How the post-course process works
The post-course process is what happens after a learner finishes a course’s content and before the course counts as complete. It is where a learner signs an attestation, where a qualified person observes them and signs off their competency, and where a course survey is sent. Most courses need none of it, and for those nothing changes: finishing the content completes the course, exactly as before.
A post-course process is an ordinary workflow of the type Post-course process, built with the same builder and forms as any other workflow. Learnient sets one up for you, so the common cases need no building at all.
What “awaiting sign-off” means for a course
Section titled “What “awaiting sign-off” means for a course”A course with an outstanding post-course step is held. The learner has done the content, their score is kept, and nothing is lost — but the course is not complete yet. While a course is held:
- it shows under Awaiting sign-off in the learner’s own learning, not under in progress or completed
- no certificate, badge or points are awarded
- the learner cannot start the course again
- reports show it as held, not as complete
When the last step is done, the course is released and completes in the normal way, with its certificate and everything else that goes with a completion. If a signatory does not sign the learner off, the attempt is closed as Not signed off, which shows as failed, and the learner is told why. They take the course again, and the sign-off comes round again when they finish. A declined attempt never counts toward the course’s attempt limit.
Every way a course can complete goes through the same check: the course player, SCORM and xAPI content, attendance at an in-person session, the public API and an admin marking somebody complete. None of them can skip a sign-off. A failed attempt never starts a post-course process.
The default post-course process in Learnient
Section titled “The default post-course process in Learnient”Every account has a default process, switched on per course by two settings on the course’s Advanced tab:
| Course setting | What it adds |
|---|---|
| Requires learner attestation | The learner signs a statement confirming they completed the course, straight after the content |
| Requires observed sign-off | A qualified signatory observes the learner and records a competency sign-off |
Switch either one on and the next learner to finish the course is held until that step is done. Leave both off and the course completes as soon as the content is finished. If the process has been changed so that it would not ask for the step on a course, the setting warns you as soon as you switch it on (see Why a warning appears under a post-course setting).
To change what the process does — the wording of the attestation, the fields on the sign-off form, a survey afterwards, a different process for one course — see Set up a post-course process.
Who signs off competency in Learnient
Section titled “Who signs off competency in Learnient”Sign-offs go to the qualified signatories for the learner’s site, department, company or position, from a register you keep per place. Learnient looks at the learner’s position first, then their site, department and company. Everybody at the first of those with anyone on it is offered the sign-off, whether they are registered for that course or for every course.
For somebody with more than one position, the position the course was assigned for decides where they are signed off. A course assigned for their bar role at York goes to York’s assessors, even if their main position is elsewhere.
Where nobody is on the register, the sign-off goes to the learner’s manager instead. See Keep the qualified signatory register.
When a post-course requirement is switched off
Section titled “When a post-course requirement is switched off”Switching a course’s requirement off changes nothing for learners already waiting on it. When you save, Learnient tells you how many people are waiting on the step you switched off, and asks what to do: keep them waiting until they are signed off, or withdraw the requirement and release them now. Released learners complete the course with the record Requirement withdrawn — never as signed off — and the withdrawal is kept in the audit trail with your name on it. Learners waiting on a step that is still required — an attestation, when you only switched off the sign-off — stay held.
How imported learning history is treated
Section titled “How imported learning history is treated”Completions you import are never held. If the import file includes who observed the learner and when, the completion is recorded as Imported with sign-off. Without them it is recorded as Imported, no sign-off, so reports can still show who has the course on record with no observation.
What reports show about sign-off
Section titled “What reports show about sign-off”Reports and Lenni tell apart every outcome of the post-course process:
| Record | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Signed off | The post-course process was completed |
| Requirement withdrawn | An admin released the learner without a sign-off |
| Imported with sign-off | Brought in from elsewhere, with an observer and date |
| Imported, no sign-off | Brought in from elsewhere, with no observation |
| Not signed off | A signatory did not sign the learner off; the attempt failed and they take the course again |
| Awaiting sign-off | Content finished, process still outstanding |
What happens to sign-offs when somebody leaves
Section titled “What happens to sign-offs when somebody leaves”A learner who leaves while a course is held keeps it held. If they come back, the process starts again for the course as it is set up now, with fresh forms and whoever is on the register at the time.
When a learner is anonymised or purged, a pseudonymised proof of each sign-off is kept beside their retained certificates, under the same retention rule: the course, the date it was observed and that a qualified signatory signed it off. Evidence files, drawn signatures, notes and device details are deleted. A learner under a legal hold cannot be anonymised or purged, so they lose nothing.
When a signatory leaves, their own profile is anonymised as usual, but their name and signature stay on the sign-offs they recorded for as long as those records are kept. Those records are evidence of what they decided.
Common questions about the post-course process
Section titled “Common questions about the post-course process”Why does a course show as not complete when the learner has finished it?
Section titled “Why does a course show as not complete when the learner has finished it?”The course has a post-course step that is still outstanding, usually an observed sign-off. Open the learner’s record for the course: it shows Awaiting sign-off and who it is waiting on.
Can an admin complete a course that is waiting for sign-off?
Section titled “Can an admin complete a course that is waiting for sign-off?”No. Somebody must explicitly record the sign-off. If the signatory is unavailable, reassign the sign-off to somebody else from Live workflows, or record it yourself on the observer’s behalf, naming who observed the learner. The only way to complete a held course without a sign-off is to withdraw the course’s requirement, which is recorded as exactly that.
Does a course survey stop a course completing?
Section titled “Does a course survey stop a course completing?”Not unless you make it. A survey step set to run independently, the default, is sent alongside the completion and the course completes as normal. Only a survey step set to block the workflow holds the course until the learner answers. See Run course surveys.