This guide is for course providers choosing the automatic emails a course sends to customers and participants: the booking confirmation, which can carry joining instructions, the reminders before a date and the follow-up after it. It explains the settings, who receives the messages and what to check when an email is missing.
A confirmation tells a customer about a confirmed order or registration. Its trigger depends on the booking and payment process; it is not proof that every payment has been collected.
A reminder is linked to an upcoming scheduled session.
A follow-up is linked to a completed session and requires attendance to have been recorded in time.
Who Can Change a Course's Automatic Emails
A System Admin can change these settings. A Course Owner can change them for a course they can manage. A Facilitator cannot edit these course settings and must ask a System Admin or Course Owner.
The automatic-email settings belong to the course, not an individual course date. Switching on a reminder or follow-up makes it available for eligible sessions across that course. There is no separate switch here for just one date.
Choose the Automatic Emails and Template for Each Course
Open the Admin dashboard and select Courses.
Open the intended course and select Edit Course.
Select Settings, then Emails.
Under Booking Confirmation Email, open the template selector and choose the required template. An on-demand course calls this Order Confirmation Email.
For a course with scheduled sessions, switch the reminders and follow-up on or off (a new course starts with its reminders on), then choose a template for each enabled option. Their order and timing are explained below.
Select Save in the course header. Wait for Course saved, then reopen Settings > Emails and check the saved selections. If an error appears, do not assume the settings were saved.
Each enabled email has its own template selection. Select the screenshot to enlarge it.
Week Before Reminder Email: checks sessions starting seven calendar days later.
Day Before Reminder Email: checks sessions starting the following calendar day.
Hour Before Reminder Email: checks sessions starting in the following hourly window.
Day After Follow-up Email: checks sessions that ended the previous calendar day, for eligible participants marked as attended.
On-demand courses do not show these date-based reminder and follow-up switches.
Different emails for different courses: each course has its own template selection, so a subsidised course, a private course or any other course can send different wording from your other courses. Create a separate template for it and select it on that course. A private course date uses the emails of its course, like the course's other dates.
Lesson notifications are separate. These switches do not control lesson opening or deadline notifications, which are set in each lesson's schedule options under Contents. See Release Lessons Over Time and Set Due Dates for setup and notification conditions.
Use Edit or Create new template beside an email option to work on its content. Template content and the course's template selection are separate saved information. After saving a template, return to Settings > Emails, check its selection and save the course. See Create and Reuse Email Templates for the template save and copy steps.
Changes to an existing course can also be saved when you move to another section of its editor, so do not make temporary changes on a live course.
Changing a saved custom template affects later emails that load it, including other courses using that template. Use a separate copy for wording intended for only one course. Sent emails do not change. Switching an email off or cancelling a registration does not recall a message that has already been queued.
How the Booking Confirmation Setting Works
This selection is not a replacement for every email connected with a purchase. Requests, approval, invoices, payment requests, deposits, instalments, cancellations and refunds have their own notification steps. For those, see Accept or Decline a Booking Request or Application, Approve or Reject an Order, Set Up Invoices for Your Courses, Send a Customer a Payment Link, Take a Deposit and Collect the Balance Later, Offer Payment Plans (Monthly Instalments), Cancel a Booking or Part of an Order and Refund a Customer in Full or in Part.
A standard approved, paid order with one active course entry can use that course's confirmation template.
Free bookings: a booking with nothing to pay, including one with a full discount, gets the same confirmation as a paid booking, so a single-course booking uses the course's selected confirmation template. A free booking you add yourself in Admin gets it only when Send booking confirmation email or Send order confirmation email is on.
An invoice order with course access allowed before payment can receive confirmation while payment is still outstanding. Do not treat the confirmation as a receipt.
For an order with several active course entries, the Order Contact's combined confirmation uses the order-level default rather than one course's custom confirmation. This includes separate entries for different dates of the same course. Guest confirmations are handled for each course entry.
For an order placed at checkout with a deposit or monthly instalments, the Order Contact's confirmation is a separate deposit or instalment message, not the course's confirmation template. The course template does not replace the payment emails for these orders.
For orders or registrations added by an administrator or import, the creation process and its confirmation choice control whether a confirmation is requested. Choosing a template here does not send confirmations retrospectively.
Send Different Details to In-Person and Online (Zoom) Attendees
To include room numbers, arrival instructions or joining details that vary by date in confirmations and reminders, use Occurrence Description. An email template can insert information from the course date connected to the message. The tag inserts the date's Description, not the main course Description, the staff-only Facilitator Notes or the venue's Public note. The date's Description can also appear on public date listings, so keep it suitable for anyone booking.
The details follow the course date, not the person: everyone booked on the same date gets the same Description in the same template. To send in-person and online attendees different details, run them as separate dates, for example one in-person date and one online date, each with its own Description.
