What Happens When You Import Historic Records

In this article:

• Overview
• What gets created
• What learners see
• Certificates, points and notifications
• Reporting
• HR integrations
• Running the same import again
• FAQs
• Who can do this

Overview

A historic import is designed to backfill your records quietly: it creates learning records with their original dates, without triggering the emails, points and Certificates that a live completion would. This article sets out exactly what is and isn't affected, so you know what to expect before you migrate.

What gets created

Every imported row becomes a real learning record, back-dated to the dates in your file:

• Completed course rows create a completed record with the start and completion dates from your file, the score you supplied (or 100), and 100% progress. If the course has a required pass score and the imported score is below it, the record is faithfully marked as not passed. For SCORM and AI-built courses, the course player also treats the record as done — it won't show "Not started" for a completion you imported.
• In-progress course rows create an in-progress record from the start date, at the percentage you supplied (or 0%).
• Completed Pathway rows enrol the person and complete the whole Pathway — every step is marked complete with the historic dates, including SCORM steps.
• In-progress Pathway rows enrol the person from the start date with all steps still to complete. Per-step progress is not reconstructed.

If someone already has the course assigned and in progress, a historic completed row is created alongside their current assignment — the active assignment is untouched, so their current learning obligations don't change. The Confirm step flags these people before you import.

What learners see

Imported records appear on the person's profile and learning history like any other record, with the historic dates. Learners are not notified — no assignment email, no completion email, nothing in their notification feed. Most organisations import history before or during rollout precisely so people's records are simply there when they first log in.

Certificates, points and notifications

A historic import deliberately does not behave like a live completion:

• Certificates are not issued for imported completions, even if the learning has a Certificate attached.
• No gamification points are awarded, so your leaderboards aren't distorted by years of back-dated history landing in one day.
• No notifications or emails are sent to learners or their Managers. The only message sent is the completion summary to the admin who ran the import.
• Workflows and automations that react to a learner completing something are not triggered.

Reporting

Imported records flow into reporting like any other learning record, carrying their historic dates — so a completion from 2023 appears in 2023 on your reports, not on the day you imported it. This is the main reason to migrate history: compliance reports, expiry tracking and completion rates all reflect the person's true record from day one.

HR integrations

Imported completions are not sent to a connected HR system (e.g. HiBob, Deputy, Employment Hero) automatically. If you want them on the employee's HR record, run your integration's training sync after the import finishes — it picks up the imported records and pushes them with their historic dates. If you don't run a sync, nothing is sent.

Running the same import again

Re-running a file is safe by design. A record is skipped when the same person already has the same learning recorded for the same completion date — so uploading a file twice, or uploading a corrected version of an earlier file, only creates what's missing. This is also the standard way to finish a migration: import, add the people who weren't found, then upload the same file again.

FAQs

Can I issue Certificates for imported completions?
Not automatically — the import never issues them. If specific people need a Certificate for a migrated completion, contact support to discuss options.

Will imported records trigger recertification or expiry tracking?
Imported completions carry their real dates, so anything that reads completion dates — like reports on how long ago training happened — reflects them. The import itself doesn't create schedules or reassignments.

Do imported records affect a learner's current assignments?
No. An in-progress assignment stays exactly as it is, even when you import an older completion of the same course for that person.

Why don't imported completions push to my HR system by default?
Migrations often involve thousands of records, and not every organisation wants them mirrored into their HR system. Making it an explicit sync keeps you in control — run the training sync when you're ready.

Who can do this

Owners and Admins can run historic imports. Managers, Content Managers, People Managers, Instructors, Employees and Restricted users cannot. What learners see (§above) applies to everyone — imported records are visible on profiles and reports according to your normal visibility rules.

Updated on: 07/08/2026