What are Pathways?
Pathways allow you to structure learning journeys and automate credential issuance in a clear, logical way.
With Pathways, you can:
Boost learner engagement – Guide recipients through structured learning steps.
Automate credential issuance – Reduce manual work with auto-issued completion credentials.
Encourage course/program completion – Keep learners progressing towards a final qualification.
Track recipient progress and identify drop-offs – See where learners are in their journey and where they might drop off.
Example of completed pathway:
Use Cases: How Pathways Can Be Used
Pathways provide flexibility to structure a variety of training and qualification programs. Here are some common ways issuers use them:
#1 Course Modules: A multi-module course where learners receive a credential for each module and a final certification upon completion.
#2 Level-Based Training Programs: A tiered learning program (Beginner → Intermediate → Advanced) where learners progress step by step.
#3 Encouraging Completion of Bundled Courses: A certification provider offers multiple courses as a package. The Pathway ensures all components are completed.
#4 Pursuit of a Qualification (Skills-Based Pathway: A professional certification body structures a Pathway around skills acquisition (e.g., Project Management: Agile → Scrum → Leadership).
#5 Diploma/Degree Programs: A university or training institute maps out required courses leading to a final diploma or degree.
#6 Gamification of Learning: A company or learning platform adds progress indicators, rewards, and a clear roadmap to make training more engaging.
How to Create a Pathway in Certifier
To create a Pathway in Certifier, follow these steps:
Go to the Pathways section in your Certifier dashboard and click on the “Create Pathway” button.
Provide a name – This should be the final qualification, award, certification, or title that learners will receive. (e.g., "Advanced Marketing Certification")
Write a description – Explain what learners had to do to earn the award. (e.g., "Recipients have completed a 5-course sequence covering SEO, PPC, and digital marketing strategy.")
Define required criteria credentials – Select the credentials learners must complete and arrange them step by step in a logical order.
Set up a completion credential – Choose the final credential that will be automatically issued once all required criteria are met.
Save as draft or activate:
Save as Draft – The Pathway remains inactive, and nothing happens.
Save & Activate – When you select "Save & Activate", two things happen:
The pathway becomes visible – It will be displayed on: your issuer’s portal, recipient profiles, the credentials directory, and on the individually issued credentials, showing progress indicators.
Auto-issuance of completion credentials – Any recipient who has already met the pathway criteria will immediately receive the completion credential. Moving forward, any new recipient who completes the required credentials will also receive it automatically.
You will be notified about the number of credentials that will be issued immediately upon activating the pathway:
Once activated, both the visibility and automation of the pathway are enabled.
Pathways Analytics
The Pathways analytics dashboard provides a comprehensive view of recipient progress:
Total Recipients – The total number of learners who have been enrolled in the Pathway. This includes everyone who has received at least one criteria credential linked to the Pathway.
Recipients in Progress – The number of learners who started the Pathway but have not yet completed all required criteria credentials.
Recipients Completed – The number and percentage of learners who have fully completed the Pathway and received the completion credential.
Completion Rate (%) – The overall percentage of learners who have completed the Pathway. This helps issuers evaluate engagement and effectiveness.
The analytics also shows a snapshot of groups (criteria credentials) and the number of enrolled recipients at each stage. This breakdown allows you to identify where drop-offs occur by comparing how many recipients have completed earlier steps versus how many reached the final credential.
For example:
If the first credential has 244 recipients but only 100 have completed the final step, this suggests a significant drop-off between steps.
By analyzing where the numbers decrease, you can determine which credentials learners struggle to complete and take action to improve engagement.
With this insight, you can proactively support learners, send reminders, or adjust your program structure to improve overall completion rates. 🚀
Export Your Data
Open the exported file in a spreadsheet tool (e.g., Google Sheets, Excel).
Locate the column corresponding to the step where you want to improve completion rates.
Apply a filter to show only rows where the value is "FALSE"—these are learners who haven't completed that step.
Export the filtered list as a CSV file and use it for targeted email communication.
