Give learners a certificate when they finish my course
A certificate is often the thing your learners are working towards. bernard gives every course a certificate that goes out on its own when a learner finishes. You can change that course by course, in one sentence.
The prompt
“Set up certificates for my [course name] course. I want them to go out [automatically when a learner finishes / only after I approve each one].”
Signed in, Get my prompt fills in your site for you. Otherwise press Copy and fill in the [bracketed] parts. First time? Connect your AI to bernard once: Use your own AI (opens in a new tab).
Three ways to give certificates
Each course has one of three settings. Say it in your own words and bernard sets it.
- Automatically when a learner finishes. This is where every course starts. The certificate is issued the moment the learner finishes.
- I approve each one. Use this when you or a tutor check the work before anyone is certified, for example on an accredited course where written work is marked outside bernard. Learners who finish wait on a ready list.
- No certificates for this course. Nobody gets one, however far they get.
Finishing means every lesson marked as done and every required knowledge check cleared (Make my quizzes count towards a certificate explains which checks count).
Approving the learners who are ready
Ask “who is ready for a certificate on Level 2?” and bernard lists them with the date each one finished. Then say “approve them”. bernard reads the names back to you exactly as they will print, and issues the certificates only when you say yes. Changing a course from “I approve each one” to automatic does not issue anything to learners already waiting; approve those first.
You can also do it yourself in Your customers > Certificates: the Approve N ready button lists every name first, and you can untick anyone you want to hold back. The same tab lists every certificate you have given, and prints one again if its PDF did not print. Each course page has a Certificates card too, with the same button for that course.
While anyone is waiting, bernard sends you one short note each morning that counts them by course, with a link to the Certificates tab. It is one note a day, not one email for each learner, and it stops when nobody is waiting.
What gets printed
Each certificate carries the learner’s name as you recorded it, the course, your business name, the date and a certificate number unique to your site. bernard starts you from a ready-made design, and you can change it (Put my logo, my signature and my colours on the certificate).
A certificate is never rewritten. If something on it is wrong, bernard replaces it and keeps the old one in your records (A certificate has the wrong name, or I need to cancel one).
Not only courses
You can give a certificate for anything you decide: a workshop, a retreat, an award (Give someone a certificate for a workshop, an event or an award). Every certificate also shows on the person’s contact record, so you can email “everyone certified in Level 2” with the lists you already use (Email everyone who has a certificate for one of my courses).
What your learners see today
When a learner finishes, their course page tells them their certificate is being prepared, or that it is waiting for your approval. bernard records the certificate and prints it as a PDF straight away. The learner’s My courses page lists it under Your certificates, with a Download button once it is printed; a course waiting for your approval shows there as “Waiting for approval”. Every certificate also carries a check link and a QR code that open its own check page, where anyone holding it can see that it is real and download the PDF (How does someone check that a certificate I gave is real?). Once it has printed, bernard also emails the learner “Your certificate is ready” with the PDF attached and the check link. You can see any certificate yourself: ask bernard to show it to you.
Questions people ask
- Do I have to approve every certificate?
- Only if you want to. Each course has its own setting. On an automatic course a learner’s certificate is issued the moment they finish. On a course set to ‘I approve each one’, finished learners wait on a ready list until you say yes. Either way, bernard asks before it changes the setting.
- What counts as finishing a course?
- Every lesson marked as done and every required knowledge check cleared. An optional check never holds anyone up.
- Is there a draft I approve first, like a page change?
- No. A certificate setting takes effect for the next learner who finishes, and giving a certificate writes a record straight away. That is why bernard asks you first, and reads the names back to you before it issues anything.
- What if a learner’s name is missing or is only an email address?
- bernard never prints an email address or a single first name on a certificate. That learner is skipped and named, so you can add their full name to their record and approve them again.
- Can the learner download it?
- Yes. Once it is printed, usually within minutes, the certificate appears under Your certificates on the learner’s My courses page with a Download button. Every certificate also has its own check page with a Download PDF button, so you can send a learner their check link. bernard also emails each learner their certificate once it has printed, with the PDF attached and the check link.
- Will I get an email for every learner who is waiting for my approval?
- No. While learners are waiting on a course set to ‘I approve each one’, bernard sends you one note a day that lists them by course. Nothing is sent to the learners until you approve them.