What decides that a learner has finished a course?

Two things together: every knowledge check you marked as required has been cleared, and every lesson has been marked as done. When both are true, bernard records the completion against that learner with the date.

Does every quiz have to be passed?

No. Each check is either required or optional. A required one stands between the learner and finishing the course; an optional one is practice. New checks are required unless you say otherwise, and you can change it any time - it takes effect when you approve the change.

What happens the moment someone finishes?

bernard records the completion and issues that learner a certificate record: their name, your course, the date, and a serial number unique to your site. It's issued once and it doesn't change afterwards.

Can a learner download a printed certificate?

Not yet. The certificate is recorded and dated the moment they finish, but the printable document that learners download is still being built - we'd rather say so than have you promise your learners something that isn't there.

Make my quizzes count towards a certificate

If your course ends in a certificate, the knowledge checks are what stands between a learner and earning it. Which checks count is your decision, and it's one sentence to change.

Required or optional

Every check on a course is one or the other.

Required - the learner has to clear it. This is the default for a new check, and it's what an accredited course usually wants.
Optional - practice. It's marked and the learner sees how they did, but it doesn't hold anything up.

"Make the module 3 check optional" is all it takes. Nobody's existing record changes; you're setting the rule for what finishing means from here.

Clearing a check means passing it, or - for a check that's really a "did you take part" step - submitting it (Set the pass mark and how many retakes).

What finishing means

A learner has finished your course when every required check is cleared and every lesson is marked as done. Both halves matter: passing all the quizzes without working through the lessons isn't finishing, and neither is the other way round.

When both are true, bernard records the completion against that learner with the date, and issues a certificate record: their name as they enrolled, your course title, the date, and a serial number unique to your site. It's written once and never rewritten - which is the point, because a certificate is evidence.

What isn't there yet

The printable certificate - the document a learner downloads and shows an employer - is still being built. The record behind it exists from the moment they finish, so nothing is lost in the meantime, but don't promise your learners a download until it lands.

A note on accredited courses

If an awarding body sets your rules, two things are worth checking with them before you launch: the pass mark you use, and whether learners are allowed to see which answers were wrong after marking. bernard can do it either way and doesn't decide for you (Set the pass mark and how many retakes).

Courses moved across from another platform bring their existing structure with them, and learners who already earned a certificate keep it - the move is designed so nobody loses evidence they've already earned (Move my courses off LearnDash or WordPress).

The prompt

“On my [course name] course, make the [lesson name] quiz required for finishing the course, and leave [the other one] optional.”

Press Copy, then paste it into your AI and fill in the [bracketed] parts. First time? Connect your AI to bernard first - a one-time setup in bernard → your site → Use your own AI.

Questions people ask

What decides that a learner has finished a course?: Two things together: every knowledge check you marked as required has been cleared, and every lesson has been marked as done. When both are true, bernard records the completion against that learner with the date.
Does every quiz have to be passed?: No. Each check is either required or optional. A required one stands between the learner and finishing the course; an optional one is practice. New checks are required unless you say otherwise, and you can change it any time - it takes effect when you approve the change.
What happens the moment someone finishes?: bernard records the completion and issues that learner a certificate record: their name, your course, the date, and a serial number unique to your site. It's issued once and it doesn't change afterwards.
Can a learner download a printed certificate?: Not yet. The certificate is recorded and dated the moment they finish, but the printable document that learners download is still being built - we'd rather say so than have you promise your learners something that isn't there.