Credentials and your Skills Passport

As a learner, you earn a credential by finishing a programme that offers one. A credential is the academy's formal record of what you achieved, often called a certificate: it has a printable certificate, a verification code, and a public page where anyone you share it with can check that it is genuine. Your credentials are listed under Credentials in the Alethris Hub.

Not every programme issues a credential. The academy decides when it sets up the programme, and it also decides what the credential is called, what it certifies and how long it lasts.

What a credential certifies

A programme's credential certifies one of two things, and the credential says which under Certifies:

• Assessed skills. It is earned through assessed work: each competency on it was judged against the academy's standard by an assessor. It lists the competencies your approved work demonstrated.
• Completion only. It records that you met the programme's requirements for finishing. It does not certify assessed skills.

A credential either never expires or expires a set number of days after it is issued. Its page says which, as "It does not expire." or "It expires on date."

The steps to a credential

1. Finish the programme. You meet what counts as finished on your programme: the share of required lessons completed, the minimum attendance where the programme sets one, and the share of required assignments complete. On a programme run in a cohort, the academy also has to mark the cohort complete.
2. The academy issues the credential. Once you have finished, a member of the academy's staff issues your credential and confirms the name it will carry. An Assessed skills credential can only be issued once approved work of yours has recorded competency evidence.
3. The certificate is prepared. The academy's certificate is made for you, and you are told when it is ready, in your notifications and by email: "Your credential is ready".

Your place on the programme must be active throughout. If your access is suspended or ends before you finish, you cannot finish, and no credential can be issued.

Where your credential appears

Once issued, the credential appears in three places:

• Credentials in the Alethris Hub lists it with your others.
• My learning in the Hub marks the programme "Finished date · credential issued", with View credential.
• Your Skills Passport offers it as an item you can choose to show, kept hidden until you do.

The academy's name and credential logo appear on the credential, and so does the Verified academy mark when Alethris has checked the academy's registration.

The name on your credential

Your credential carries your name as the academy confirmed it when it issued the credential, and the public verification page says the academy checked it against its records. If the name is wrong, ask the academy to replace the credential. A replacement gets a new code, and the old one then says it was replaced. Changing the name on your Alethris account does not change a credential already issued.

A credential that is yours to keep

A credential stays with your Alethris account for good, even if you later leave the academy that issued it. Only the issuing academy can revoke or replace it. A credential is also withdrawn if the completion it was issued for no longer holds, and one with an expiry date expires on that date. Whatever changes, the credential's own page says so to anyone who checks, and you are told.

When there is no credential

• The programme does not offer one. Finishing such a programme records your completion, but no credential is issued.
• You have not finished yet. Your progress is on your programme's Home page in your learning workspace. On a cohort, the cohort itself must also be completed by the academy.
• The academy has not issued it yet. Issuing is done by a person at the academy. If some time has passed since you finished, ask your academy.
• The certificate is still being prepared. Your list of credentials says "The certificate is being prepared" until it is ready, usually within a few minutes of issue. The credential can be verified in the meantime.
• The certificate could not be prepared. Your academy has been told and can make it again. The credential can still be verified.

As a learner, you find every credential academies have issued you under Credentials in the Alethris Hub, whichever academy issued it. The page says "Every credential an academy has issued you. Each one has a printable certificate and can be verified by anyone you share it with." Each credential keeps a standing that says whether it still holds, and anyone who checks it sees the same standing you do.

Credentials appears in the Hub menu once you learn at an academy or hold a credential.

The list

Each row shows the issuing academy's mark, the credential's title, the academy and programme, and when it was issued. It adds how many competencies the credential attests, or "Completion only" for a credential that certifies completion. A badge gives its standing.

When your credentials have more than one standing, tabs above the list filter them: All, then one tab for each standing you hold, in the order Active, Replaced, Expired, Withdrawn and Revoked, each with a count. Choose a row to open the credential.

What each standing means

The credential's page says the same in a sentence, such as "Issued on 4 September 2026. It does not expire." or "Issued on 4 September 2026. A newer record replaced it on 2 October 2026." A replaced credential names the newer one, as "Replaced by" and its code, with a link to it. Only the issuing academy can revoke or replace a credential; a withdrawal follows by itself from the academy's records, and an expiry from the date set at issue. You are told whenever a credential's standing changes.

