How to get a certificate

When the certificate appears

Automatically, the moment you complete the last lesson of the course, provided the academy has certificates turned on. You also receive an email with the certificate as a PDF.

Manually, when the trainer issues it personally. The trainer can do this regardless of your progress, for example for taking part in a live workshop.

If you don't know whether your course ends with a certificate, ask the trainer. We don't set this up.

Check this before deciding something is broken

Are you really at a hundred percent? One unfinished lesson is enough to stop the certificate being issued. Look through the list of lessons and find the one without a completed marker. Most often it is:

• a text lesson where nobody clicked "Mark as completed",
• an assignment lesson waiting for the trainer's grade or returned for revision,
• a quiz lesson passed below the passing score.

Whose name goes on the certificate

The one in the "Display name" field in Settings, on the Profile tab, in that academy. If this field is empty, the certificate may show the name from your Google account or even your email address.

That is why it is worth checking your name before you finish the course. The name is written into the certificate when it is issued and doesn't change afterwards. The trainer can revoke a certificate, but reissuing it for the same course requires contacting us. It's simpler to get it right beforehand.

Where to find it

Under Learning, click "My certificates". Each certificate has its own number and issue date. Certificates issued automatically have a "Download PDF" button; manually issued ones only have "Verify".

You can print the file and share the certificate with a link to its verification page.

Verification by an employer

Every certificate has a public verification page at cohorta.co/cert/NUMBER. Anyone you give this link to will see confirmation that the document is genuine, without creating an account or logging in.

That is the difference between our certificate and a PDF anyone can make in a graphics editor. We cover it separately in the article on verification.

Course finished, no certificate

In this order:

1. Check that every lesson has a completed marker.
2. Check that the trainer has graded all assignments.
3. Refresh the page.
4. Ask the trainer whether the academy has certificates turned on for this course.

Step four solves most cases where everything looks right but there is no document.

When to write to us

• You are at a hundred percent, the trainer confirms certificates are on, and there is no certificate.
• The certificate is there but can't be downloaded, or the file won't open or is blank.
• The name on the certificate is wrong and it needs to be reissued.

Write to the trainer about manual issuing and the content and design of the certificate.

Include the course and academy name and the date you finished.