Certificates

Auto-generate, distribute, and verify student certificates after exams.

Overview

Testify can automatically generate PDF certificates for students who complete an exam. Certificates include the student's name, exam title, score, percentage, rank among participants, and a unique verification code. You can set a minimum passing percentage, choose a certificate template, email certificates to students, and provide a public verification link. Anyone with the verification code can confirm a certificate's authenticity.

Generating Certificates for an Exam

Step-by-Step

1. Open the Exam

   • Navigate to "Exams" in the sidebar
   • Click on the exam for which you want to generate certificates
   • Ensure students have completed and submitted the exam

   

2. Click "Generate Certificates"

   • In the exam toolbar or actions menu, click "Generate Certificates"

3. Configure Certificate Settings

   • Minimum Percentage (optional): Set a threshold -- only students scoring above this percentage receive a certificate. Defaults to 0% (everyone gets one).
   • Template: Choose a certificate design:
     • default -- Standard certificate layout
     • Additional templates may be available depending on your organization's configuration

   

4. Generate

   • Click "Generate"
   • The system processes all qualifying exam attempts:
     • Identifies students who scored above the minimum percentage
     • Calculates rank and total participants
     • Generates a unique verification code for each certificate
     • Creates a PDF file for each certificate
   • A summary is returned showing how many certificates were generated

   

Tip: Generate certificates only after all students have submitted and grading is complete. Certificates include the final score and rank, so late submissions would be excluded.

Viewing Certificates for an Exam

1. Open the Exam

   • Navigate to the exam detail page

2. Click "Certificates" Tab

   • View all generated certificates for this exam

3. Certificate List

   • Each entry shows:
     • Student Name
     • Student Email
     • Score and Percentage
     • Rank (e.g., 3rd out of 45)
     • Verification Code (e.g., CERT-A7B3X9)
     • Issued Date
     • PDF Status (generated or pending)

   

Downloading a Certificate PDF

As a Teacher

1. Open the exam's certificate list
2. Find the student's certificate
3. Click "Download"
4. The PDF downloads with the filename matching the verification code (e.g., CERT-A7B3X9.pdf)

As a Student

1. Navigate to "My Certificates" in the sidebar

2. View all certificates earned across all exams

3. Click "Download" on any certificate

   

Certificate PDF Contents

Each generated PDF certificate includes:

• Student Name: Full name as registered

• Exam Title: Name of the exam

• Score: Marks obtained out of total marks

• Percentage: Score as a percentage

• Rank: Position among all participants (e.g., "Rank 5 of 120")

• Total Participants: How many students took the exam

• Issue Date: When the certificate was generated

• Verification Code: Unique alphanumeric code for authenticity verification

• Verification URL: Link to the public verification page

  

Emailing Certificates to Students

Send certificates directly to students' email addresses.

Sending to a Single Student

1. Open the exam's certificate list
2. Find the student's certificate
3. Click "Resend Email"
4. The system sends an email containing:
   • Congratulations message
   • Exam title and score details
   • Rank and total participants
   • Verification code and verification URL
   • PDF attachment (if available)

Requirements

• The student must have a valid email address on record
• The email service must be configured on the backend
• If no email is available, you will see an error: "No student email on record"

Tip: Certificates are automatically emailed when first generated (if the email service is configured). Use the "Resend" option if a student did not receive theirs.

Public Verification

Anyone can verify a certificate's authenticity using the verification code.

How It Works

1. Visit the Verification Page

   • Go to https://your-domain.com/certificate/verify/CERT-XXXXXX
   • Or navigate to the verification page and enter the code manually

2. View Verification Result

   • If valid, the page displays:
     • Student name
     • Exam title
     • Score and percentage
     • Rank and total participants
     • Issue date
     • "Valid" badge

   

3. Invalid or Not Found

   • If the code does not match any certificate, a "Certificate not found or invalid verification code" message is displayed

Tip: The verification endpoint is public -- no login required. This makes it easy for employers, institutions, or parents to verify certificate authenticity.

Bulk Certificate Generation

Generate certificates for multiple exams or large student groups.

For Multiple Exams

1. Generate certificates for each exam individually using the steps above
2. Each exam's certificates are independent with their own verification codes

For Large Classes

1. The generation process handles any number of students automatically
2. All qualifying students receive certificates in a single batch
3. Monitor the generation progress -- large batches may take a few seconds

Downloading All Certificates

1. After generation, use the certificate list to download PDFs individually
2. For bulk downloads, certificates are stored at /uploads/certificates/ on the server

Student View

Students can access their certificates from their personal dashboard.

My Certificates Page

1. Students click "My Certificates" in the sidebar
2. All earned certificates are listed, sorted by issue date (newest first)
3. Each certificate shows:
   • Exam title
   • Score and percentage
   • Rank
   • Issue date
   • Download link

From Exam Attempt

1. After completing an exam, students can navigate to their attempt results
2. If a certificate has been generated, a "View Certificate" button appears
3. Clicking it shows the certificate details and download option

Certificate Data Model

For reference, each certificate record stores:

Field	Description
student_id	ID of the student
student_name	Full name at time of generation
student_email	Email for sending
exam_id	Linked exam
exam_title	Exam name at time of generation
score	Marks obtained
percentage	Score as percentage
rank	Position among participants
total_participants	Total students in the exam
verification_code	Unique code (e.g., CERT-XXXXXX)
pdf_path	Server path to the generated PDF
issued_at	Generation timestamp

Best Practices

When to Generate Certificates

• Wait until the submission deadline has passed
• Ensure all manual grading is complete (for subjective questions)
• Verify that all exam attempts are in "submitted" status
• Generate once -- regenerating may overwrite previous certificates

Setting Minimum Percentage

• For participation certificates: Set to 0%
• For achievement certificates: Set to 60-80%
• For merit certificates: Set to 90%+
• Consider separate runs with different thresholds for tiered recognition

Template Selection

• Use the default template for standard certificates
• Contact your organization admin for custom-branded templates
• Ensure your organization's logo and branding are configured for branded certificates

Distribution

• Email certificates immediately after generation
• Share the verification URL with parents and administration
• Include verification codes in report cards or progress reports

Common Issues

"Certificate not found for this attempt"

• Certificates must be generated by a teacher/admin after the exam
• The student must have an exam attempt in "submitted" status
• Check that the student's score meets the minimum percentage threshold

PDF File Not Found

• The PDF may not have been generated due to a server error
• Try regenerating certificates for the exam
• Check server storage for the /uploads/certificates/ directory

Email Not Sent

• Verify the student has a valid email address
• Check that the email service (SMTP) is configured correctly
• Look at server logs for email sending errors

Verification Code Not Working

• Ensure the full code is entered (case-sensitive)
• The code must include the prefix (e.g., "CERT-")
• Check for typos or extra spaces

Next Steps

• Grading - Complete grading before generating certificates
• Analytics - Analyze exam performance
• Assignments - Assign exams to classes

Need Help?

Contact support at support@edukali.ai