A credential's page

The page of one credential shows its title and standing, then a card headed by the issuing academy, with the programme and cohort. The Verified academy mark appears there when Alethris has checked the academy's registration. The card lists:

• Issued to — your name as the academy confirmed it.
• Certifies — Assessed skills or Completion only.
• Assessment — who judged the work, where the academy's record says, for example "Confirmed by a second assessor" or "Assessed by someone who did not teach this cohort".
• Registered academy — the academy's registered name and number, when it has been checked.
• Checks — how often the credential's public page has been looked up, your own visits included, as "Checked 3 times, last on 1 October 2026. Who checked is never recorded." or "Nobody has checked it yet."
• Verification code — the code anyone can use to look the credential up.
• Certificate — shown while the certificate is "Being prepared" or "Could not be prepared".

Below the card, What this credential attests lists each competency with the level it was assessed at. Open a competency to see how it was judged and on which work. Dates are given in the issuing academy's calendar, as its certificate prints them.

When something on it is wrong

Something wrong? sits beside the credential on a wide screen, or under it on a narrower one, and says "If a name, a date or a competency on it is not what you expected, raise a case." Choose Ask about this credential to raise a support case about it with Alethris. The academy that issued it is the one that can replace or correct it, so tell the academy too.

If the certificate could not be prepared, the page says "The record itself still verifies. If you need the certificate, raise a case." Use the link in that sentence.

When the page does not open

• "This credential does not exist, or it is not yours." The address is wrong, or the credential belongs to another account. Go back to Credentials and open it from the list.
• "Your credentials could not be loaded. They are intact." The list could not be read just now. Choose Try again.

A credential that is no longer Active stays in your list. It is part of your record, and its verification page tells anyone who checks exactly where it stands.

As a learner, you share a credential from its own page under Credentials in the Alethris Hub. The strongest thing to share is the verification link: it opens the credential's public record, which anyone can read without an account and which always shows its standing today. The printable certificate is a presentation of that record; the record itself is what an employer can trust.

Share the verification link

The verification link opens the credential's public page on Alethris, headed "Credential verification". That page shows who issued it, to whom and when, what it certifies, the competencies it attests, and whether it still stands.

1. Open Credentials in the Hub, then the credential.
2. Choose Copy verification link. The button reads Link copied.
3. Paste the link wherever you need it: a job application, an email, or your profile on another site.

To see the page exactly as someone checking it sees it, choose See what an employer sees. It opens the public page in a new tab.

Anyone can also look the credential up by its code. The Verification code on the credential's page, which starts ALE-, is what someone enters on Alethris's Verify a credential page. The Checking a credential guide explains that page.

Download the certificate

Download certificate saves the academy's certificate for the credential, ready to print. It is available once the certificate is ready; while it is still being made, the credential's card says Certificate "Being prepared".

If the certificate could not be prepared, the page says "The record itself still verifies. If you need the certificate, raise a case." The verification link works either way. If a download fails, the page says "The certificate could not be prepared. Try again in a moment."

Show employers the work behind it

A credential that attests competencies can carry the work it was earned on. Under Work shown to employers, you choose up to five pieces of your assessed work for the verification page to show. Nothing is shown until you choose.

Anyone with the verification link then sees each piece exactly as you handed it in: they can read your text, open your links and download your files. A link shows where it points today, which may have changed since it was assessed.

1. On the credential's page, find Work shown to employers. Each piece of work is listed with the assignment, the version and the date it was assessed, the competencies it showed, and what it holds, such as "Final report: report.pdf" or "Live site: a link".
2. Tick the pieces you want to show, up to five.
3. Choose Save what is shown. Discard changes puts back what was saved before.

The page confirms "Your work is shown" and "Anyone with the verification link can now see it." Untick everything and save to show none: "The verification page shows the record without any of your work." You can change your choice at any time. A piece you stop showing leaves the verification page at once, and its files can no longer be downloaded from it.

Work that cannot be shown

• Group work. It cannot be chosen: "Group work cannot be shown, because it is not yours alone."
• Work from other programmes. Only work this credential was earned on is offered.
• A credential that no longer stands. The section appears for Active and Expired credentials. A credential that was revoked, withdrawn or replaced no longer shows work: "This credential was revoked, withdrawn or replaced, so it no longer shows work".
• A Completion only credential. It attests no competencies, so it has no work to show.

If saving says "What this credential shows changed while you were choosing. Reload and try again", reload the page and make your choice again.

What the people you share with see

Whoever opens the verification link sees the record as it stands that day. If the academy later revokes or replaces the credential, the same link says so, so the link you shared never misleads anyone. Your Skills Passport is a separate page that can gather several credentials at once; the lessons on your Skills Passport cover it.

