This guide is for course providers who sell online learning on an on-demand or blended course. It explains how to set how long learners can open the course content, how to extend or unlock access for one learner, and what happens when access expires. An on-demand course is self-paced online learning; a blended course combines online lessons with scheduled sessions.
You can set a default for the whole course, such as 365 days for a 12-month course, or an expiry date for one learner’s Registration, which is their place on the course. An Order is the booking record and can contain more than one learner’s place.
Cademy uses an individual Registration expiry first. If there is none, it uses an expiry recorded on the linked Order. Only older Orders can carry a date of their own; you cannot see or set one in Admin. If neither has a date, it uses the current course default. The default can also affect existing learners whose places have no overriding date. Access expiry is separate from each lesson’s opening time and due date; for those, see Release Lessons Over Time and Set Due Dates.
Check the effect before changing access.
A shorter default can make an existing learner’s access expire immediately. An individual date can shorten or extend that place’s access. Clearing it does not necessarily remove the limit: an Order date or course default can still apply. Extending access does not resolve cancellation, payment, lesson publication or other access conditions.
Set an On-Demand or Blended Course Expiry Date for All Learners (Days of Access)
You need System Admin or Course Owner access to the course. The default setting is available for on-demand and blended courses. It sets the number of days each learner keeps access, counted from their payment date (details below). If you only need to change one person, use the individual Registration section below.
Changing settings and navigating to another page inside an existing course editor can automatically save pending edits. Do not change a live setting just to try the control. Review other unsaved changes before using the main Save; it can save pending course and lesson edits.
Go to admin.cademy.io, open Courses and select the intended course.
Select Edit Course, then Settings and Access Options.
Under Students should have access to the course, choose Indefinitely / until removed by you or For a limited time. The last word of that label follows the course’s service keyword, the word chosen under Which keyword best describes this service?, so it can read differently on your course.
If you choose For a limited time, enter a positive whole number in Number of days, for example 365 for 12 months. Selecting this option initially supplies 30 days; check the number you intend to use.
Review your other unsaved edits, select Save and check for Course saved. If saving fails, check what was retained before retrying or contact Cademy Support.
Reopen Settings and Access Options to check the saved choice and number. This confirms the setting, not every learner’s effective expiry.
Example: limited access set to 30 days. The field follows your course’s service keyword. The “new students” hint does not mean existing learners without an overriding date are unaffected.
Existing learners can be affected.
The current default is used whenever there is no individual Registration or Order expiry. Changing it can shorten, extend or remove that calculated limit for existing places. Explicit dates on Registrations and Orders still take precedence.
For an Order-linked place, limited days count from the Order’s payment date, or its creation date if no payment date is recorded. For a manually added or imported Registration without an Order, they count from that Registration’s creation date. Imported records can retain an older creation date. This is not first login, the course start date or the day you edit the setting.
Course-default days are elapsed periods of 24 hours. For example, a 30-day limit from 1 October at 10:00 UTC expires on 31 October at 10:00 UTC. Local clock times can differ when the clocks change. An individual date entered below instead ends on the chosen calendar date in the editing browser’s time zone.
Extend or Unlock One Learner’s Course Access (Access Expiry Date)
Use this to give one learner more time, or to reopen the course for a learner whose access has already expired. System Admins, Course Owners and Facilitators can edit the expiry of a Registration they are allowed to access. Check the correct learner, course and course date, particularly if the person has several places. This changes that Registration, not every place or every learner on an Order.
Open Courses and select the intended course. Open Registrants, then select the participant to open their Registration. Use the relevant course date when your access is limited to that date. Ask a System Admin to locate the record if it is outside your access.
Confirm the learner, Course, Course date where applicable and Reference. Find Access expires and select its pencil icon.
In Edit access expiry, check your device/browser time zone before entering the final date in Access expires. Cademy stores it at 23:59:59 on that date in the editing browser’s time zone. There is no separate time-zone field.
Select Save to apply the individual date. Check for Access expiry updated. Reopen the same Registration and edit dialog to check the date was retained. If you see Couldn’t update access expiry or Invalid date, check the saved state before retrying or contact Cademy Support.
Example: the Access expires row of a Registration, with its pencil icon.
Example: the Edit access expiry dialog with a date entered.
