Displaying Accreditation Information on Certificates of Completion

Owned by Luc Richard
Last updated: Feb 08, 2024
3 min read

If your course is accredited, you most likely want to send users a certificate of completion to the learner once they complete the course, and you most likely want to display the accreditation information such as the name of the accrediting body and the number of credits on the certificate of completion.

There are two methods to display the accreditation information on a certificate of completion.

  1. Using the accreditation variables 

  2. Using the "Accreditation Statement"

When designing a certificate of completion at the system level, either from scratch, by restoring a certificate from a backup file, or even by converting a course-level certificate to a site-level certificate, you get to use variables, also known as tokens, placeholders or even special words. These variables allow you to enter display information on a certificate of completion that vary for each certificate. Common examples of variables include the user's name, the title of the course, of the date of completion.

There are 4 variables for accreditation purposes. Note that these only work if you are tracking accreditation.  

Name

Description

Format

Name

Description

Format

Accreditation Body

The regulatory body that accredited your course (e.g. the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, the College of Family Physicians of Canada, etc.)

{ACCREDITATIONBODY}

Accreditation Type

The type of credit (e.g. Mainpro-M1, Mainpro-M2, etc.)

{ACCREDITATIONTYPE}

Credit Value

The number of credits / hours

{ACCREDITATIONID}

Accreditation ID

The identifier given to you by the accrediting body when your course got accredited

{CREDITVALUE}

Accreditation Statement

A statement that automatically displays all of the variables above on the certificate of completion if and only if the course is accredited. In other words, when inserting this variable on a certificate, if the course issuing this certificate contains accreditation information in its settings, the certificate will automatically display the accreditation body, type, ID and the number of credits / hours on the certificate of completion. If the course does NOT contain any accreditation information in its settings, the certificate will omit any information related to accreditation. This solution allows you to use the same certificate for both accredited and non-accredited courses. 

For example:

If a course is accredited by the College of Family Physicians of Canada, the certificate would display "Upon successful completion of this program, participants can claim 3 Mainpro-M1 credit with the College of Family Physicians of Canada.", where the values "3" and "Mainpro-M1" is extracted from the course settings. 

If a course is not accredited, no accreditation statement would appear on the certificate.

{ACCREDITATIONASSERTION}

Step-by-step Guide

To display accreditation information on a certificate:

  1. Go to Administration > Course Administration > Manage certificates

  2. Click on the "Edit" icon next to the certificate in question

  3. Enter the accreditation variable on the certificate (in the "Certificate Text" section)

    1. Because the "Accreditation Statement" automatically displays all of the other variables on the certificate of completion if and only if the course is accredited, you should enter either the "Accreditation Statement" or the other accreditation variables, but not both. 

  4. Click on the save button at the bottom of the page

Important Notes

  • Because the "Accreditation Statement" automatically displays all of the other variables on the certificate of completion if and only if the course is accredited, you should enter either the "Accreditation Statement" or the other accreditation variables, but not both. 

  • The "Accreditation Statement" cannot be modified by a System Administrator via language strings. In other words, it's hard coded to whatever Dual Code set it. As such, if you need a different message, you must use the variables and create your own message.

  • The accreditation information only gets displayed on site-level certificates (e.g. the ones found under Site Administration > Courses > Manage certificates). These placeholders are not available when designing certificates of completions as activities within courses.

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