Hi Natalie

Using the fixed expiry date in recertification settings causes the expiry time to be calculated based on the specified assignment due date (if available, otherwise the first completion date), and subsequent completion expiry dates will be calculated using that same base date, regardless of whether they are late or early.

The active period is repeatedly added to the base date until the first future date is discovered. The Minimum active period is available only with this setting, and must be at least as big as the Recertification Window. (3 months for March recertification) Over the span of several recertifications, this option will prevent the expiry date from drifting forwards or backwards.

There is a known limitation when it comes to using dynamic audiences and you have new members joining the audience automatically in the future. Where there are new users joining the existing audience it would be impossible to set a new due date for these after the original fixed due date has been set. This results in these new members having a fixed expiry date based on their completion date. This will result in some users with a fixed date that is not the same as the other users each year.

To prevent this you should only use audiences that have fixed membership (by unticking the Make a user a member when they meet rule sets criteria under Automatically update membership) If new users need to be assigned to the certification you'll have to create a new audience and assign them to the certification and when doing this apply the due date appropriate for that year (e.g. 1st April 2026, 1st April 2027)

Also have a look at Certification use cases for other ways of how certifications can be set up

regards