This guide is for learners and customers who join a membership from a course provider that uses Cademy. It explains what a membership does, how to join one, where to find it in your account, and how to change it, cancel it or update your payment details.
It does not cover the plan that a course provider pays Cademy for. If you are a course provider and want to offer memberships, see Create and Manage Memberships for Learners.
Course provider: The training company, school or trainer that offers the membership and runs the courses.
Membership: A plan offered by one course provider. It gives its members benefits on that provider’s courses.
Subscription: Your own record of a membership you joined. Your account shows one card for each subscription.
Recurring membership: A membership that renews every day, week, month or year. It renews until it is cancelled or reaches an end date set by the course provider.
One-off membership: A membership that does not renew.
You can hold memberships from more than one course provider. Each membership belongs to the provider that offers it, and all of them are listed in the same Cademy account.
What a Membership Can Do
The course provider decides what each membership gives you and which courses it applies to. A membership can give you:
free entry to a course
a percentage discount on a course
access to a course that only members can book
The course’s public page tells you when a membership applies to that course:
Subscribe before you can book: above a button. For an on-demand course (a course with no set dates), the text is Subscribe before you can enrol:. Only members can book this course, and one membership gives access to it. The button reads Join for [price] for a one-off membership or Subscribe for [price]/[period] for a recurring one, where the period is day, week, month or year. It opens the checkout for that membership.
The message You need a membership to book this course. and a Get a membership link. Only members can book this course, and more than one membership gives access to it. The link opens the course provider’s Memberships page.
A message that free access, discounted access or both are available with a membership. Members pay nothing or a reduced price for this course.
Free With Your Membership or [number]% Off With Your Membership. You are logged in, and a membership you hold gives you this benefit on the course. Course providers that hide prices on their pages do not show these two labels.
A membership does not book a course for you. After you join, go back to the course and book or enrol in the normal way. Log in first with the account that holds the membership, so that the course page and the checkout recognise you as a member.
Join a Membership
You join a membership on the course provider’s Cademy website, which is the site where they list their courses. You do not need a Cademy account before you start.
If you already have a Cademy account, log in first so that the membership is added to it. If you are not logged in, the membership is added to the account that uses the email address you enter. If no account uses that address, one is created.
What happens at the Payment step of the checkout depends on the membership:
A one-off membership, or a recurring membership that starts today and has no free trial: you pay at this step.
A recurring membership that has a free trial or starts on a later date: this step saves your payment details, and no payment is taken at this step.
A membership with no price: the checkout has no Payment step.
To join a membership:
Open the course provider’s Cademy website and select the Memberships tab. The tab is shown when the course provider has memberships on offer.
Compare the memberships. Each one shows its name, its price and, for a recurring membership, how often it renews (Daily, Weekly, Monthly or Yearly), then a description.
Select Join. For a membership with a free trial, the button is Start Free Trial. The Buy Membership page opens.
Check the summary of the membership: its name, the description, the length of any free trial, any start date or end date, and the price.
Under Your contact details, enter your first name, last name and email address, and answer any other questions the course provider asks. If you are logged in, the page shows You are logged in as and your email address.
If the page shows a box to accept the Terms and Privacy Policy, tick it. Then select Next.
If the checkout shows Payment, enter your payment details and select Pay.
Wait for All Done!. The page shows a reference for your subscription and tells you to expect a confirmation email. It also has a Continue to course or View all courses button.
If you started from a course that only members can book, open that course again and book or enrol.
To join memberships from different course providers, repeat these steps on each provider’s Memberships page.
Find and Check Your Memberships
Your memberships are listed on the Memberships & Subscriptions page of your account. You need to be logged in. If you need help with logging in, see Log In and Find Courses You Are Attending or Bookings You Made.
Select My Account in the page header.
Select User Settings. The Account Settings page opens.
Select Memberships & Subscriptions.
Find the card for your subscription. Its heading shows the membership name, the course provider and the status. Select the heading to open the card. The course provider’s name in the heading is a link to that provider’s page, so select another part of the heading.
Memberships from different course providers are separate cards on this page. If your account has no subscriptions, the page shows You don't have any subscriptions yet!
An open card has two actions under Update Membership: Change Membership and Cancel Membership. Both are for recurring memberships. The sections Change to Another Membership and Cancel a Recurring Membership in this guide explain them.
What Each Status Means
Initiated: The start date has passed, but the membership is not active and has not been cancelled. It gives no free entry and no discount.
Starts on [date]: The membership has not started yet. It gives no free entry and no discount before that date.
Active: The membership has started and has not been cancelled.
Active until [date]: The membership has been cancelled. It stays active, with its benefits, until the date shown.
Inactive: The membership was cancelled and is no longer running. It gives no free entry and no discount.
The Active status does not take the expiry date into account. Free entry and discounts apply only while the membership is active, has started and has not passed its Expiry Date, so check that date as well.
Dates, Renewal and Payments
Under Details, an open card shows:
Start Date: The date the membership starts. For a recurring membership, this is the start of the current paid period (the day, week, month or year you last paid for), and it moves forward each time a renewal payment is made.
Trial End Date: Shown during a free trial, in place of the Expiry Date.
Expiry Date: The date the membership ends. For a recurring membership that has not been cancelled, this is the end of the current paid period, and it moves forward when the next renewal payment is made. A one-off membership that the course provider gave no end date shows a date far in the future, at the turn of the year 3000, which means it does not expire.
Cancellation Date: Shown after a cancellation, in place of Will Auto-Renew.
Will Auto-Renew: Daily, Weekly, Monthly or Yearly for a recurring membership, and Never for a one-off membership. A membership that the course provider added for you also shows Never.
The description of the membership.