A future date reopens the course for a learner whose access had expired. Their lesson progress is kept. Saving or clearing an individual date does not send the learner an email. Tell the learner yourself when you change their access.
To remove an explicit individual date, select Clear. It saves the removal immediately; there is no second Save step. Leaving the date blank and selecting Save also clears it. Look for Access expiry cleared and reopen the dialog to check the field is blank. Clear is disabled when there is no explicit Registration date. Cancel closes the dialog without submitting a change.
After clearing, an Order-level expiry takes precedence over the current course default. Clearing is not a way to guarantee indefinite access. A calculated date on the Registration can open as a blank date field because the field edits the individual override, not the calculated default.
A displayed date is not always the effective learner date.
In Admin, Access expires is shown on the Registration. When no individual date is set, that value counts the course default from when the Registration was created and does not use the Order’s dates. The learner’s access counts from the Order’s payment date, or its creation date if no payment date is recorded. So if the Order was paid after the Registration was created, the learner’s access ends later than Admin shows. Never is not proof that no Order limit or other restriction applies. The learner’s Content page shows the effective date. You cannot open that page as the learner, so ask the learner what it shows. If the dates disagree, contact Cademy Support with the Registration and Order references. Reopening the edit dialog confirms the individual setting, not all access conditions.
If another administrator edits the same calendar date from a different time zone, the saved end time can change. A learner with another eligible Registration may still have access through that other place. Admin preview is not a test of ordinary learner expiry.
Learner’s Access Extended but the On-Demand or Blended Course Still Shows Expired
Cademy checks access each time the learner opens the course content, so a saved extension applies the next time they open or reload the Content page. Logging out is not needed. If the learner still sees Access Expired, check these:
The right Registration: the date must be on a Registration for the same course the learner is opening, belonging to the person who is logged in. If they log in with a different email from the one on the Registration, their account has no place with the new date. Check the name, email and Course on the Registration you edited.
The date was saved: reopen Edit access expiry and check the date is still there and is in the future. A date ends at 23:59:59 on that day in your browser’s time zone.
You changed the course default instead: a longer default does not help a learner whose Registration has its own individual date, or an older Order with its own date. Set the new date on their Registration instead.
The place is still valid: extending access does not reopen a cancelled Registration, an unpaid place or an archived course.
If all of these are right and the learner still sees the expired message, contact Cademy Support with the Registration reference and the date you set.
What Learners See When Their Course Access Expires
When a learner opens Cademy course content at or after the effective expiry, that place no longer grants access. If no other eligible place grants access, the Content page and each lesson show Access Expired with the end date. The current card offers:
Re-Enroll Now: opens the course page. Selecting it does not itself buy another place or restore access, and the course might no longer be available to book.
Contact Provider: opens the course provider’s enquiry route.
Example: the Access Expired card on the Content page, with Re-Enroll Now and Contact Provider.
While the Content page shows this card, it has no Overview or Forum tab, and the learner cannot mark lessons complete on the expired place. The forum itself does not check the expiry date: a learner with an active or completed Registration can still open the forum, for example from a forum email. The learner guides Can't Access Your Course or a Lesson? What to Check and Read and Post in Your Course Forum describe what the learner sees.
The expiry is a date Cademy calculates when the content is opened, not a status on the Registration. Reaching it does not change the Registration’s status or completion status, does not remove lesson progress already recorded and does not revoke a certificate already issued. Cademy does not send an automatic email about access expiry, neither before the date nor when it passes.
Course expiry is not a guarantee that an already-open player stops immediately, that downloaded material is removed or that a separate learning platform revokes access.
Learners Can No Longer Access a 12-Month Online Course They Had for Months
If learners who have used a course for months suddenly see Access Expired, check first whether their access period has ended. Access can end without anyone changing the course. Check these:
The period has run out: a limit of 365 days counts from each learner’s payment date, so learners who paid on different days lose access on different days.
The course default was shortened: a shorter number of days under Access Options applies to existing learners without their own date, and can end their access at once.
An individual date was set: check Access expires on the learner’s Registration.
The course was archived: archiving removes access to the course content for everyone, even when time remained.
To give learners more time, set a later date on each learner’s Registration, or increase the course default for everyone who has no date of their own. Both are described above.
Where the Learner Sees Their Course Access Expiry Date
Sign in to the learner account and open My Account, then My Courses & Bookings.