As a learner, your Skills Passport is one record of what you have achieved across every academy where you study: the credentials you hold, the competencies your approved work demonstrated, and the projects an assessor approved. It belongs to you, not to any academy. The page says "Yours, not the academy's. You decide what is visible, and you can change your mind at any time."

Open it from Passport in the Alethris Hub menu. The page is headed Skills Passport.

What fills it

Items arrive on your Skills Passport by themselves, as academies approve them. You cannot add or edit them: "Every item was approved by the academy that issued it." They come in three kinds:

• Credentials — issued by an academy when you complete a programme. Only a credential that still stands is offered: one that has expired or been revoked, withdrawn or replaced is not. A credential already set to Shown or Link only that stops standing stays listed under What is on it, with its standing in its line, such as "revoked", and stays where it appeared, with its standing beside it, until you hide it.
• Competencies — added when an assessor approves work of yours that shows one. Each academy's competency appears once, at the highest level that academy assessed you at, with the academy, the level and the assignment, and how many of its assessments stand behind it. Two academies' skills of the same name are listed apart.
• Projects — added when a project or capstone you handed in is approved.

Everything starts private

Nothing on your Skills Passport is visible to anyone until you choose. Each item arrives hidden, and the passport itself is private until you publish it. You decide two things:

• Whether the passport has a public page. A public page is reachable at its own address, made from a handle you choose. The lesson Publish your Skills Passport explains it.
• Where each item appears. Each item is Shown, Link only or Hidden. The lesson Choose what each viewer sees explains the three.

You can also give a particular person a private link, even while the passport is private. The lesson Share links for your Skills Passport explains how.

The passport card

The card at the top of the page shows your passport as an object: your name, your handle and the date it went public once you have published it, and your headline. It counts your Credentials, Competencies and Projects, and a badge says Public, Private or Suspended.

Below the counts sit the choice between Public and Private, the switch Listed by search engines, and your page's address. Before your first publication, while a handle or a shown item is still missing, the card lists what is needed instead, under "Before your page can go public".

What is on it

The section What is on it lists every item, grouped under Credentials, Competencies and Projects, each with the issuing academy's mark. Beside each item is its visibility, which you change there. What viewers see, beside the page on a wide screen or under it on a narrower one, counts how many items are Shown, Link only and Hidden, and says who can see what.

When nothing has arrived yet, the section says "Nothing yet. These arrive as academies approve them, and each stays hidden until you choose to show it."

Your name on the passport

Your Skills Passport carries the name on your Alethris account. If you change your name in your account, the passport follows. The credentials on it keep the name each academy confirmed when it issued them.

When the page does not load

If the passport cannot be read, the page says "Your passport could not be loaded. It is intact." and offers Try again. If two windows change the passport at once, one of them says "Your passport changed somewhere else while this page was open. It has been reloaded, so make the change again."

If the page shows a notice headed "Your public page is suspended", see If your Skills Passport is suspended.

As a learner, you can give your Skills Passport a public page that anyone with its address can open, such as an employer you send it to. Publishing is your choice, and so is taking the page down again. Until you publish, the passport is private: "Only you. Employers see nothing — not even that it exists."

Before you publish

A first publication needs two things, and until both are done the passport card lists them under "Before your page can go public":

• Show at least one item. "Your items stay hidden until you choose. Set at least one to Shown below." The item must still stand: a credential that is active, or a competency or project still approved.
• Choose a handle. "It becomes your page's address, and it is fixed once you publish." Choose one in your public profile takes you to the field.

Each step is ticked once done, and the card says "Once both are done, you can make the page public here." When both are done, the choice between Public and Private takes the list's place.

Your public profile

The section Your public profile holds what appears at the top of your public page and of every share link: "Only the handle is required, and only for a public page."

1. In Handle, type the address you want: 3 to 40 letters and numbers, with single hyphens between them if you like. Capitals are saved as small letters, and a few words Alethris uses itself, such as help or verify, cannot be taken. The field checks the handle as you type and says "That handle is free." or "That handle is not available."
2. In Headline, add a line shown under your name, under 120 characters, if you want one.
3. In About, add a short paragraph in plain text, under 1,000 characters, if you want one.
4. In GitHub, LinkedIn and Portfolio, add links to your profiles elsewhere. Each must start with https://, the GitHub link must be a github.com address, and the LinkedIn link a linkedin.com one.
5. Choose Save profile.

