---
title: "Course due dates"
slug: "course-due-dates"
updated: 2025-07-22T10:52:18Z
published: 2025-07-22T11:18:39Z
canonical: "totara.help/course-due-dates"
---

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://totara.help/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Course due dates

## Using course due dates

Course due dates simply indicate when each user is expected to have completed the course, and can be used to notify users when their due date is approaching. Users can still enter and complete the course after the due date has passed.

In the [course settings](/19/docs/course-settings) you can set either a fixed due date (i.e. a specific calendar date that will be the same for all learners) or a relative due date (i.e. a set amount of time after a user enrols on the course).

Course due dates are displayed in the following locations:

- The **Current learning** block
- Report sources:
  - Record of Learning: Courses
  - Course Completions

## Course due date notifications

Course due date notifications were introduced in Totara 16 as part of the [centralised notifications](/19/docs/using-centralised-notifications) system. You can configure notifications for the **Course due date** trigger at the site level (*Quick-access menu > Notifications*) or for an individual course (*Course administration > Notifications*)*.*

Note that the logic below is also applicable to any date-related notifications in Totara, such as due date notifications for programs and certifications.

For course due date notifications to be enabled three conditions must be met:

1. The **Enable completion tracking** setting must be enabled in the [course settings](/19/docs/course-settings).
2. Course completion must be enabled and the [course completion settings](/19/docs/course-completion-settings) must ensure that the course can be completed.
3. A relative or fixed due date must be set within **Completion tracking** for the course.

Relative due date notifications are calculated based on the user’s enrolment date for the course.

Notifications are sent when the **Send non-immediate scheduled notifications** (**process_scheduled_event_task**) [scheduled task](/19/docs/schedule-tasks) (*Quick-access menu > Server > Scheduled tasks*) runs. In a default Totara installation **process_scheduled_event_task** is scheduled to run once every 24 hours.

For more information on how scheduled notifications work, see [Understanding and testing scheduled notifications](/19/docs/understanding-and-testing-scheduled-notifications).

### Example

**Course due:** Thursday 1800 (6pm)

**Course due date notification:** Set for 2 days before

**Send non-immediate scheduled notifications** (**process_scheduled_event_task**)**:** 2100 (9pm) daily

![A diagram demonstrating the example outlined in this section.](https://cdn.document360.io/a007399b-031e-436b-999a-528240e16f58/Images/Documentation/Course-due-date-notification-diagram%20(1).jpg?sv=2026-02-06&spr=https&st=2026-11-06T06%3A35%3A28Z&se=2026-11-06T07%3A35%3A28Z&sr=c&sp=r&sig=jXZhx1LD2ipZhTjHQmmHTgLwLhY6bAadGX2eoCwStC8%3D)

Totara calculates when to send the notification as illustrated in the diagram above:

- **p****rocess_scheduled_event_task** runs at 9pm on Tuesday
- The notification offset (2 days) is added to the last **process_scheduled_event_task** run time (2100 Monday) and the current **process_scheduled_event_task** run time (2100 Tuesday)
- The period bound by these two times is shown in green
- If the course due date/time falls within the green boundary then the notification is dispatched

It is also important to note the following points:

- The next time **process_scheduled_event_task** runs, the time period immediately following the current one (9pm Thursday to 9pm Friday) is processed.
- If the frequency of **process_scheduled_event_task** is changed then the time period will also change.
- If **process_scheduled_event_task** is run more frequently (e.g. twice a day) the notification will be received at a time closer to the actual offset (2 days in this case). In this example the notification is sent with less than 2 days to go until the course due date.
- Course due date notifications will not be sent if they are configured after the offset has passed. For example, if a due date notification for **3 days before** is set up at 12pm on Tuesday, this would not be triggered as it is less than 3 days before the course due date. This is important to note when testing notifications. The system does not catch up on unsent notifications.
- Due date notifications can also be triggered for courses due in the past, i.e. overdue course notifications. The same logic applies to determine when the notification will be sent.

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