diff --git a/src/batdetect2/cli/evaluate.py b/src/batdetect2/cli/evaluate.py
index 369cd32..6635d75 100644
--- a/src/batdetect2/cli/evaluate.py
+++ b/src/batdetect2/cli/evaluate.py
@@ -43,11 +43,11 @@ def evaluate_command(
     from batdetect2.api_v2 import BatDetect2API
     from batdetect2.audio import AudioConfig
     from batdetect2.data import load_dataset_from_config
-    from batdetect2.evaluate import load_evaluation_config
+    from batdetect2.evaluate import EvaluationConfig
     from batdetect2.inference import InferenceConfig
-    from batdetect2.logging import load_logging_config
+    from batdetect2.logging import AppLoggingConfig
     from batdetect2.outputs import OutputsConfig
-    from batdetect2.targets import load_target_config
+    from batdetect2.targets import TargetConfig
 
     logger.info("Initiating evaluation process...")
 
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ def evaluate_command(
     )
 
     target_conf = (
-        load_target_config(targets_config)
+        TargetConfig.load(targets_config)
         if targets_config is not None
         else None
     )
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ def evaluate_command(
         AudioConfig.load(audio_config) if audio_config is not None else None
     )
     eval_conf = (
-        load_evaluation_config(evaluation_config)
+        EvaluationConfig.load(evaluation_config)
         if evaluation_config is not None
         else None
     )
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ def evaluate_command(
         else None
     )
     logging_conf = (
-        load_logging_config(logging_config)
+        AppLoggingConfig.load(logging_config)
         if logging_config is not None
         else None
     )
diff --git a/src/batdetect2/cli/train.py b/src/batdetect2/cli/train.py
index 91a73d7..543af20 100644
--- a/src/batdetect2/cli/train.py
+++ b/src/batdetect2/cli/train.py
@@ -53,19 +53,19 @@ def train_command(
     from batdetect2.audio import AudioConfig
     from batdetect2.config import BatDetect2Config
     from batdetect2.data import load_dataset_from_config
-    from batdetect2.evaluate import load_evaluation_config
+    from batdetect2.evaluate import EvaluationConfig
     from batdetect2.inference import InferenceConfig
-    from batdetect2.logging import load_logging_config
+    from batdetect2.logging import AppLoggingConfig
     from batdetect2.models import ModelConfig
     from batdetect2.outputs import OutputsConfig
-    from batdetect2.targets import load_target_config
-    from batdetect2.train import load_train_config
+    from batdetect2.targets import TargetConfig
+    from batdetect2.train import TrainingConfig
 
     logger.info("Initiating training process...")
 
     logger.info("Loading configuration...")
     target_conf = (
-        load_target_config(targets_config)
+        TargetConfig.load(targets_config)
         if targets_config is not None
         else None
     )
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ def train_command(
         ModelConfig.load(model_config) if model_config is not None else None
     )
     train_conf = (
-        load_train_config(training_config)
+        TrainingConfig.load(training_config)
         if training_config is not None
         else None
     )
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ def train_command(
         AudioConfig.load(audio_config) if audio_config is not None else None
     )
     eval_conf = (
-        load_evaluation_config(evaluation_config)
+        EvaluationConfig.load(evaluation_config)
         if evaluation_config is not None
         else None
     )
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ def train_command(
         else None
     )
     logging_conf = (
-        load_logging_config(logging_config)
+        AppLoggingConfig.load(logging_config)
         if logging_config is not None
         else None
     )
diff --git a/src/batdetect2/config.py b/src/batdetect2/config.py
index a0c9688..525f581 100644
--- a/src/batdetect2/config.py
+++ b/src/batdetect2/config.py
@@ -1,10 +1,9 @@
 from typing import Literal
 
 from pydantic import Field
-from soundevent.data import PathLike
 
 from batdetect2.audio import AudioConfig
-from batdetect2.core.configs import BaseConfig, load_config
+from batdetect2.core.configs import BaseConfig
 from batdetect2.evaluate.config import (
     EvaluationConfig,
     get_default_eval_config,
@@ -17,7 +16,6 @@ from batdetect2.train.config import TrainingConfig
 
