The multi-year certification path functionality supports certifications that span multiple renewal cycles, where different learning requirements apply at each stage. It allows organisations to define how learners progress between stages, including how they return to a previous stage if a certification expires.
Pharmacy vaccination training across modalities and years
Organisation: Nationwide pharmacy chain
Training type: Flu and COVID vaccination training
Challenge: Need to alternate between face-to-face and online training over multiple years, with specific recertification windows and advanced notification handling.
Current process:
Year 1: Initial face-to-face session (managed externally, imported via API)
Year 2: Online training (3-month recertification window)
Year 3: Online training with extended 6-month recertification window and additional notifications
Year 4: Face-to-face session (again delivered externally)
Previous workaround: Admins had to create separate certifications for each year, using automation to remove learners from older certifications to maintain compliance records.
With Totara’s improvements:
The training manager can now configure a single certification with:
A four-year sequence of course sets
Recertification windows specific to each year
Custom notifications and timing for individual years
Additionally, they can define what happens if a learner expires — for instance, restarting from the beginning, repeating the last completed year, or returning to a custom point in the cycle
Configured path:
Year 1: Initial face-to-face session (booked and attended through a Seminar activity)
Year 2: Online training (3-month recertification window)
Year 3: Online training with extended 6-month recertification window and additional notifications
Year 4: Face-to-face session (booked and attended through a Seminar activity)
On completion of year 4, the learner then loops back to year 2, where their certification will repeat on a cycle through years 2, 3 and 4.
First aid and CPR – different renewal cycles
Organisation: Australian healthcare provider
Training type: First aid and CPR
Challenge: Dual renewal cycles – CPR must be refreshed annually, while first aid is renewed every three years.
Configured path:
Year 1: First aid course (initial certification)
Year 2: CPR course
Year 3: CPR course
Year 4: First aid course again (loop begins anew)
With the new functionality:
Admins can define a four-year certification sequence with:
A full first aid course in year 1 and year 4
Annual CPR refreshers in between
Recertification rules that return users to year 2 after year 4, maintaining the cycle
Options to define expiry behaviour, such as restarting the sequence or resuming from the last valid point
Recertification path that never returns to original certification
Organisation: Healthcare training provider
Training type: Professional qualification with full and refresher pathways
Challenge: Users should never have to repeat the original full course — only remain on the refresher track, even after expiry.
Pathway setup:
Initial certification: Full course (year 1)
Recertification path: Short refresher (years 2, 3, etc.)
With the new flexibility:
The admin can configure expiry rules that keep learners on the refresher pathway indefinitely — ensuring they aren’t sent back to the original certification after expiry.
First aid rotation with structured path and expiry control (UK Model)
Organisation: Large UK-based employer
Training type: First aid at work
Standard Rotation:
Year 1: Full first aid course
Year 2: Refresher course
Year 3: Refresher course
Year 4: Return to full first aid course
Common use case: Matches UK HSE compliance standards.
With Totara certification improvements:
Admins can define a recertification cycle of four years with:
Return-to-year-1 full first aid course after year 4
Clear mapping of refresher vs full course sets
Expiry behaviour that optionally returns learners to the last valid refresher rather than forcing a reset to the beginning
How Totara certifications support real-world needs
The case studies above show just how flexible Totara certifications can be when it comes to meeting the varied compliance and training requirements of different industries. Instead of managing multiple standalone certifications, administrators can now design learning journeys that reflect real-world practice, whether that’s alternating between online and face-to-face training, handling different renewal cycles for separate skills, or giving learners clear paths back into compliance if they lapse.
Some of the key ways Totara certifications support these needs include:
Multi-year sequences: Build certification and recertification paths that span several years, with different course sets at each stage.
Flexible looping: Decide where learners should go after completing the final year of a sequence — for example, back to the start, or to a refresher course.
Expiry control: Choose what happens if a learner lets their certification expire, such as restarting from the beginning, resuming from the last valid year, or picking up from a custom point.
Notification behaviour across multi-year paths: Certification notifications use triggers, such as assignment, recertification window open, due date, and expiry. These notifications are evaluated against the learner’s current certification period, ensuring messages are sent at the appropriate point in each stage of a multi-year path.
The Totara Academy has a whole course dedicated to using Programs and certifications in Totara Learn. Here you can learn more on how to use programs and certifications, see best practice, and give it a go yourself.
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