Certificate verification

A certificate is useful only if the person it is shown to can check it. This policy explains what an rTraining certificate records, how anyone can check one, what the check shows and what it deliberately does not, and what happens to a certificate that is reissued, withdrawn, or whose holder archives or deletes their account.

When a certificate is issued

A certificate is issued when somebody passes a course's assessment, and only then. It is never issued for an attempt that failed, including one that cleared the pass mark but got a critical question wrong. One passed attempt produces one certificate; if we later reissue it (see "Correcting or replacing a certificate"), the new certificate records the same pass and takes the old one's place. The assessment policy explains how an attempt is marked.

What a certificate records

• A unique number, in the form RT-ABC-2K7QMD: RT, three letters for the course, then six letters and numbers. The last six never include O, I, L, U, zero or one, so that they are hard to misread.
• The holder's name, as it was on their account when the certificate was issued, or as corrected when it was reissued.
• The course, and the version of it that was taken.
• The date it was issued, and, where the course has one, the date it needs renewing by. The renewal date is the issue date plus the course's stated refresh period. A course with no refresh period gives a certificate with no renewal date; we do not invent one.
• The accreditation the course carried on the day, where it carried one that had been awarded and was in date. A course whose accreditation is applied for but not yet awarded, or has lapsed, does not show the body's name or mark on the certificate.
• Who issued it: rTriibe, and where to check it.

A certificate does not show a score. The details are captured as they were on the day it was issued, so a certificate stays true to what was taken even if the course is later changed or withdrawn.

How to check a certificate

Anyone can check a certificate at /verify, with no account, by entering its number. Spaces, dashes and small letters are all accepted. The holder can also give you a link to their training profile, which shows the certificates they chose to share, each with its number, and the name it was issued in where that is not the name the profile opens with.

What the check shows

The check gives one of these answers:

• Valid and current. Issued by rTriibe and in date, or with no renewal date.
• Valid, renewal overdue or Expired. Issued by rTriibe, but its renewal date has passed.
• Genuine, since replaced. rTriibe issued it and later reissued the same pass with a new number, which the check names and links to. It has not been withdrawn. Check the new number for the name and details as they stand.
• Withdrawn. rTriibe issued it and later withdrew it, so it should not be relied on.
• Not found. No certificate has been issued with that number.
• Not a certificate number. What was entered is not in the form an rTraining number takes.
• We cannot check this at the moment. The register is unavailable, or the device has made too many checks in a short time. This does not mean the certificate is invalid.

For a certificate that exists, it also shows the holder's name, the course, the version taken, the dates, the accreditation where the course carried one, and the name of the expert who reviewed the course, or "the rTriibe team" where the course carries no accreditation and was credited to the team. The name shown is the name the certificate was issued in, which is the name printed on it, not the name on the holder's account today. A reissued certificate also shows the day it was reissued and the number it replaced.

What the check never shows

• the holder's answers, score or attempt history;
• the holder's other courses or certificates;
• the holder's email address or any contact details;
• a reviewer's professional registration number;
• why a certificate was withdrawn or reissued. That is between us and the holder.

The check answers about one number at a time. It is limited to 30 checks every five minutes from the same device, so that nobody can work through certificate numbers to find out who holds what, and the result page is marked so that search engines do not index it.

Withdrawing a certificate

We may withdraw a certificate if it was obtained dishonestly, if it was issued in error, or for the other reasons in our malpractice and maladministration policy. When we do:

• the reason is recorded, and the holder is emailed with it;
• the check shows the certificate as Withdrawn, and nothing more;
• the certificate is not deleted. It stays on the record, marked as withdrawn, with when and why.

If we find that a withdrawal was wrong, we reinstate the certificate and it checks as valid again. The holder can challenge a withdrawal under the appeals policy.

A certificate that has been replaced by a reissue is not withdrawn on its own: its replacement is the one that stands, so that is the one we withdraw. If we do, checking the old number says Withdrawn too.

If the holder closes their account

It depends which of the two ways they chose:

• Archived account. The holder can no longer sign in, but their certificates are kept and still verify.
• Deleted account. The holder has asked to be erased. Their certificates are deleted with everything else and stop verifying: a check of the number answers Not found.

The terms explain the difference to the holder before they choose.

Getting your certificate

The holder can download their certificate from their account as often as they like, free. The first download comes after the short end-of-course feedback form; the certificate is issued, and checks as valid, whether or not the form has been filled in. Feedback given on a certificate counts for any certificate that replaces it. A withdrawn certificate cannot be downloaded, and neither can one that has been replaced; its replacement can.

Correcting or replacing a certificate

A certificate keeps the name it was issued in. Changing the name on your account changes the name on certificates issued afterwards, not on one you already hold. If the name on a certificate is wrong, or you need a new copy with a new number, ask us: under Help in your account ("Ask for a certificate to be corrected", or "Request a correction" beside the certificate), or at training@rtriibe.com.

Our staff check the request and reissue the certificate. A reissue:

• creates a new certificate with a new number for the same pass: the same course, the same version, the same issue date and the same renewal date, with the corrected name where that was the reason;
• does not change the old certificate. It stays on the record as it was issued and still checks as genuine, saying it was replaced and by which number. It is not withdrawn;
• is recorded, with the reason, the name before and after, who made it and when;
• is emailed to the holder, with the new certificate attached, or with where to download it if the download is waiting on the end-of-course feedback.

An organisation that sponsored the training sees the new certificate in place of the old one, and not the reason. On any compliance record or evidence pack, the old certificate is the evidence up to the moment it was reissued and the new one after it, never both, so a record drawn for an earlier date is unchanged.

A reissue changes the name and the number and nothing else. If the course, the version or a date on a certificate is wrong, tell us in the same way: we look at it under the complaints and appeals procedure, and a certificate issued in error is withdrawn as set out above.

If you think a certificate is not genuine

If the details you were shown do not match what the check says, or a document looks altered, rely on the check, not the document, and email training@rtriibe.com with "malpractice" in the subject line.