Save the learner instructions on the intended course date: Courses > open the course > View All Dates if needed > the date's three-dot Date actions > Edit > Other > Description. Select the date editor's Save, then reopen it to check the text.
Check the course's selected templates through Courses > open the course > Edit Course > Settings > Emails. The confirmation and each enabled reminder use their own selection.
Open each saved custom template through Settings > Email Templates. In Email Body, select Mail Merge > Occurrence Description where the instructions should appear. Keep the venue address as well. Open the Save menu and choose Save; check any reply-to warning and wait for Template updated. If you use a system default, first create a custom copy using Create and Reuse Email Templates.
Include the tag in each required template: the confirmation, Week Before Reminder Email, Day Before Reminder Email and Hour Before Reminder Email. If you select a different template on the course, save the course and check its saved selection.
For example, one saved template can show Room: Oak Room for one date and Room: Willow Room for another. Fill in Description on every date that needs instructions. An empty field adds no text. For one date lasting two days, use Day 1 Room: Oak Room; Day 2 Room: Willow Room; ordinary line breaks in the field are not preserved as separate lines in the email.
A shared template also inserts the date Descriptions of other courses using it. Prepare everything before the relevant hourly check, explained below. To preview a template with a real date's details, see Personalise Emails with Mail Merge Tags.
Choose Whether Guests and the Order Contact Get These Emails
An Order records a purchase. Its Order Contact is the customer the order belongs to; the course setting below calls this person the primary contact. A Registration records one participant's place on a course. A guest participant is a participant added through someone else's booking.
In the Admin dashboard, select Courses, open the course and select Edit Course.
Select Settings, then Forms & Participants.
Find Send guest participants emails and Send primary contact reminder emails. Choose the settings using the explanations below.
Select Save in the course header. Wait for Course saved, then reopen this page and check the selections.
Example Forms & Participants page with the Send guest participants emails and Send primary contact reminder emails switches.
Send Guest Participants Emails
Switch this on to include eligible guest participants in their own course confirmations, reminders and day-after follow-ups. Each participant needs an email address. Switching it off excludes guest-addressed messages from these processes; it does not stop the Order Contact's order emails, or the Order Contact's reminder when that switch is on.
Send Primary Contact Reminder Emails
Switch this on to add a reminder for the Order Contact, provided that contact has an email address and the order has eligible registrations. It applies to the Week Before, Day Before and Hour Before reminders, not the Day After Follow-up Email.
Within each reminder check, the Order Contact's message groups eligible participants for that order and course session. When an eligible participant uses the same email address as the Order Contact, Cademy omits that participant's separate copy for that reminder. This does not prevent every possible duplicate across separate orders or processing retries.
When Reminder Emails Are Sent to Everyone on a Date
Once a reminder is switched on for a course, it goes to every participant whose registration on each upcoming date is active, and to their Order Contact when that switch is on. A participant who has stopped attending still gets reminders until their registration is cancelled. Reminders are not sent for a course that is not published.
Cademy checks these scheduled emails hourly. The day and week calculations use London calendar time, including its clock changes, rather than always counting exactly 24 or 168 hours. The check is not a promise of delivery at an exact minute.
For example, for a session starting at 10:30 London time on a Tuesday, the Day Before reminder is selected by Monday's 10:00-hour check. The Hour Before reminder is selected by Tuesday's 09:00-hour check. Have the relevant settings ready before that hour begins; do not wait until the end of the hour. Processing and delivery happen after selection.
Enabling the reminder or adding an eligible registration after the session's selection window does not cause a missed reminder to be selected later. A selected message can still be waiting for processing; changing an address or guest setting can affect that pending message. Check email history before sending a manual replacement.
Why the Day After Follow-up Email Was Not Sent (Attendance)
The course's Day After Follow-up Email must be enabled.
The registration must be active or completed and not deleted.
Attendance must be marked Attended for the exact session before its check.
The participant needs an email address. If they are a guest, Send guest participants emails must be on.
For example, if a session ends at 16:30 London time on Monday, its follow-up is selected by Tuesday's 16:00-hour check. Record attendance before 16:00 Tuesday, ideally on the session day. Adding attendance on Wednesday does not trigger a late automatic follow-up.
For a block containing several sessions, follow-ups use each individual session's end time and attendance. Marking only the whole block as attended is not a substitute for each session's attendance. A participant can receive a follow-up after each qualifying session.
To check attendance, open Courses in the Admin dashboard, open the course and select Registrants. Find the participant's Attendance column; for several sessions, open its attendance summary and check the relevant session. See Mark Attendance for a Course Date or Session before recording or correcting attendance. Attendance changes can also affect completion, certificates and CPD.