 __all__ = [
     "BatDetect2Config",
-    "load_full_config",
     "validate_config",
 ]
 
@@ -41,10 +39,3 @@ def validate_config(config: dict | None) -> BatDetect2Config:
         return BatDetect2Config()
 
     return BatDetect2Config.model_validate(config)
-
-
-def load_full_config(
-    path: PathLike,
-    field: str | None = None,
-) -> BatDetect2Config:
-    return load_config(path, schema=BatDetect2Config, field=field)
diff --git a/src/batdetect2/evaluate/__init__.py b/src/batdetect2/evaluate/__init__.py
index 20ee7b4..09e7bb7 100644
--- a/src/batdetect2/evaluate/__init__.py
+++ b/src/batdetect2/evaluate/__init__.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from batdetect2.evaluate.config import EvaluationConfig, load_evaluation_config
+from batdetect2.evaluate.config import EvaluationConfig
 from batdetect2.evaluate.evaluate import DEFAULT_EVAL_DIR, run_evaluate
 from batdetect2.evaluate.evaluator import Evaluator, build_evaluator
 from batdetect2.evaluate.results import save_evaluation_results
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ __all__ = [
     "TaskConfig",
     "build_evaluator",
     "build_task",
-    "load_evaluation_config",
     "run_evaluate",
     "save_evaluation_results",
 ]
diff --git a/src/batdetect2/evaluate/config.py b/src/batdetect2/evaluate/config.py
index 4bcf0b1..bc49a26 100644
--- a/src/batdetect2/evaluate/config.py
+++ b/src/batdetect2/evaluate/config.py
@@ -1,16 +1,14 @@
 from typing import List
 
 from pydantic import Field
-from soundevent import data
 
-from batdetect2.core.configs import BaseConfig, load_config
+from batdetect2.core.configs import BaseConfig
 from batdetect2.evaluate.tasks import TaskConfig
 from batdetect2.evaluate.tasks.classification import ClassificationTaskConfig
 from batdetect2.evaluate.tasks.detection import DetectionTaskConfig
 
 __all__ = [
     "EvaluationConfig",
-    "load_evaluation_config",
 ]
 
 
@@ -43,10 +41,3 @@ def get_default_eval_config() -> EvaluationConfig:
             ]
         }
     )
-
-
-def load_evaluation_config(
-    path: data.PathLike,
-    field: str | None = None,
-) -> EvaluationConfig:
-    return load_config(path, schema=EvaluationConfig, field=field)
diff --git a/src/batdetect2/logging.py b/src/batdetect2/logging.py
index c21445b..e328d0d 100644
--- a/src/batdetect2/logging.py
+++ b/src/batdetect2/logging.py
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ from matplotlib.figure import Figure
 from pydantic import Field
 from soundevent import data
 
-from batdetect2.core.configs import BaseConfig, load_config
+from batdetect2.core.configs import BaseConfig
 
 DEFAULT_LOGS_DIR: Path = Path("outputs") / "logs"
 
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ __all__ = [
     "enable_logging",
     "get_image_logger",
     "get_table_logger",
-    "load_logging_config",
 ]
 
 
@@ -106,13 +105,6 @@ class AppLoggingConfig(BaseConfig):
     inference: LoggerConfig = Field(default_factory=CSVLoggerConfig)
 
 
-def load_logging_config(
-    path: data.PathLike,
-    field: str | None = None,
-) -> AppLoggingConfig:
-    return load_config(path, schema=AppLoggingConfig, field=field)
-
-
 T = TypeVar("T", bound=LoggerConfig, contravariant=True)
 
 
diff --git a/src/batdetect2/postprocess/__init__.py b/src/batdetect2/postprocess/__init__.py
index b80fb60..69070a5 100644
--- a/src/batdetect2/postprocess/__init__.py
+++ b/src/batdetect2/postprocess/__init__.py
@@ -1,9 +1,6 @@
 """Main entry point for the BatDetect2 Postprocessing pipeline."""
 
