Sign off a learner's competency

A competency sign-off is your record that you watched a learner put a course into practice and they can do it safely. When a learner finishes a course that needs one, it waits in your Approvals until somebody qualified signs them off. The course is not complete for the learner until then.

Finding sign-offs waiting for you in Approvals

Sign-offs arrive in Approvals alongside everything else waiting on you, marked Post-course process, with a Record sign-off action. You are also sent a notification when one is waiting. Each shows the learner, the course and when they finished it.

A sign-off is often offered to everybody qualified at the learner’s site, so several of you may see the same one.

Taking on a sign-off so others know you’re doing it

Choose I’m doing this in the banner at the top of the sign-off. Everybody else who was offered it can see that you have it, and is told they no longer need to. It does not lock them out: if you cannot get to it, somebody else can still record it. Choose Release to hand it back.

Taking it on is optional. You can record the sign-off without choosing I’m doing this first; it only saves a colleague a wasted trip.

Where a course needs more than one person to sign, as many people can take it on as signatures are needed.

Recording a competency sign-off

1. Observe the learner doing the task the course covers.
2. Open the sign-off in Approvals and choose Record sign-off. The page shows the learner, the course and when they finished it, above the sign-off form.
3. Complete the Competency sign-off form: the date you observed them, any notes, and a photo or scan as evidence if your employer wants one. Leave Observed by empty if you observed them yourself: your name is recorded when you submit. In the mobile app, the form opens on its own screen from Open the sign-off form, and you come back to the sign-off when you submit it. Choose Take photo on the evidence field to use your phone’s camera there and then.
4. Sign the form.
5. Choose Sign off. On the web, this submits the form and signs the learner off in one step. If anything the form needs is missing, nothing is signed off: the missing fields are marked and you are taken to the first one.

You can also choose Submit on the form first and Sign off later.

Screenshot missingsign-off-decision-page

The competency sign-off page opened from Approvals: the learner, course and finish date at the top, the "Nobody has said they're observing yet" bar with I'm doing this, the Competency sign-off form below with Observed by, Date of observation, notes, evidence and signature, and the Don't sign off and Sign off buttons at the bottom.

Expected at src/assets/screenshots/guides/sign-off-a-learners-competency/sign-off-decision-page.png

A sign-off always rests on a submitted form — the observation is what it records. The date observed cannot be in the future, or before the learner started this attempt at the course. It can be before they finished: a practical observed during a blended course, or on the job before a refresher, counts.

When you sign off, the learner’s course completes and they are told they have been signed off.

When a learner is not ready to be signed off

Choose Don’t sign off and give the reason. This does not submit the sign-off form, because its signature confirms the learner showed the competence the course requires.

Not signing someone off means they take the training again. Their attempt is closed and recorded as Not signed off: it shows as failed, with no certificate and no points. They are sent your reason, so write it for them: what they need to do differently. They then start the course again from the beginning, and when they finish it the sign-off comes round again. A declined attempt never uses up one of the course’s attempts, so a decline can never lock anybody out.

If the learner only needs another go at the task itself, not the training, don’t decline. Observe them again when they’re ready and sign them off then; the sign-off waits for you.

Recording a sign-off on somebody else’s behalf

If a qualified colleague observed the learner but cannot use Learnient, an admin whose role can see people across the Entire organisation can record the sign-off for them. In Approvals, choose Entire organisation, open the learner’s request with View details and choose Record sign-off. Search for the person who did the observing in Observed by and choose them, then complete the rest of the form and choose Sign off. Your signature confirms that you recorded it, not that you observed it. The record shows both who observed the learner and who recorded it.

A held course cannot be approved over the top: the request page offers Record sign-off, not Force approve, because nobody can release a course without a recorded observation. An admin can still Force decline it, which closes the attempt as not signed off, exactly as Don’t sign off does.

The person named as the observer must be on the qualified signatory register for the learner, or be the person the sign-off was sent to. If they are neither, Learnient says so and, if you are allowed to, offers to add them to the register for the learner’s site and carry on. They are marked as added on the spot so the register can be reviewed later. Adding someone on the spot is done on the web: in the mobile app you see the message, and can choose somebody who is already on the register.

Screenshot missingobserver-not-qualified

The "Observer isn't a qualified signatory" dialog shown on submitting a sign-off form, naming the person and site, with Choose someone else and Add them to the register and continue.

Expected at src/assets/screenshots/guides/sign-off-a-learners-competency/observer-not-qualified.png

Common questions about competency sign-off

I’m not on the qualified signatory register — can I still sign off?

Yes, if the sign-off was sent to you. When nobody is on the register for a learner, their sign-off goes to their manager, and an admin can also reassign a sign-off to somebody. Whoever it was sent to can record it and sign it off.

What can the learner see about their sign-off?

The outcome, who observed them, the date and your notes. They cannot see the evidence you uploaded, because photos and scans can show other people.

Where can I see the evidence from a sign-off after it is done?

On the sign-off form, which only the person who recorded the sign-off and people whose role can Override form responses can open. Open it from the learner’s row on the course’s Admin tab with View sign-off, then Open sign-off form, or from the sign-off’s request in Approvals with Open sign-off form. The form is read-only; choose Open file on the evidence to view or download it.

I’ve signed off somebody by mistake — can I undo it?

No. The sign-off is a record of your decision. Ask an admin to start the learner on a new attempt if they need to be observed again.

The sign-off is waiting on somebody who has left — what now?

An admin can reassign it from Live workflows to somebody else who is qualified, giving a reason. Nobody can complete the course without a sign-off.