For reminders on a block, do not assume every session gets a separate message when several sessions start within the same hourly window. A block registration selects one matching session in that window. Check the relevant session details and history if your block uses this schedule.
Pause All Emails While You Set Up Your Account
There is no single setting that pauses every email from your account. While you set up, check these settings:
A new course starts with its reminder emails, and often its Day After Follow-up Email, switched on. On each course, open Settings > Emails and switch off those you do not want yet.
Reminders are not sent for a course that is not published.
A customer who books gets a confirmation. When you add orders or registrations yourself in Admin, switch off their confirmation email. Imported bookings do not send confirmations.
Facilitator emails can be switched off: see Choose Facilitator Emails and Calendar Invitations. Booking notifications to your team cannot be switched off, only sent to chosen people: see Choose Who Gets New Booking Notification Emails.
If a Booking Confirmation, Joining Instructions or Reminder Email Did Not Arrive
Open the course through Courses > open course > Edit Course > Settings > Emails. Check its type, enabled email and saved template. If the wrong confirmation arrived after a test purchase, check which template is selected and whether the order had several course entries, a deposit or instalments, which use other emails.
Check the correct registration and session. A reminder requires an active registration at selection and a published course; a follow-up also requires that exact session's attendance in time.
Check the participant's email address and the guest setting under Settings > Forms & Participants. For the Order Contact's reminder, also check the Send primary contact reminder emails switch and the Order Contact's email address.
Check when the settings, registration and attendance were added. Compare them with the relevant hourly check, not just the session date.
Have a System Admin check the recorded email: open the participant's Registration (or the Order, for the Order Contact's reminder) and select Emails, or open the recipient under Contacts and select the Emails tab. Check the message's recipient, subject and status. A recorded email is not proof that it was read.
If the result is missing, failed or unclear, contact Cademy Support with the course, session date and timezone, registration or order reference, recipient and expected email. Do not repeatedly change the settings or send replacements without checking what was already processed.
Example registration panel with the Emails section open, listing four recorded emails.
If Cademy reports that emailing is disabled, contact Support. A queued message is not a delivered email.
If the scheduled email was missed, use Send an Email to Course Participants or Contacts to prepare a manual replacement for the correct recipients after checking history.
Test or Preview an Automatic Email Without Sending It
The Preview... action in Settings > Email Templates shows saved template content without a real order, participant or date. Personalised fields can remain as placeholders.
To see how a saved custom template reads with a real participant's details, preview it in a manual email from a test Registration, or from a test Order for an order-level template, then close the preview and the email panel without selecting Send. For the steps, see Personalise Emails with Mail Merge Tags.
The system Default Reminder Email and Default Follow-up Email are not offered there. To preview one, first save a custom copy with Save as... (see Create and Reuse Email Templates).
A manual preview is not a test of the automatic email. Automatic messages can use different session, participant and order details, especially for blocks and grouped Order Contact reminders. Neither preview proves delivery, attachment delivery, sender details, reply routing or sign-in access.
Related Guides
Find Sent Emails and Check Delivery Status explains recorded emails and their status.
Set Up and Manage a Course Waitlist (Waiting List) covers the separate process for telling waiting customers about available places.
Choose Facilitator Emails and Calendar Invitations covers the separate emails to trainers and facilitators, including their 24-hour reminder.
Choose Who Gets New Booking Notification Emails covers the emails your team gets when someone books.
Send Emails from Your Own Domain explains how to send emails from your own domain and sender address.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I switch reminders on for just one course date?
No. These switches apply across eligible sessions on the course. Turning one off is not a way to disable only one date.
Why did a guest participant not receive an email?
Guests get their own confirmation, reminders and follow-ups only when Send guest participants emails is on for the course and the guest has an email address. Check both before the relevant hourly check, then check the guest's Registration for recorded emails.
Can I send a reminder or follow-up immediately?
Yes, as a manual email to the intended Orders or Registrations. Check history first, choose the right recipients and template, preview the message and send only when delivery is intended.
Will marking attendance two days later send the follow-up?
No. That session's scheduled check has passed. Check history, then use a manual email if a follow-up is still needed.
Does a request or application use the Booking Confirmation Email straight away?
No. Submitting a request or application is not the same as a confirmed order. Its approval and payment process determines later confirmation, and request notifications are separate.
Does this page control waitlist emails?
No. Waitlist notifications use their separate settings and process, not these reminder and follow-up switches.
Does this page control membership confirmation emails?
No. A membership's confirmation email is chosen on the membership itself, under its Advanced Settings. See Create and Reuse Email Templates.
Does the Day After Follow-up Email replace feedback or certificate settings?
No. The session follow-up is separate from feedback requests and certificate processes. To send a feedback form after a course, see Send a Feedback Form to Participants After a Course.