-from batdetect2.postprocess.config import (
-    PostprocessConfig,
-    load_postprocess_config,
-)
+from batdetect2.postprocess.config import PostprocessConfig
 from batdetect2.postprocess.nms import non_max_suppression
 from batdetect2.postprocess.postprocessor import (
     Postprocessor,
@@ -30,6 +27,5 @@ __all__ = [
     "Postprocessor",
     "PostprocessorProtocol",
     "build_postprocessor",
-    "load_postprocess_config",
     "non_max_suppression",
 ]
diff --git a/src/batdetect2/postprocess/config.py b/src/batdetect2/postprocess/config.py
index 69d25d9..0fa1db2 100644
--- a/src/batdetect2/postprocess/config.py
+++ b/src/batdetect2/postprocess/config.py
@@ -1,12 +1,10 @@
 from pydantic import Field
-from soundevent import data
 
-from batdetect2.core.configs import BaseConfig, load_config
+from batdetect2.core.configs import BaseConfig
 from batdetect2.postprocess.nms import NMS_KERNEL_SIZE
 
 __all__ = [
     "PostprocessConfig",
-    "load_postprocess_config",
 ]
 
 DEFAULT_DETECTION_THRESHOLD = 0.01
@@ -51,42 +49,3 @@ class PostprocessConfig(BaseConfig):
         ge=0,
     )
     top_k_per_sec: int = Field(default=TOP_K_PER_SEC, gt=0)
-
-
-def load_postprocess_config(
-    path: data.PathLike,
-    field: str | None = None,
-) -> PostprocessConfig:
-    """Load the postprocessing configuration from a file.
-
-    Reads a configuration file (YAML) and validates it against the
-    `PostprocessConfig` schema, potentially extracting data from a nested
-    field.
-
-    Parameters
-    ----------
-    path : PathLike
-        Path to the configuration file.
-    field : str, optional
-        Dot-separated path to a nested section within the file containing the
-        postprocessing configuration (e.g., "inference.postprocessing").
-        If None, the entire file content is used.
-
-    Returns
-    -------
-    PostprocessConfig
-        The loaded and validated postprocessing configuration object.
-
-    Raises
-    ------
-    FileNotFoundError
-        If the config file path does not exist.
-    yaml.YAMLError
-        If the file content is not valid YAML.
-    pydantic.ValidationError
-        If the loaded configuration data does not conform to the
-        `PostprocessConfig` schema.
-    KeyError, TypeError
-        If `field` specifies an invalid path within the loaded data.
-    """
-    return load_config(path, schema=PostprocessConfig, field=field)
diff --git a/src/batdetect2/preprocess/__init__.py b/src/batdetect2/preprocess/__init__.py
index fe7fba8..dadf9c6 100644
--- a/src/batdetect2/preprocess/__init__.py
+++ b/src/batdetect2/preprocess/__init__.py
@@ -1,10 +1,7 @@
 """Main entry point for the BatDetect2 preprocessing subsystem."""
 
 from batdetect2.audio import TARGET_SAMPLERATE_HZ
-from batdetect2.preprocess.config import (
-    PreprocessingConfig,
-    load_preprocessing_config,
-)
+from batdetect2.preprocess.config import PreprocessingConfig
 from batdetect2.preprocess.preprocessor import Preprocessor, build_preprocessor
 from batdetect2.preprocess.spectrogram import MAX_FREQ, MIN_FREQ
 from batdetect2.preprocess.types import PreprocessorProtocol
@@ -17,5 +14,4 @@ __all__ = [
     "Preprocessor",
     "TARGET_SAMPLERATE_HZ",
     "build_preprocessor",
-    "load_preprocessing_config",
 ]
diff --git a/src/batdetect2/preprocess/config.py b/src/batdetect2/preprocess/config.py
index 086a640..d8b1d17 100644
--- a/src/batdetect2/preprocess/config.py
+++ b/src/batdetect2/preprocess/config.py
@@ -8,9 +8,8 @@ spectrogram ready for the detection model.
 from typing import List
 
