In LearnWorlds, you can structure your learning content using Program Paths, a way to group multiple courses into a single learning journey. You can also set prerequisites or enable sequential navigation to make sure learners follow a specific order.
By combining these features with a Certificate of Completion, you can create a flow where learners must finish all the required courses in the right order, and only then unlock a final certificate.
This article will show you how to build this setup.
Use Cases
Here are five ways you can use this flow effectively:
- Certification Programs: Offer official proof of completing a full training path.
- Micro-Credentials: Group related short courses into a certified learning experience.
- Employee Training Paths: Ensure staff complete onboarding or compliance programs before receiving a certificate.
- Product or Customer Training: Provide certificates once users finish a multi-course tutorial.
- Continuing Education Units (CEUs): Package CEU content into a structured program with validated completion.
Controlling Access to the Certificate
To ensure learners receive the certificate only after completing all required courses, you can adjust the path’s navigation settings. There are two options:
- Sequential Navigation: Forces learners to complete each course in order, unlocking the Certificate Course only at the end.
- Prerequisites: On the Certificate Course, set at least the previous (final) course in the path as a prerequisite. This ensures the certificate becomes available only after learners have completed all required courses.
Let’s go through the steps you should follow to set up your learning program.
Setting Up a Certificate Course
To set this up, you’ll start by creating a private course that will serve as your certificate container.
1. Go to the Courses tab and create a new Private course. It won’t appear in your course catalog and will only be used to deliver the certificate, without any learning content.
2. Inside the course, create a Section with a single activity: a Certificate of Completion.
Building Your Learning Program
Once the certificate course is ready, you can create your learning program:
1. Navigate to Programs/Subscriptions, either create a new program or edit an existing one.
2. Make sure the program type is set to Path Program.
3. Add all the courses that make up your learning journey. Be sure to include the Certificate Course as the last item in the path.
4. Open the Program Player setting to customize the program’s navigation. 
Choose Sequential navigation or Navigation with Prerequisites.
5. Go back to the Program Courses tab. Here, you can reorder courses (if you are using Sequential Navigation) and decide which ones should be set as prerequisites (if you are using Navigation with Prerequisites).
For the Navigation with Prerequisites option, enable the “This course should work as a prerequisite” setting and hit save. 
With these steps in place, you can confidently deliver a structured and rewarding learning journey that culminates in a well-earned certificate for your learners