On My Courses, open the intended place under Your Courses, checking the course date if shown.
An on-demand course can open straight into Content. If a course/date details page opens, use its Content tab when available.
On the Content page, look for Access expires in the progress information. It is shown for an accessible learner place with a calculated expiry and lesson content. If access has already expired, the expiry message appears instead.
Example: the Content page of a course, with Access expires in the progress information.
A participant can see this expiry on the Content page even if somebody else booked their place. The order owner, the person whose account holds the Order, may also see Access expires in Your Order, but that commercial summary is not a reliable check of an individual override. Participants do not automatically receive the owner’s Order summary.
If the date or Content tab is missing, or the displayed dates disagree, the learner should contact the course provider, which is the organisation running the course. Indefinite access, an empty course, admin preview and externally hosted learning can show different information. For help finding the correct account/place, see Log In to See Your Courses and Bookings. Date-only displays do not show the exact expiry time.
Why a Customer Cannot Repurchase or Re-Enrol on a Course They Completed Before
A course provider can select Prevent duplicate registrations in the course editor under Settings > Booking Options > Duplicate Registrations. For an on-demand course with this choice, a learner cannot enrol again while their existing online access remains valid. This applies to active and completed places, so a learner who finished the course still cannot buy it again while their access lasts. Unlimited access continues to prevent repeat enrolment. At checkout, the customer sees a message such as “You already have access to this course”.
Once the effective access expires, that place no longer prevents a fresh on-demand enrolment. The learner does not need to cancel the old Registration or delete their earlier learning history. A new enrolment creates a separate Registration and access period. Another current place can still prevent re-enrolment, and the course must still be available to book. An unpaid place awaiting the required payment can also prevent another booking while its order remains live.
For a blended course, its date or block must also have finished. Ending online access alone does not release somebody who still has an upcoming or in-progress date. With unlimited online access, the existing place continues to prevent a repeat booking after the date finishes.
To let a past learner book again while they still have access, choose Allow duplicate registrations under Duplicate Registrations for the course. This applies to everyone booking that course. If they no longer need their current access, you can instead set the Access expires date on their Registration to a date before today. This ends their access to that place straight away. On an on-demand course they can then book again; on a blended course their date or block must also have finished. For the setting itself, see Stop Someone Booking the Same Course Twice.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which course types support an access limit?
The course-level default is available for on-demand and blended courses. It is not offered for scheduled courses (the On set dates type) or on-request courses.
When does a limited access period start?
For an Order-linked place, from the Order’s payment date or, if none is recorded, its creation date. Without an Order, from the Registration’s creation date, which can be historical for an import. A 30-day default adds 30 periods of 24 hours to that starting moment; it does not start again on first login or when you edit the setting.
Does changing the course setting update existing participants?
Yes, it can change effective expiry for existing places that use the course default. It does not overwrite an explicit Registration or Order date. Check existing learners before shortening a default, since some can become expired immediately.
What does Never mean on a Registration?
The Admin display has found no individual Registration expiry or limited course default to show. It does not rule out an Order expiry or other access condition. Ask the learner what their Content page shows, and contact Cademy Support if it differs from what you see here. Clearing the individual date does not guarantee Never or unlimited access.
Why can a learner not see an access expiry date?
The Content page shows the date only when a learner place has a resolved expiry and lesson content. Indefinite access, an empty course, admin preview, expired access or external hosting can show different information. Participants can see the expiry on their Content page even when they are not the order owner. Ask the course provider if a date is missing or conflicting.
Why can I not see Edit Course, Access Options or the edit control?
The course editor requires System Admin or Course Owner access to that course; Access Options is for on-demand and blended courses. Individual Registration editing is available to System Admins, Course Owners and Facilitators within their permitted course/date scope. Ask an account administrator if the record or control is unavailable.
Will learners lose access if I unpublish the course?
No, unpublishing the course does not by itself remove existing eligible content access. It removes the course from public listings. Expiry, payment/Registration conditions and each lesson’s publication and access rules still apply.
Will learners lose access if I archive the course?
Yes. Archiving removes access to that course’s Cademy content, even when time remained. This is different from changing one participant’s expiry and does not necessarily show the Access Expired card. It does not remove material already downloaded or prove access ended on a separate learning platform. For how to archive or restore a course, see Archive or Restore a Course.