 from pydantic import Field
-from soundevent.data import PathLike
 
-from batdetect2.core.configs import BaseConfig, load_config
+from batdetect2.core.configs import BaseConfig
 from batdetect2.preprocess.audio import AudioTransform
 from batdetect2.preprocess.spectrogram import (
     FrequencyConfig,
@@ -22,7 +21,6 @@ from batdetect2.preprocess.spectrogram import (
 )
 
 __all__ = [
-    "load_preprocessing_config",
     "AudioTransform",
     "PreprocessingConfig",
 ]
@@ -71,26 +69,3 @@ class PreprocessingConfig(BaseConfig):
     frequencies: FrequencyConfig = Field(default_factory=FrequencyConfig)
 
     size: ResizeConfig = Field(default_factory=ResizeConfig)
-
-
-def load_preprocessing_config(
-    path: PathLike,
-    field: str | None = None,
-) -> PreprocessingConfig:
-    """Load a ``PreprocessingConfig`` from a YAML file.
-
-    Parameters
-    ----------
-    path : PathLike
-        Path to the YAML configuration file.
-    field : str, optional
-        If provided, read the config from a nested field within the
-        YAML document (e.g. ``"preprocessing"`` to read from a top-level
-        ``preprocessing:`` key).
-
-    Returns
-    -------
-    PreprocessingConfig
-        The deserialised preprocessing configuration.
-    """
-    return load_config(path, schema=PreprocessingConfig, field=field)
diff --git a/src/batdetect2/targets/__init__.py b/src/batdetect2/targets/__init__.py
index 4c43633..c6f556e 100644
--- a/src/batdetect2/targets/__init__.py
+++ b/src/batdetect2/targets/__init__.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ from batdetect2.targets.classes import (
     build_sound_event_encoder,
     get_class_names_from_config,
 )
-from batdetect2.targets.config import TargetConfig, load_target_config
+from batdetect2.targets.config import TargetConfig
 from batdetect2.targets.rois import (
     AnchorBBoxMapperConfig,
     ROIMapperConfig,
@@ -56,6 +56,5 @@ __all__ = [
     "get_class_names_from_config",
     "individual",
     "iterate_encoded_sound_events",
-    "load_target_config",
     "load_targets",
 ]
diff --git a/src/batdetect2/targets/config.py b/src/batdetect2/targets/config.py
index 8e70a61..9d3f0c5 100644
--- a/src/batdetect2/targets/config.py
+++ b/src/batdetect2/targets/config.py
@@ -2,9 +2,8 @@ from collections import Counter
 from typing import List
 
 from pydantic import Field, field_validator
-from soundevent import data
 
-from batdetect2.core.configs import BaseConfig, load_config
+from batdetect2.core.configs import BaseConfig
 from batdetect2.targets.classes import (
     DEFAULT_CLASSES,
     DEFAULT_DETECTION_CLASS,
@@ -14,7 +13,6 @@ from batdetect2.targets.rois import AnchorBBoxMapperConfig, ROIMapperConfig
 