Targeted Communication Strategies
Once you have your list, craft personalized email campaigns to encourage learners to complete the next step. Here are some communication ideas:
Reminder & Encouragement: Highlight the benefits of completing the next step, such as skill enhancement, certification, or career growth.
Social Proof & Success Stories: Share testimonials or success stories from learners who have completed the Pathway.
Exclusive Perks: Offer incentives like bonus materials, a LinkedIn badge, or access to an exclusive webinar.
Deadline-Driven Motivation: Introduce a limited-time incentive or deadline to create urgency.
Feedback Request: Ask learners what’s holding them back and use insights to improve the Pathway.
By implementing personalized outreach, you can re-engage learners, address barriers, and improve completion rates efficiently.
FAQ
1. How can my recipients enroll into a pathway?
If a recipient earns a credential that is part of a pathway, they will be automatically enrolled in that pathway. Their progress will update as they earn additional credentials within the pathway.
2. What happens when I activate the Pathway?
Completion credentials are auto-issued – If any recipients already meet the criteria, they will immediately receive the completion credential. Future recipients will also be automatically issued the completion credential as soon as they complete all required steps.
The Pathway becomes visible – It appears on the Issuer’s Portal, Recipient Profiles, Credentials Directory, and individual issued credentials (with progress indicators).
3. Can I edit an active Pathway?
Yes, but editing an active Pathway can affect eligibility and progress tracking.
Changing criteria credentials might impact which learners qualify for completion.
Adjusting the structure could cause progress bars to update or reset based on new requirements.
4. What happens when I deactivate a Pathway?
Automation stops working – No more automatic completion credentials will be issued.
The Pathway becomes invisible – It will no longer be displayed on the Issuer’s Portal, Recipient Profiles, Credentials Directory, or issued credentials.
All previously issued credentials remain – Recipients will still have their earned credentials, including the completion credential, but they will appear as individual credentials, no longer linked to a structured Pathway.
5. Will completion credentials be removed if I deactivate the Pathway?
No, completion credentials will not be removed.
Learners who have already received them will still see them in their profiles, but they will be treated as individual credentials rather than being part of a structured learning roadmap.
6. Can I create multiple Pathways?
Yes, you can create as many Pathways as needed to structure different learning journeys.
Each Pathway operates independently, allowing you to tailor different learning experiences for various skills, qualifications, or training programs.
7. Can a credential be part of multiple Pathways?
Yes, a single credential can be used as a criteria credential in multiple Pathways.
This allows issuers to create flexible learning journeys that overlap without duplicating credentials.
8. Can I manually add recipients to a Pathway?
No, recipients are automatically enrolled in a Pathway when they earn at least one criteria credential.
Once enrolled, their progress is tracked automatically, and they receive their completion credential upon meeting all requirements.
9. I have a database of 100 recipients, with 30 who have earned all the criteria group credentials. Will they get a completion credential after I activate a pathway, or will this completion credential be only awarded to the future recipients?
You old recipients will get a completion credential as soon as you activate your pathway. Certifier will notify you about the number of completion credentials to be auto-issued.
10. Can I change the completion credential after activating the Pathway?
Yes, you can change the completion credential at any time.
The old completion credential will not be removed from recipient profiles. It will still appear in their credential list, but it will no longer be visually linked to the Pathway.
Once you update the completion credential, all eligible recipients (both those who already completed the Pathway and future recipients who meet the criteria) will receive the new completion credential automatically.
11. What happens if I delete the auto-issued completion credentials?
If you delete an auto-issued completion credential, the pathway will still appear as completed for recipients who have earned all the required credentials within the pathway. However, the final completion credential itself will no longer be available in their records.
12. What happens if my account limit does not allow for more credentials, but some recipients meet the completion criteria?
If your account reaches its credential limit, any additional credentials that meet the issuance criteria will be created as drafts instead of being automatically issued. You will be able to review and manually issue these credentials once you upgrade your plan or free up space in your account.