Your page's address is the Hub's address followed by /p/ and your handle. Your name on the page is the name on your Alethris account.

Make the page public

1. On the passport card, choose Public: "Your page is live at its address for anyone who has it."
2. The page confirms "Your passport is public" and "Anyone with the link can see it."

The card then shows the Public address, with Copy link to copy it and See what an employer sees ↗ to open your public page in a new tab. Your page shows only the items you set to Shown, grouped as Credentials, Competencies and Projects, with your profile.

Search engines

The switch Listed by search engines decides whether search engines such as Google may list your public page, from their next visit. It is off until you turn it on, and it applies only while the passport is public. Share links are never listed.

Make it private again

To take the page down, choose Private on the passport card. The page confirms "Your passport is private" and "The public page is no longer reachable." Nothing is deleted: your items keep their settings, and your handle stays yours. Your share links keep working while the passport is private, unless you revoke them. To make the passport private and revoke every share link at once, use Make everything private, described in Share links for your Skills Passport.

You can make it public again at any time with Public. After the first publication, the checklist is not asked for again.

When publishing does not work

• "That handle is not available." Someone else has it, or it is a word Alethris keeps for itself. Choose another.
• "Letters, numbers and single hyphens only." The handle has a space, an accent or two hyphens together. Change it.
• "Use an https:// link." A profile link must start with https://.
• "Check the handle, the profile text and the https:// links". Something in the profile was not accepted, such as a handle shorter than three characters, or a GitHub or LinkedIn link to another site. Correct it and save again.
• "The handle is fixed once the passport has been published." The field cannot be changed.
• Public cannot be chosen. The passport is suspended. See If your Skills Passport is suspended.

As a learner, you decide item by item what the people looking at your Skills Passport can see. Every item — each credential, competency and project — has its own setting, and the passport as a whole is either public or private. Nothing is shown until you choose, and you can change any setting at any time.

The three settings for an item

In the section What is on it, each item has a setting beside it with three choices:

• Shown — the item appears on your public page, and on any share link you create.
• Link only — the item appears only on share links, never on your public page.
• Hidden — the item appears nowhere. Nobody viewing your page or a share link is given any hint that it exists.

Every item starts as Hidden.

Change an item's setting

1. Open Passport in the Alethris Hub.
2. Under What is on it, find the item, under Credentials, Competencies or Projects.
3. Open the setting beside it, which shows its current choice, and pick Shown, Link only or Hidden.

The change saves at once; there is no button to press. It applies to your public page straight away, and to your share links as described below.

Who sees what

Your item settings and the passport's own Public or Private setting work together:

A share link carries the items that were Shown or Link only when you created it. The lesson Share links for your Skills Passport explains what changes afterwards.

The panel What viewers see, beside the page on a wide screen or under it on a narrower one, counts your Shown, Link only and Hidden items and sums up the effect. On a public passport it reads, for example, "Anyone opening your page sees the 3 shown items. Link-only items travel by share link, and hidden ones are never hinted at." On a private one it reads "Your page is private, so nobody sees it. Share links still carry the shown and link-only items; hidden ones are never hinted at."

Choosing well

A few patterns suit most people:

• A public showcase. Make the passport public and set your strongest credentials and projects to Shown.
• A private record you share on request. Keep the passport private, set items to Link only, and send a share link to each employer who asks.
• Something you would rather not show. Set it to Hidden. It stays on your record and comes back whenever you change the setting.

Hiding an item does not delete it or change it. The credential still verifies on its own verification page, and the academy's records are unchanged.

What you cannot change

The content of an item cannot be edited: "Every item was approved by the academy that issued it." You choose only whether and where it appears. Each academy's competency appears once, at the highest level that academy assessed you at, and you set each academy's apart.

A credential set to Shown or Link only that is later revoked, withdrawn or replaced, or that expires, stays listed under What is on it, with its standing in its line, and stays where it appeared, with its standing beside it. You can keep it there, narrow it from Shown to Link only, or choose Hidden, which takes it off your passport for good; it cannot be shown more widely. A competency or project whose approval was corrected is held the same way.

When a change does not save

If a change is refused, a message appears above the list. "Your passport changed somewhere else while this page was open. It has been reloaded, so make the change again." means another window changed the passport at the same moment: make your change again.