 __all__ = [
     "TargetConfig",
-    "load_target_config",
 ]
 
 
@@ -44,41 +42,3 @@ class TargetConfig(BaseConfig):
                 f"{', '.join(duplicates)}"
             )
         return v
-
-
-def load_target_config(
-    path: data.PathLike,
-    field: str | None = None,
-) -> TargetConfig:
-    """Load the unified target configuration from a file.
-
-    Reads a configuration file (typically YAML) and validates it against the
-    `TargetConfig` schema, potentially extracting data from a nested field.
-
-    Parameters
-    ----------
-    path : data.PathLike
-        Path to the configuration file.
-    field : str, optional
-        Dot-separated path to a nested section within the file containing the
-        target configuration. If None, the entire file content is used.
-
-    Returns
-    -------
-    TargetConfig
-        The loaded and validated unified target configuration object.
-
-    Raises
-    ------
-    FileNotFoundError
-        If the config file path does not exist.
-    yaml.YAMLError
-        If the file content is not valid YAML.
-    pydantic.ValidationError
-        If the loaded configuration data does not conform to the
-        `TargetConfig` schema (including validation within nested configs
-        like `ClassesConfig`).
-    KeyError, TypeError
-        If `field` specifies an invalid path within the loaded data.
-    """
-    return load_config(path=path, schema=TargetConfig, field=field)
diff --git a/src/batdetect2/targets/targets.py b/src/batdetect2/targets/targets.py
index f7a6dad..895a487 100644
--- a/src/batdetect2/targets/targets.py
+++ b/src/batdetect2/targets/targets.py
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ from batdetect2.targets.classes import (
     build_sound_event_encoder,
     get_class_names_from_config,
 )
-from batdetect2.targets.config import TargetConfig, load_target_config
+from batdetect2.targets.config import TargetConfig
 from batdetect2.targets.rois import (
     AnchorBBoxMapperConfig,
     build_roi_mapper,
@@ -276,13 +276,13 @@ def load_targets(
     ------
     FileNotFoundError, yaml.YAMLError, pydantic.ValidationError, KeyError,
     TypeError
-        Errors raised during file loading, validation, or extraction via
-        `load_target_config`.
+        Errors raised during file loading or validation via
+        ``TargetConfig.load``.
     KeyError, ImportError, AttributeError, TypeError
         Errors raised during the build process by `Targets.from_config`
         (e.g., missing keys in registries, failed imports).
     """
-    config = load_target_config(
+    config = TargetConfig.load(
         config_path,
         field=field,
     )
diff --git a/src/batdetect2/train/__init__.py b/src/batdetect2/train/__init__.py
index 8590bac..72f3e77 100644
--- a/src/batdetect2/train/__init__.py
+++ b/src/batdetect2/train/__init__.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 from batdetect2.train.checkpoints import DEFAULT_CHECKPOINT_DIR
-from batdetect2.train.config import TrainingConfig, load_train_config
+from batdetect2.train.config import TrainingConfig
 from batdetect2.train.lightning import (
     TrainingModule,
     load_model_from_checkpoint,
@@ -12,6 +12,5 @@ __all__ = [
     "TrainingModule",
     "build_trainer",
     "load_model_from_checkpoint",
-    "load_train_config",
     "run_train",
 ]
diff --git a/src/batdetect2/train/augmentations.py b/src/batdetect2/train/augmentations.py
index 41e860e..19a1e5f 100644
--- a/src/batdetect2/train/augmentations.py
+++ b/src/batdetect2/train/augmentations.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ from batdetect2.audio.clips import get_subclip_annotation
 from batdetect2.audio.loader import TARGET_SAMPLERATE_HZ
 from batdetect2.audio.types import AudioLoader
 from batdetect2.core.arrays import adjust_width
-from batdetect2.core.configs import BaseConfig, load_config
+from batdetect2.core.configs import BaseConfig
 from batdetect2.core.registries import (
     ImportConfig,
     Registry,
@@ -38,7 +38,6 @@ __all__ = [
     "WarpConfig",
     "add_echo",
     "build_augmentations",
-    "load_augmentation_config",
     "mask_frequency",
     "mask_time",
     "mix_audio",
@@ -686,13 +685,6 @@ def build_augmentations(
     return audio_augmentation, spectrogram_augmentation
 
