Achievements help you track learner milestones. They are commonly used to record completion, competency, certification, and renewal outcomes, and to manage validity or expiry where training must be refreshed on a recurring cycle.
Achievements are configured in the Control Panel and can be linked to Courses, Events, Learning Paths, and certificate workflows.
Achievements are the core learner record of something being earned. A certificate can be generated from that record, but the achievement itself is the authoritative system outcome.
For example, you might use achievements to track a Basic Life Support qualification with a 5-year validity period, or to record successful participation in a management seminar.
On this page
- What achievements do
- Achievement fields
- Sequences
- Set achievements on a Course Template
- Set achievements on an Event
- Manually set pass/fail
- How learners access achievements
- How admins manage learner achievements
- Award Achievement trigger
- Best practices
- Related guides
What achievements do
Achievements record a learner’s formal outcome. Depending on your configuration, they can represent:
- completion
- pass/fail outcomes
- competency or assessed success
- certification and re-certification milestones
- validity periods with expiry rules
Achievements often connect to downstream behavior such as:
- certificate generation
- learner-facing completion history
- achievement-triggered communications
- Learning Path progress
Achievements vs certificates
An achievement is the actual system record that a learner has earned something. A certificate is an optional document generated from that record.
A simple way to think about this is that the achievement is the official record, while the certificate is the representation of that record. If the certificate is lost, the achievement still exists. If the achievement does not exist, the certificate has no real system value.
Achievement fields
Achievement records commonly include:
- Name — the label shown to administrators and learners
- Certificate — an optional certificate mapping used when the achievement is awarded
- Validity period — how long the achievement remains valid before it expires, including the relevant time unit where configured
- Description — what the achievement represents and any related notes
- Sequence — optional unique numbering logic used for identifiers and certificate records
Sequences
A sequence is an incrementing number that can be assigned to an achievement. A formatter can combine merge fields and free text to generate a unique identifier for each issued achievement.
Sequence formatters can use values from the Course Template, Event, Learning Path, or custom text to build a consistent identifier pattern.
Create and manage sequences on the Sequences tab in the Achievements Control Panel.
Sequence fields
- Name — label shown when linking a sequence to an achievement
- Starting value — defaults to 1, but can start higher if needed, for example during cutover from another system
- Padding length — left-pads the value with zeros when required, such as turning 5 into 00005
- Formatter for events — builds an identifier using merge fields plus text
- Formatter for learning paths — applies the same approach to learning-path awards
For example, you might combine a course code, a custom field value, and the sequence number to create an identifier like CPR-2026-00005.
Sequence best practices
- Avoid whitespace in identifiers; use dashes or other separators instead.
- Include the sequence merge field, such as
{{sequence_number}}, to ensure uniqueness. - Remove trailing whitespace before saving.
Set achievements on a Course Template
After creating an achievement, you can link it to a Course Template. Events created from that Course Template can inherit those achievement rules automatically.
A Course Template can have multiple achievements linked to it, and any Event created from that template can automatically apply those achievement rules.
Depending on delivery mode, you can configure how learners are automatically marked as passed and awarded the achievement:
- Self-paced / eLearning — award automatically when required content is completed and passed, often using a completion threshold
- Classroom — award automatically when attendance rules are met, such as attending all required sessions
- Blended — award automatically when both online completion and classroom attendance requirements are satisfied
For classroom and blended delivery, optional-session or absence rules can be used to control when the learner still qualifies for automatic awarding.
If Fire only if registration invoice is paid is enabled, the achievement is awarded only after the related invoice has been paid.
Why use multiple achievements?
A single course can issue multiple achievements. For example, you may want one achievement for a theory outcome and another for a practical outcome, even when both are delivered inside the same course.
Another common pattern is distinguishing between simple completion and assessed success. A learner might complete the training, but only some learners earn the assessed pass achievement.
Set achievements on an Event
If you do not want to define achievements at the Course Template level, you can set them directly on an individual Event. You can also override inherited achievement behavior on a specific Event when needed.
The same rules around auto-passing learners from the Course Template section apply at the Event level.
When you add achievements to an Event, you will typically see a status column for each achievement against each learner, and you can filter or search the learner list to work more efficiently.
Manually set pass/fail
To set achievement results manually for learners on an Event:
- Go to the Event and open the Results section.
- Click Edit.
- Set Pass or Fail for each learner, or use the bulk row where available.
- Click Save.
You can update learners one at a time or apply the result in bulk from the select-all row when that workflow is available.
Manual pass/fail is useful when the learner outcome depends on instructor review, assessment moderation, or a correction after attendance or scoring changes.
How learners access achievements
Learners can typically view achievements, and related certificates where configured, in the learner experience.
Note: You must be using the current learner experience for learners to access this feature.
How admins manage learner achievements
On a learner’s contact record, the Achievements tab allows administrators to manage issued achievements.
An administrator can:
- Open the issuing Event via the Issued by link where present
- View documentation, such as the generated certificate
- Edit achievement details, for example the expiry date
- Refresh documents to regenerate certificates where applicable
- Revoke achievements to hide them from learner view and mark them no longer valid
Award Achievement trigger
You can automate notifications when achievements are awarded using the Award Achievement trigger.
The Award Achievement trigger can be configured to attach the certificate automatically or send the notification without attachment, depending on your sharing workflow.
When Send certificates for achievements is enabled, the certificate is attached automatically. When it is disabled, the notification is sent without automatically attaching the certificate.
For more on trigger setup, see Communication Triggers.
Best practices
- Use Course Template achievements when the rule should repeat across future deliveries.
- Use Event-level achievements when one delivery needs a different outcome rule.
- Review attendance, scoring, and completion conditions before finalizing outcomes.
- Confirm achievement logic across classroom, virtual, blended, and self-paced delivery so the rule matches the delivery model.
- Validate trigger behavior and document-generation settings before scaling an achievement workflow.