As a learner, a share link lets you show your Skills Passport to a particular person, such as an employer who has asked, without making it public. "A share link shows the items you have made visible to anyone who has it, even while the passport is private. Give it an expiry, or revoke it whenever you like." Search engines never list share links.

What a share link carries

A share link carries the items that are Shown or Link only at the moment you create it, together with your profile: your name, headline, about and links. Items set to Hidden are never on it.

The link's items are fixed when you create it:

• An item you later set to Hidden disappears from the link.
• An item you add or show later is not added to links you have already made. Create a new link to share it.
• An item you hide and then show again does not come back on an older link.

To share anything, at least one item must be Shown or Link only. Until then New share link is unavailable, and the section says "To share, set at least one item to Shown or Link only."

Create a share link

1. Open Passport in the Alethris Hub, and find Share links.
2. Choose New share link. The dialog says how many items the link will carry.
3. In Name, say who it is for: "Only you see this — for example, the employer it is for."
4. Under Expires, choose In 7 days, In 30 days, In 90 days or Never. A new link expires in 30 days unless you change it.
5. Choose Create link.

The dialog then says "The link is live." and shows its address. Choose Copy to copy it, send it to the person, and choose Done.

Your active links

The Share links section lists every link still working, with its name, how many items it carries, and when it expires, as "3 items · expires 4 Nov 2026" or "never expires". A link that has expired or been revoked leaves the list. Only a limited number of links can be active at once, so revoke links you no longer need.

Revoke a link

To stop a link working, choose Revoke beside it. It stops at once: "Share link revoked. Anyone holding it now sees nothing." A revoked link cannot be turned back on; create a new one if you need to share again.

Make everything private

Make everything private stops all sharing in one step. It asks "Make everything private?" and explains "This sets the passport to private and revokes every share link at once. Nothing is deleted." Choose Make private to go ahead.

Your items keep their settings, and your handle stays yours. To share again, make the passport public, create new share links, or both.

When a link does not work

• The person sees nothing. The link has expired or been revoked, or your passport is suspended. Check Share links, and create a new link if needed.
• An item is missing from the link. You set it to Hidden after creating the link, or it was added later. Create a new link.
• "Your passport changed somewhere else while this page was open." Another window changed the passport. The page has reloaded: create the link again. While your passport is suspended, Create link always answers with this message, because a suspended passport cannot create links.
• "Skills Passport share link is unavailable". You have reached the limit of active links. Revoke one you no longer use, then try again.

As a learner, you may one day find your Skills Passport marked Suspended. Alethris suspends a passport's public page when a report about it needs to be reviewed. A suspension takes the page out of public view while that happens. It does not change your record: your credentials, competencies and projects stay exactly as they were, and every credential can still be verified.

Only Alethris suspends and restores a passport. The academies where you study cannot.

How you know

Your Skills Passport page shows a notice headed "Your public page is suspended": "Alethris has taken the page down while a report is reviewed. Nothing on your record has changed, and every credential can still be verified." The badge on your passport card reads Suspended.

While you hold an Active credential, your Credentials page says the same beside your list, or under it on a narrower screen: "Your Passport's public page is suspended while a report is reviewed. Your credentials can still be verified."

What a suspension stops

While your passport is suspended:

• Your public page shows nothing. Anyone opening its address finds no page.
• Your share links show nothing. They are not revoked; they simply do not open while the suspension lasts.
• You cannot make the passport public or create share links. Public cannot be chosen, and Listed by search engines cannot be changed. New share link still opens, but Create link answers "Your passport changed somewhere else while this page was open. It has been reloaded, so make the change again."

You can still open your passport, change the settings of your items and make it Private.

What a suspension leaves alone

A suspension affects only your Skills Passport's public page and links. It leaves alone:

• Your credentials. Each keeps its standing, and its own verification link still works. You can still share a credential, download its certificate and choose the work shown with it.
• Your learning. Your programmes, your work and your results at every academy are unaffected.
• Your record. Nothing on your passport is deleted or changed, and your handle stays yours.

What to do

1. Choose Contact support on the notice. It opens Support in the Alethris Hub.
2. Raise a case about your Skills Passport, saying what you would like to know or explain.
3. Follow the case in Support for the reply.

Support cases are read by Alethris, not by your academy. The Getting help guide explains how to raise and follow one.

When the suspension ends

When Alethris restores your passport, the notice goes and the badge returns to Public or Private, whichever it was. If the passport was public, its page is reachable again at the same address, and your share links work again, apart from any that expired or that you revoked in the meantime.