 
-def load_augmentation_config(
-    path: data.PathLike, field: str | None = None
-) -> AugmentationsConfig:
-    """Load the augmentations configuration from a file."""
-    return load_config(path, schema=AugmentationsConfig, field=field)
-
-
 class RandomAudioSource:
     def __init__(
         self,
diff --git a/src/batdetect2/train/config.py b/src/batdetect2/train/config.py
index 8822832..94584cb 100644
--- a/src/batdetect2/train/config.py
+++ b/src/batdetect2/train/config.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 from pydantic import Field
-from soundevent import data
 
-from batdetect2.core.configs import BaseConfig, load_config
+from batdetect2.core.configs import BaseConfig
 from batdetect2.evaluate.config import EvaluationConfig
 from batdetect2.train.checkpoints import CheckpointConfig
 from batdetect2.train.dataset import TrainLoaderConfig, ValLoaderConfig
@@ -15,7 +14,6 @@ from batdetect2.train.schedulers import (
 
 __all__ = [
     "TrainingConfig",
-    "load_train_config",
 ]
 
 
@@ -52,10 +50,3 @@ class TrainingConfig(BaseConfig):
     labels: LabelConfig = Field(default_factory=LabelConfig)
     validation: EvaluationConfig = Field(default_factory=EvaluationConfig)
     checkpoints: CheckpointConfig = Field(default_factory=CheckpointConfig)
-
-
-def load_train_config(
-    path: data.PathLike,
-    field: str | None = None,
-) -> TrainingConfig:
-    return load_config(path, schema=TrainingConfig, field=field)
diff --git a/tests/test_preprocessing/test_preprocessor.py b/tests/test_preprocessing/test_preprocessor.py
index daf4395..35899d7 100644
--- a/tests/test_preprocessing/test_preprocessor.py
+++ b/tests/test_preprocessing/test_preprocessor.py
@@ -177,8 +177,6 @@ def test_preprocessor_with_fix_duration_audio_transform():
 def test_preprocessor_yaml_roundtrip(tmp_path: pathlib.Path):
     """PreprocessingConfig serialised to YAML and reloaded should produce
     a functionally identical preprocessor."""
-    from batdetect2.preprocess.config import load_preprocessing_config
-
     config = PreprocessingConfig(
         stft=STFTConfig(window_duration=0.002, window_overlap=0.75),
         frequencies=FrequencyConfig(min_freq=10_000, max_freq=120_000),
@@ -188,7 +186,7 @@ def test_preprocessor_yaml_roundtrip(tmp_path: pathlib.Path):
     yaml_path = tmp_path / "preprocess_config.yaml"
     yaml_path.write_text(config.to_yaml_string())
 
-    loaded_config = load_preprocessing_config(yaml_path)
+    loaded_config = PreprocessingConfig.load(yaml_path)
 
     preprocessor = build_preprocessor(
         loaded_config, input_samplerate=SAMPLERATE
diff --git a/tests/test_targets/test_targets.py b/tests/test_targets/test_targets.py
index fad195b..c823cc5 100644
--- a/tests/test_targets/test_targets.py
+++ b/tests/test_targets/test_targets.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ from pathlib import Path
 
 from soundevent import data, terms
 
-from batdetect2.targets import build_targets, load_target_config
+from batdetect2.targets import TargetConfig, build_targets
 
 
 def test_can_override_default_roi_mapper_per_class(
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ def test_can_override_default_roi_mapper_per_class(
     """
     config_path = create_temp_yaml(yaml_content)
 
-    config = load_target_config(config_path)
+    config = TargetConfig.load(config_path)
     targets = build_targets(config)
 
     geometry = data.BoundingBox(coordinates=[0.1, 12_000, 0.2, 18_000])
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ def test_roi_is_recovered_roundtrip_even_with_overriders(
     """
     config_path = create_temp_yaml(yaml_content)
 
-    config = load_target_config(config_path)
+    config = TargetConfig.load(config_path)
     targets = build_targets(config)
 
     geometry = data.BoundingBox(coordinates=[0.1, 12_000, 0.2, 18_000])