A Certificate of Achievement (CoA) provides a tangible way for learners to prove their knowledge upon completion of a course. 

Complete all the necessary information in the certificates tab within Course Creator while preparing your course for Quality Assurance. Be sure to click submit when complete.  

Transcript of learning

Certificates of Achievement are accompanied with a transcript of learning which details:

• the learning outcomes of the course
• the syllabus
• the average test score achieved
• details of any additional accreditation or endorsement

Edit certificates in Course Creator 

Those with organisation admin permission can select the certificates tab in the top right, within a course.

1. Insert information

• Select the ‘Edit certificate’ button and enter a short description (50-300 characters including spaces) of the course in past-tense including the content covered and what was involved. 
• insert a long description of the course (max 500 characters including spaces). This will appear on the transcript of learning but is optional.  
• Signatory name, job title, and organisation. The name of the person listed as the signatory is separate from the lead/primary educator on the course and can be a different individual. 

2. Upload a scanned signature 

• Ask your lead educator/s to write their signature for the course on a white piece of paper
• Scan the signature and save it as JPEG or PNG
• Upload the picture by clicking ‘Choose file’ and select the file for upload
• When the form has been completed, and the ‘Update statement details’ button clicked, the information, including the vectorised signature, will be in its draft state.
• If the signature appears as a black square, adjust the contrast on the image to more black than white and reupload it.  

3. Logos

• Partner logo and any co-creator logos automatically pull through into the certificate. Only 3 co-creator logos can appear. If you would like any endorsers to be included please contact courses@futurelearn.com
• Select preview in Course Creator to view the PDF 

4. Submit for review

• Once complete you must select 'submit'. 
• It is possible to select 'move back into draft' if changes are required. Remember to re-submit when ready.  

Note: Though it is still in the user interface, Statements of Participation are no longer available for use.

5. FutureLearn sign off

• We double-check the information supplied for consistency and spelling, before marking the certificate as ready to be issued to learners who qualify for it. A message on the certiticate page indicates if they have been approved.  

ExpertTrack certificate 

• Learners who complete the short courses within an ExpertTrack can download certificates and transcripts for each individual course AND for the overall ExpertTrack if they complete them all.  
• To complete the information required for the overall ExpertTrack certificate:
• visit the program tab within Course Creator, scroll down to the ExpertTrack, select 'edit program'
• scroll down to 'ExpertTrack achievement'. Select 'edit achievement information'. Enter a course description (limit is 300 characters including spaces) and signatory details (same as above) and insert a concise CV description of what learners learned on the course. This will appear under the heading ‘Showcase your new skills’ (this is optional and limit is 400 characters including spaces). 
• select 'save achievement information at the bottom of the page. 
• return to the edit program page, be sure to have inserted overall learning outcomes for the ExpertTrack, and select 'preview PDF'.

Eligibility 

To be eligible for a certificate, a learner must have ‘fully completed’ a course, which means they must:

• mark as complete 90% or more of the steps on a course
• attempt all test questions
• attain an overall score of 70% or greater for the course (where the course includes scored steps such as tests).

Under the standard upgrade model, learners must upgrade their course to get a certificate.

Under the sponsored access models, learners automatically receive a certificate once they complete 90% of the course. 

You can see the number of learners who have made a purchase and/or who are eligible for a Certificate on your course’s stats dashboard.

Types of certificate 

All courses (sponsored, upgrade, unlimited) offer a digital certificate designed to be shared across the web, for example on a learner’s FutureLearn profile, social media profile and which can be downloaded as a PDF and printed by learners. 

Physical certificates are sent in the post to learners who upgrade or who have a voucher.  

ID verification

• Learners who have verified their FutureLearn profile using their ID will have this recognised on their certificate. This is optional and not a prerequisite to purchase a certificate.

Information available to learners about certificates 

• You can read more about Certificates of Achievement in the FAQ on the main FutureLearn site. 
• For every course, there is an information page giving learners details about the Certificate of Achievement. You will find it here:
• https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/[your-course-URL]/[run-number]/certificate-of-achievement
• This page is accessible to visitors who are not signed in, outside of any course:
• https://www.futurelearn.com/proof-of-learning/certificate-of-achievement

See our page on re-runs for information about certificates on re-runs. 

Examples

Terminology on this page that you aren’t familiar with? Check out our glossary. 

Contact FutureLearn