--- canonical: "https://findaskischool.com/help/manage-your-school/how-do-i-issue-certificates" language: en last_modified: "2026-10-23T21:14:46.000Z" --- # How do I issue digital certificates to students? Set up your school's certificate design, then generate certificates from learner progress. Use separate award designs, your own PDF or image, personalised text, and optional signatures or stamps. ## Quick answer Open Certificate Design to save your school's layout and award-level designs. Generate a certificate from learner progress, or edit the recipient and award details first. Learners can download and print the issued PDF from My certificates. ## How do I issue digital certificates to students? Certificates record an achievement awarded by your school. Authorised owners and instructors can generate them from the learner's lesson or progress record. The issued PDF keeps the design and details used when it was generated. ## Set up your school's design Open **Dashboard → Certifications → Certificate Design → Designs**. School owners and administrators can save a **School default** design and use **Add an award design** for an individual level, a bronze/silver/gold tier, or a named award. - Choose the built-in certificate or upload your own PDF, PNG, or JPEG design. - Choose the **Body font** and **Learner name font** separately. - Add an optional signature and stamp as image files. - Choose which details appear, including the learner's name, date, award, school, instructor, and certificate number. - For an uploaded PDF or image, open **Fields** and drag the learner, date, or award areas into the spaces in your artwork. Select an area and use the arrow keys for smaller moves. You can also enter its position and size in the controls below the guide. Upload a blank certificate design rather than a previous learner's completed certificate. - Choose **Refresh PDF preview**, then **Download sample** or **Print sample** to check the result. Choose **Save all designs** when ready. When the school logo is enabled, a logo uploaded to your school profile can be used automatically. For a logo hosted on another website, upload a PNG or JPEG in **Images** instead. A certificate-specific logo takes priority over the profile logo. Artwork uploaded in Certificate Design is access-controlled, including signatures and stamps. An award-level design is selected when that award is issued. Other awards use the school's default design. You can use a different uploaded certificate file for each award level. Changing a saved design affects new certificates; it does not rewrite PDFs that have already been issued. For an award published through lesson progress, choose **A named award** and copy its exact published award name into **Exact award title**. Specific level and tier designs apply when the corresponding platform level is selected for the certificate. For an uploaded design, the heading, title, footer, and branding come from your artwork. Edit those in the original file and upload it again. The designer still controls the learner and award fields, fonts, signature, and stamp. If a PDF form cannot be imported, export a flattened PDF and upload it again. The positioning guide follows your selected paper size and orientation. If it cannot load, use the position controls and **Refresh PDF preview** instead. Always check the PDF preview before printing; the guide marks field areas rather than showing the final text. ## Before issuing 1. Check the learner's name and account or email carefully. 2. Choose **Level completion**, **Course completion**, **Lesson series**, or a custom achievement. 3. Set the sport, title, description, and relevant level or resort. 4. Choose whether public verification shows initials, the full learner name, or no learner name. The printed PDF still contains the learner's full name. 5. Review the details and choose whether to email the certificate. When the learner and award are already filled in, **Generate certificate** creates the certificate in one click using the matching saved design. Choose **Edit details** when you need to change the recipient, award, or other information first. For a group booking, choose an individual learner and award before generating their certificate. For a booking, the learner is checked against its attendee records and any published progress report. The buyer is not automatically treated as the learner. Choose **Confirm learner and edit** when attendance still needs confirmation; an unlinked guest must also have their actual name recorded. The certificate belongs to the confirmed learner's account or, for a managed child, their primary managing parent's account. Any certificate email uses that account's verified email address. Other guardians do not automatically receive access. An unlinked attendee does not inherit the buyer's email address. Saved staff lesson notes also provide **Learner certificate** actions, including notes for lessons arranged directly. Save the note first, then choose **Generate certificate** or **Edit details**. The recipient comes from the saved learner or note record; correct that source record if its details are wrong. If the certificate includes completed skills, they come from skills assessed as consistent in the learner's published progress report. Their names use the report's recorded skill and award criteria. Free-text lesson notes and a typed certificate description do not add a separate completed-skills list. Only award a level the learner has demonstrated. An achievement certificate is not a professional instructor qualification or an independent FASS assessment of the learner's skills. ## If a submission is interrupted Choose **Recover submission** from the learner's certificate actions, or reopen the issue form. **Retry submission** restores the reviewed details and reuses the original request so a certificate that was already saved can be recovered. The details stay locked during recovery. You can close the form and keep its retry details while the page remains open; reloading or signing out clears them. Check **Issued certificates** before choosing **Start a new certificate**, especially after reloading the page. Starting afresh requires confirmation because the previous submission may already have created an award. A failed PDF download can be retried separately without issuing another certificate. ## Where it appears Linked recipients can find certificates in [My certificates](https://findaskischool.com/my-certificates). Certificate emails lead recipients back to their account to open the issued PDF. Downloads use the same saved certificate, including your school's design. Learners and authorised school users can download or print the PDF. Select the paper size and orientation shown in the PDF; use **Fit to printable area** if the printer clips the edges. For uploaded artwork, check a sample print before issuing a whole class's awards. In **Issued certificates**, select up to 20 active certificates and choose **Print selected** to prepare one PDF for the class. Each certificate keeps its own paper size and design. Revoked or replaced awards cannot be included. If a print batch takes too long, retry it or select fewer certificates. Closing its preparing window cancels that attempt in the browser and keeps your selection available for another try. An older certificate with only an individual PDF link can be downloaded or printed individually while that file remains available. It cannot be selected for class printing. Use **Correct and reissue** to create a stored replacement PDF that can be included in **Print selected**. A certificate number has a public verification page at `/verify/{certificateNumber}`. This confirms the award's recorded status; it does not provide unrestricted access to the private PDF. Shared progress links show only active certificates matching that link's named learner, school, instructor, and recipient email. Older links without a learner name or school omit certificates. Use the school's register or [My certificates](https://findaskischool.com/my-certificates) to find an award missing from an older shared report. Treat the learner name and other information shown on public verification as part of the sharing decision. Do not include unnecessary sensitive information in the title or description. ## Correcting an error Open **Certificate Design → Issued certificates** to find the award in the school's certificate register. You can resend its email, correct and reissue it, or revoke it with a reason. A correction creates a replacement certificate and keeps the previous record's history. Revoked or replaced certificates show their current status when someone verifies them. When correcting a level, select the correct sport, award type, and award level as well as reviewing the wording. The selected level determines which saved design is used. You can also correct or remove the recipient's email and adjust how the learner's name appears on public verification. Contact [Support](https://findaskischool.com/support) if the certificate was sent to the wrong account or you need help with a privacy or access issue.