CPD certificates that issue themselves and check out

What is CPD certificate software?

CPD certificate software issues a certificate that records the CPD hours a learner earned, and lets anyone check that it is genuine. In Continuum Learn, certificates are issued automatically when a learner completes a course or attends enough of a live session, and each one carries its CPD hours, a unique number and a verification link.

You set CPD hours, a certificate template and an optional validity period on each course. When a learner completes the course, or for in-person courses is marked as attending, the certificate is created, numbered and frozen: editing the template later never changes one that has been issued. A public verification page shows the learner's name, the title, the dates, the CPD hours, the number and whether it is Valid or Expired. It shows nothing else. If you set a validity period, the learner is emailed 30 days before it expires.

What goes on a CPD certificate? A good one has: the learner's name ({learner_name}); the course or event title ({title}); the date it was completed ({award_date}); the CPD hours or points ({cpd_hours}); the provider's name and logo ({team_name} and up to three logos); the accrediting body's mark, if you are accredited; a unique certificate number ({certificate_number}); a signatory (up to two); an expiry or renewal date where relevant ({expiry_date}); and a way to verify it, which is printed on the PDF as a link. Continuum does not accredit CPD: accreditation comes from bodies such as the CPD Certification Service or the CPD Standards Office, and you add their logo to your template.

Two limits to know about. Certificates come from completions and attendance on Continuum, so you cannot issue one for training delivered elsewhere, and learners cannot yet log CPD done outside the platform. That is on our roadmap. For several courses that earn one certificate, see programme certificates, and for the live side see the live training platform.