Remind my students before their deadline
A deadline is easy to forget until it is too late. A short email a week before, another on the day, and a kind word a few days after, helps a student finish. Each of these can go to each student at the right moment for their own date.
The prompt
“In my [course name] emails, remind each student [number] days before their deadline, and check in [number] days after it if they have not finished.”
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Timed from each student’s own deadline. A reminder is set to a number of days before or after the deadline, up to 60 either side, and goes at 9am UK time on that day. Every student has their own date, so every student gets their reminder on their own day. It does not wait for a weekday.
Extensions move the reminders. When you give a student more time, their reminders that have not gone yet move with the new date. One that has already gone is not sent again. See Give my students a deadline to finish the course for how dates and extensions work.
Put the date in the words. Write {{deadline}} in the email and each student sees their own date, for example “Your deadline is 7 October 2026”.
Skip it for the students who are done. Give a reminder a skip rule, for example “skip if they have finished the course”, and a student who finished early never gets it (Stop a course email going to a student it no longer fits).
Students already on the course. When you approve the emails, bernard tells you how many students are on the course now. They get these reminders only if you choose “include current students”. A reminder whose day has already passed is never sent late.
How to set it up: ask Bernard to “remind students on [course name] a week before their deadline”. It shows you the whole plan in plain English, and nothing sends until you approve it and switch it on. These reminders sit inside your course emails (Email my students when they reach each point in my course).
Questions people ask
- When does a deadline reminder go?
- At 9am UK time on the day you choose: for example 7 days before the student’s deadline, on the day itself, or 3 days after it. Up to 60 days either side.
- What if I give a student an extension?
- Their reminders that have not gone yet move to the new date. A reminder that has already gone is not sent again.
- Will students who finished early still get “your deadline is coming”?
- Not if you give the reminder a skip rule such as “skip if they have finished the course”. The rule is checked at the moment the email is about to go.
- Do students already on the course get these reminders?
- Only if you say so when you approve the emails and switch them on: choose “include current students”. A reminder whose day has already passed is never sent late.
- Can I put the date into the email?
- Yes. Write {{deadline}} and each student sees their own date, for example 7 October 2026. A student with no deadline sees “your deadline”.