Course Deadlines & Reminders

Overview

Course deadlines help ensure training is completed on time, especially for compliance and mandatory courses. TrainMeUK automatically calculates deadlines based on your settings and sends reminder notifications to learners and managers at strategic intervals.

This guide explains how deadlines work, when reminders are sent, and how the system helps you chase overdue training.

How Deadlines Are Calculated

Relative Deadlines

When you set a relative deadline (e.g., "30 days from assignment"), the system calculates the deadline based on when the course was assigned to each user:

• New assignments: Deadline = Assignment date + Number of days
• Existing users: If a course is assigned to a group and a user joins later, their deadline is calculated from their assignment date
• Grace period: If a user is assigned a course after its original deadline has passed, they get a grace period extension

Absolute Deadlines

When you set an absolute deadline (a specific date), all users have the same deadline regardless of when they were assigned:

• Useful for compliance deadlines (e.g., "All staff must complete GDPR training by 31st March")
• All users see the same deadline date
• New assignments after the deadline still use the absolute date

Automatic Reminder Timeline

The system automatically sends email and Teams notifications (if enabled) at specific intervals. Reminders are sent once per interval to avoid spamming users.

Approaching Deadline Reminders

Before the deadline passes, reminders are sent at:

Overdue Reminders

After the deadline passes, reminders continue at:

Manager Notifications

Managers receive notifications about their team members' training deadlines:

• 3 days before deadline: Managers are notified when team members have training approaching
• 14 days after deadline: Managers receive a summary of team members with overdue training
• Team Management page: Managers can see all overdue courses and send manual reminders

Manual Reminder Button

Managers can send additional reminders manually from the Team Management page:

1. Go to Team Management (or view a team member's profile)
2. Find the team member with overdue courses
3. Click the Send Reminder button
4. The system sends an immediate reminder based on how overdue the course is

Setting Deadlines When Assigning Courses

Viewing Deadlines and Status

For Learners

Users can see their deadlines on:

• Training Dashboard: Shows all assigned courses with deadline status
• Course Cards: Display days remaining or days overdue
• Email Reminders: Include deadline information and direct links to courses

For Managers

Managers can view team deadlines on:

• Team Management: Overview of all team members' training status
• Team Member Profile: Detailed view of individual progress and deadlines
• Reports: Filter by deadline status, overdue courses, etc.

For Admins

Admins have access to:

• Course Management: See all assignments and deadlines
• User Management: View individual user deadlines
• Compliance Reports: Track completion rates and overdue training
• Audit Logs: See when reminders were sent

Understanding Deadline Status

Course Expiry and Renewal

For courses with expiry dates (e.g., annual compliance training), TrainMeUK automatically handles renewals to prevent lapses in compliance. This ensures your team maintains continuous certification without gaps.

14-Day Renewal Window

When a course is due to expire (typically 14 days before the expiry date), the system automatically:

• Creates a new renewal assignment for the course
• Appears in the user's assigned training dashboard
• Maintains compliance status while the renewal is in progress
• Ensures no gap between the original completion and renewal

How Renewal Works

1. 14 days before expiry: The system automatically creates a renewal assignment
2. Course appears on dashboard: Users see the course in their assigned training as "not started"
3. Original completion remains valid: The original completion stays valid until its expiry date
4. Complete renewal: Users complete the renewal course before the original expiry date
5. Continuous compliance: No gap in compliance - the renewal extends the certification period

What Users See

When a course is due for renewal, users will see:

• The course appears in their "Assigned Training" section on the dashboard
• Status shows as "not started" or "in progress" for the renewal
• The original completion remains visible in their completed courses history
• Reminders are sent through the normal reminder system for the renewal course

Best Practices for Managing Deadlines

Setting Appropriate Deadlines

• Compliance training: Set deadlines based on regulatory requirements (e.g., annual refresher = 365 days)
• Onboarding: Allow sufficient time (e.g., 30-60 days) for new employees to complete training
• Role changes: Set shorter deadlines (e.g., 14-30 days) for role-specific training
• Refresher training: Use absolute deadlines for company-wide refreshers
• Expiry-enabled courses: Ensure expiry dates are set correctly so renewals trigger automatically

Monitoring and Chasing

• Regular reviews: Check team management weekly for approaching deadlines
• Early intervention: Reach out to team members when reminders show they're approaching deadlines
• Use manual reminders: Send manual reminders after conversations to reinforce the message
• Track patterns: Identify users who consistently miss deadlines and provide additional support

Communication

• Explain the importance of deadlines, especially for compliance training
• Set expectations during onboarding about training requirements
• Use the reminder system rather than manual chasing where possible
• Follow up with team members who are consistently overdue

Troubleshooting