This means the system maintains a clear compliance record of which competencies are being addressed, while students and trainers interact with one cohesive unit rather than several separate ones.

When to Use a Cluster

Clusters are best suited for situations where:

Two or more units share highly related performance criteria that can be assessed through the same activities.
Workplace tasks naturally demonstrate evidence across multiple competencies at once.
Delivering units individually would result in repetitive or redundant assessment tasks for students.

Configuration Guide: Step-by-Step

Step 1: Create the Cluster

Navigate to the Units section in the left-hand sidebar.
In the top-right corner of the screen, click Add and then click the Cluster button. This will take you to the Unit Settings page for the cluster

Step 2: Define Cluster Identification

Unlike standard units, Clusters require both a parent identifier and individual unit mappings:

Code* (required): Enter an internal or overarching code for the cluster (e.g., BSBCRT-Cluster).
Title*(required): Provide a name that reflects the combined outcome (e.g., Critical Thinking and Innovation).

Step 3: Add the Units of Competency

In the Cluster Units section, manually enter the national identifiers for each Unit of Competency the cluster covers:

Enter the Code and Title for the first unit of competency.
Click Add Unit.
Repeat for all remaining units.

A cluster must contain at least 2 units to be successfully published.

Step 4: Add Content and Sections

Once the units are defined, build the instructional path the same way you would for a standard unit:

Map Content: Click + Add Content to bring in Assessments and Learning Resources from your Content Library into the default sections.
Create Sections: Click + New Section if you need to separate different phases of the holistic training.

For guidance on organising content within sections or configuring prerequisites, see the Unit Sections and Content Prerequisites articles.

Step 5: Save and Finalise

Review your setup to ensure all competencies are covered. Click Save as Draft to return and continue editing later.
When ready, click Publish in the top-right corner to make the cluster live.
Once published, the cluster will appear in your Units registry and can be mapped to any course.