Quizzes, certificates, cohorts and learning record

A lesson can be a quiz: choose “Quiz” under “Type” and put the “Questions” together (up to 100). For each question you decide whether one or several answers are right (“One right answer” or “Several right answers”), type 2 to 12 answers and mark the right ones with “right”. An “Explanation after passing (optional)” appears with the result.

“Pass mark (%)” is the threshold (70 % to begin with). Under “Attempts” you choose “Unlimited (practice, answers shown at once)” – the solutions then appear after every attempt – or “At most” a number. A question only counts when answered exactly right; with several right answers there is no partial credit.

Grading always happens on the server: which answer is right is never in the browser beforehand. In a quiz with limited attempts, a member who fails sees only which questions were wrong; the right answers and the explanations come once they have passed. Whoever passes has completed the lesson – there is no manual tick for a quiz.

When the attempts are used up, you grant another one in the member's detail view under “Courses & access”, under “Quizzes”, with “+1 attempt”. If you change a quiz that has already been answered, the changes apply to new attempts; earlier results stay. An answered quiz can no longer be turned into another lesson type.

In the course's “Certificate” tab you switch on “Issue a certificate for this course”. Whoever meets the conditions automatically gets a PDF certificate in your design – with a link to verify it – and an e-mail about it. Under “Type” you choose “Certificate” or “Certificate of attendance”; “Scope according to the course plan” (hours or teaching units of 45 minutes), an “Additional text (optional)” and the signature with name, role and image are printed on the PDF. The “Preview (PDF)” shows it beforehand.

Under “Conditions” you choose from: “All lessons completed”, “All quizzes passed”, “Minimum learning time (minutes)” (counts only the playback of video and audio) and “Not before (days after start)”. Every chosen condition must be met; without a condition only you issue it. Members see what is missing in the course under “Still to do for your certificate”. If a condition is only met later – the delay, say – CourseKit checks daily; with “Check now” you start the check yourself.

By hand, you issue a certificate in the member's detail view under “Courses & access” with “Issue certificate”, even if the conditions are not met (for example after an in-person part). In the “Issued certificates” list you download the “PDF”, “Revoke” a certificate or issue it again. CourseKit never re-issues a revoked certificate by itself.

Anyone can verify authenticity through the verify link on your CourseKit address. The “Verify a certificate” page shows only what is also on the certificate, and whether it is “Valid”, revoked or replaced by a newer issue. Members download their certificates in their profile under “Your certificates” – after their access has ended, too. When it issues one, CourseKit also fires the webhook event “Certificate issued”.

Note: A certificate carries the member's name. If it is missing, the person is asked to add it in their profile, and you can add it in the detail view (“Edit name”) – without a name nothing is issued.

A cohort is a group with a shared start, for example “Autumn 2026”. In the course's “Cohorts” tab you create one with “Add cohort”: name, “Start”, “End (optional)” and – if new purchases should land there – “Open for enrolment – new purchases land here”. Under “Sessions” you enter meetings with a start and an https link; members see them in their cohort and can add them to their calendar (.ics).

In a cohort, delayed release counts from the cohort start instead of the purchase. Before the start, only lessons you marked “Open before the cohort start” in the “Lesson settings” are open (a welcome or a technical check, say); a lesson without a delay opens with the start. “Open before the cohort start” and a release after days exclude each other. What a member has already completed stays open.

Whoever buys joins the cohort you pinned to the product (“Cohort (optional)” in the “Cohorts” tab), otherwise the enrolling one. With “Give access” and in the import you pick the cohort yourself; the enrolling one is preselected. If someone buys before the start, the purchased duration counts from the start: 90 days bought 30 days before the start end 90 days after it.

Note: A cohort with members cannot be deleted, only “Archive”d. A start that has already begun cannot be moved to later. If you move a start or switch a person to another cohort with “Change cohort”, CourseKit warns you when lessons that were already released would be locked again.

The learning record shows per person and course the completed lessons, passed quizzes, the playback time of video and audio, the visit days and the first and last visit – plus the figures per lesson and per calendar week. For all members of a course you download it as CSV through “Learning record” at the top of the course (or in “Analytics”); for one person as CSV or PDF in their detail view under “Courses & access”.

Every record says what it measures: playback time is the time a video or audio was playing in the browser, reported in steps of at most 30 seconds – it proves neither watching nor attention. Visit days are calendar days (Berlin) on which a lesson of the course was opened. Completions are marked by the member, quizzes are graded by the server.

Note: Not measured: the reading time of text lessons, time with materials and anything outside CourseKit. The figures are recorded per day only since the date stated in the record; before that there are only totals per lesson without dates.

A course can fall under Germany's distance learning act (FernUSG) when three things come together: it costs money, teachers and learners are mostly apart, and you or someone on your behalf monitors the learning success. According to the Federal Court of Justice, little is enough for monitoring – for example, that participants may ask questions in live sessions; a quiz or feedback on assignments can count too. The act applies even when your participants are businesses (BGH, judgment of 12 June 2025, III ZR 109/24).

If a course falls under it, it needs approval from the German central office for distance learning (ZFU, zfu.de). Without approval the contract is void, and participants can reclaim what they paid. Free courses and pure self-study material without any learning check do not fall under it.

CourseKit cannot decide for you whether your course is affected. Check it before you offer a paid course with quizzes, certificates or Q&A sessions – with the ZFU itself or with a lawyer.

Note: This section is a pointer, not legal advice.