Certificates

Shapeshift can award certificates when learners complete Courses and Learning Paths. Certificates are optional and can be configured independently for each Course or Learning Path.

Course and Learning Path certificates are separate. For example, a learner completing a Learning Path containing three Courses could receive certificates for each individual Course as well as a certificate for completing the overall Learning Path.

Course certificates

Where a Course has a certificate enabled, the certificate becomes available once the learner has completed the Course.

The learner can access their certificate from the Course completion screen. Elsewhere in the platform, links to a completed Course may take the learner back to this screen so they can view and download their certificate.

Learning Path certificates

Learning Paths can also have their own certificate.

Where enabled, the Learning Path certificate becomes available once the learner has completed all of the required Courses in the Path. This is independent of whether the individual Courses also award certificates.

Certificate content

Certificate designs are configured for each Shapeshift implementation and can contain information about the learner and their completed enrollment.

Certificates typically include:

Learner name
Course or Learning Path title
Completion date

Depending on the platform configuration, certificates may also include information such as the learner's Organization, certificate ID, expiry date, or professional development credits.

Because certificate layouts are customized for each implementation, adding new information to a certificate may require development work.

Admins can replace the certificate background used for an individual Course or Learning Path through the CMS. This changes the certificate artwork but does not change the positioning or presentation of the dynamic information printed onto it.

Certificate information

Certificates are generated using the learner and learning content information available in Shapeshift.

If information such as the learner's name, Course title, or Organization name is subsequently updated, the updated information may therefore be reflected when the certificate is generated again.

Information associated with the original completion, such as the completion date, remains based on the learner's completed enrollment.

Where certificate expiry is configured, the expiry date is calculated from the completion date and the certification period configured for the Course.

Certificates for Organization Owners

Organization Owners can download certificates for learners they manage.

Depending on the Management Dashboard configuration, certificates can be downloaded from the learner listing or from an individual learner's learning record. Certificates are only available for completed learning that awards a certificate.

Organization Owners can only access certificates for learners they have permission to manage.

Certificates for administrators

Certificates are primarily learner-facing documents and are not downloaded directly from the CMS.

If an administrator needs to view or download a learner's certificate, they can impersonate the learner and access the certificate through the learner experience.

Different certificate configurations

Certificate appearance and content can vary significantly between Shapeshift implementations. Some platforms may include expiry dates, professional development credits, certificate identifiers, or other client-specific information.

Additional functionality such as external certificate verification or QR-code verification is not part of the standard certificate experience and may be implemented for specific requirements.