Under Transactions, a table lists the payments recorded for a recurring membership. Its columns are Date of transaction, Payment status and Total paid. A completed payment has the status paid.
The payment for a one-off membership is not listed in this table. A membership that the course provider added for you shows one row with the status paid and no amount.
Change to Another Membership
You can move a recurring membership to another recurring membership from the same course provider. You cannot change a one-off membership, a membership that the course provider added for you, or a membership that has already been cancelled.
A membership also cannot be changed before it is active. If its status is Starts on [date] or Initiated, Change Membership can be selected, but an error message appears after you confirm.
The list you choose from shows only the names of the memberships. Compare their prices and descriptions on the course provider’s Memberships page before you start.
Select My Account in the page header, then User Settings, then Memberships & Subscriptions. Open the subscription card.
Under Update Membership, select Change Membership.
In the Select new subscription box, choose the membership you want from the list.
Select Confirm Changes. This button can be used after you choose a membership that differs from your current one. To close the box without changing anything, select Cancel.
The card shows Membership successfully updated. and then the name of the new membership. The change takes effect immediately. The price difference is adjusted in proportion to the time left in the current paid period. The adjustment is added to, or taken off, your next renewal payment. If the new membership renews at a different interval, for example yearly instead of monthly, a new paid period starts on the day you change and a payment is taken then.
If an error message appears on the card instead, the membership has not been changed. Contact the course provider and tell them what the message says.
Cancel a Recurring Membership
Cancelling stops a recurring membership from renewing. It does not end the membership immediately, and it does not refund a payment you have already made.
Select My Account in the page header, then User Settings, then Memberships & Subscriptions. Open the subscription card.
Under Update Membership, select Cancel Membership.
Read the Are you sure? box. It shows the date on which the membership expires, and says that you lose all access and benefits when it expires.
Select Cancel Membership to confirm, or Keep Membership to leave it unchanged.
The card shows Membership cancelled. The status changes to Active until [date], and the card shows a Cancellation Date. You keep the benefits until the date shown in the status, and no renewal payment is taken. Cademy also sends you an email to confirm the cancellation.
You cannot reverse a cancellation on this page. To continue the membership, join it again on the course provider’s Memberships page after the date in Active until [date]. Before that date, the checkout says that you already have this membership.
If you cancel a paid recurring membership before its start date, while its status is Starts on [date], it does not start and no payment is taken. Its status changes to Inactive.
A one-off membership has no renewal to cancel, so Cancel Membership cannot be used for it. It ends on its Expiry Date. To end a one-off membership earlier, contact the course provider.
Update Your Payment Details
Use these steps to change the payment details that a course provider uses for your renewal payments. Payment details are saved separately for each course provider.
Select My Account in the page header, then User Settings, then Memberships & Subscriptions.
Below your subscription cards, find the card named Update payment details for [course provider]. There is one for each course provider you have a subscription with.
Select the card to open it. A payment form loads. The form does not show the details that are currently saved.
Enter the new payment details.
Select Update payment details.
Wait for Payment details updated successfully.
The new details are then used for the renewal payments of every recurring membership you hold with that course provider. If you have memberships with more than one course provider, repeat the steps in each provider’s card.
If an error message appears in place of the payment form, check whether the course provider added your membership for you. A membership that the course provider added has no payment details in Cademy, so there is nothing to update. In any other case, contact the course provider.
Fix Problems with a Membership
The page shows "You don't have any subscriptions yet!": Check that you are logged in to the account with the email address you used to join. A membership with a price is listed only after its first payment, or the saving of your payment details, is complete. If you left the checkout before All Done!, go back to the course provider’s Memberships page and join again.
The checkout says that you already have this membership: Your account holds an active subscription to that membership that has not expired. Open Memberships & Subscriptions to check it.
A course does not show your member benefit: Check that you are logged in to the account that holds the membership, that the status is Active or Active until [date], and that the Expiry Date has not passed. Then ask the course provider whether the membership covers that course.
The status is Active but the Expiry Date has passed: Free entry and discounts no longer apply. For a recurring membership with a price, this means that no renewal payment has been recorded since that date. Update your payment details and contact the course provider. For any other membership, contact the course provider.
A card has the status Initiated: That subscription is not active and gives no free entry or discount. Causes include a checkout that was started again before it was completed and, for a membership with a later start date, a first payment that has not gone through. If another card for the same membership is Active, use that one. If not, contact the course provider.
Change Membership or Cancel Membership cannot be used: The membership is a one-off membership, the course provider added it for you, or it has already been cancelled. In the first two cases the card shows Will Auto-Renew: Never. A membership with the status Starts on [date] or Initiated cannot be changed either: Change Membership can be selected, but an error message appears after you confirm.
The membership you want is not in the list when you change: The list holds only the recurring memberships that the same course provider currently has on offer.
For anything else, contact the course provider that offers the membership. They set its terms, price and benefits. Tell them the name of the membership and the email address of your account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will I get a refund when I cancel?
Cancelling in your account does not refund any payment. It stops future renewals, and you keep your benefits until the expiry date. To ask for a refund, contact the course provider.
Will I be told before a renewal payment is taken?
Yes, for a membership that renews weekly, monthly or yearly. Cademy sends a reminder email two days before the day it is due to renew. A membership that renews daily gets no reminder. For a one-off membership with an end date, the same email tells you that the membership is ending soon.
Can I cancel during a free trial?
Yes. Cancel Membership works in the same way during a trial. The status changes to Active until [date], and the membership does not renew after that date.
What happens if a renewal payment fails?
The Expiry Date does not move forward, so free entry and discounts stop applying after that date. Update your payment details, then contact the course provider about the payment.
Who should I contact about a membership or a course benefit?
Contact the course provider that offers the membership. They decide its terms, which courses it covers and whether a refund is given.