Certificates of achievement

The only formal proof of completion that FutureLearn issues is the Certificate of Achievement.

All of our short course certificates feature the partner (university/specialist organisation) name and logo as well as the FutureLearn logo. PDF and printed copies are signed by the Educator on the course and include the Educator’s title at the university.

Each FutureLearn issued certificate includes:

the learner's name (as set by them on their profile)
an outline of what they learned on the course
the length of the course (in weeks)
the minimum number of hours of study required per week
the logos of the university and other organisations associated with the course.

You can see what they look like here- https://www.futurelearn.com/proof-of-learning/certificate-of-achievement.

How does a learner qualify for a certificate?

To qualify for a certificate of achievement on an eligible course a learner will need to fulfill the below criteria:

They will need to have marked 90% or more of the course steps as complete. You can find a guide to how this is done here- Recording learning progress
If the course contains tests or other scored assessments they will need to submit an answer for every test question, and score 70% or above as an average score in those assessments. You can read more about how tests work on FutureLearn here - Tests and other scored assessments.

If a learner has scored below 70% in a test they reset their score and retake the test 8 hours after their most recent attempt.

On which courses can learners access a certificate once completed?

Certificates are not available on any course which the learner has joined via the Limited Access option, which you can read about here- How does learning work on FutureLearn. If a learner has joined via Limited Access they can still make a purchase for a certificate on that course at a later date, even once they have lost access to the course.

If a learner has joined a course which has a free digital upgrade, has joined an ExpertTrack course, under Upgraded or Premium access, or has completed a course via Unlimited then they will be able to get a certificate once they have fulfilled the certificate eligibility criteria listed above. You can read more about the different types of courses on FutureLearn here- What are the different types of courses on FutureLearn.

What formats are they issued in?

Digital-only certificates (in webpage and PDF formats) are available under Unlimited and ExpertTracks, while both a digital and printed certificate will be issued to the learners for any Upgraded or Premium courses. These printed certificates are sent to the shipping address entered at checkout by the learner when purchasing the course.

If you have purchased vouchers the shipping address is set by the learner when they pay for the course using their voucher code, we can't add a central shipping address for all certificates purchased via the codes issued to your organisation.

Microcredential certificates

For microcredential courses the record of completion is usually issued directly to the learner from the course partner who has provided the course content (e.g. the Open University). You can read more about this here - guides to Microcredential certification, credits and proof of learning.

How do we validate certificates issued by FutureLearn?

You can check if a PDF or printed certificate issued by FutureLearn is valid by visiting the URL printed down the top right hand side of the certificate alongside the date. The URL will look like this:

[Alt text: A screenshot of the top section of a FutureLearn issued Certificate of Achievement, with a URL written vertically on the right-hand side of the certificate]

That unique URL will lead to the webpage version of the digital certificate earned by that learner for this course, where you will see the same details as in the PDF version such as the name of the learner, the date of issue, the topics covered, etc.

I've tried to follow the URL but I'm getting an error

If you have tried to follow a URL from a PDF/printed certificate and it's not bringing up a webpage version it may mean that the learner has made this version of the certificate private. So, if when you try to view the online certificate it says 'This page doesn't exist', you'd need to ask the learner to untick the box in their profile which states: 'Tick this box to stop others from seeing your achievements (like your awards, certificates, and statements), only you will be able to see them.'.

Do FutureLearn issued certificates expire?

We do not issue an expiry date for any certificates, only the issuing date which can be found on the top-right hand of the certificate.

This issuing date is the date the learner qualified for the certificate if they had already joined the course with Upgraded/Premium/Unlimited access or taken it as part of an ExpertTrack. If they completed a course before adding an Upgrade or Unlimited access to the course then the issue date is the date on which that purchase was made.

Can a learner re-take a course to get a newly issued certificate?

If a learner has already been issued with a certificate they cannot go re-do that course on the same run for a newly issued certificate.

If a new run of the same course has been added to FutureLearn since the learner earned their certificate they can complete the course again on that run and get a newly issued certificate (as long as they have again purchased an upgrade on that new run or are an Unlimited learner).