How-to

Turn on course evaluation

Alva Courses can hold a course open until you have looked at the work. With evaluation switched on, a student who reaches the end of the course does not finish it automatically — they hand it to you for review, and their coursework freezes while it waits.

Before you start

Evaluation is a per-course setting, so you can assess one course and leave the rest to complete on their own. Students still have to finish every published lesson before they can submit anything.

Turn evaluation on

1. Open Shopify admin, then open Alva Courses.
2. Open the course, then select the Settings tab.
3. In the Certificates card, tick Require manual evaluation before completion.
4. Save the course.
5. Open Settings from the Alva Courses menu and tick Send email notifications for evaluation submissions.
6. Enter the address under Notification email address, then save.

What the freeze actually prevents

Between the moment a student submits and the moment you close the review, that student's work on that course is read-only:

• No further lessons can be marked complete.
• No quiz can be started, answered or submitted.
• Reflection entries cannot be edited or saved.
• The completion certificate and the completion email are both withheld until the work passes.

What students see

At the end of the course a Submit for evaluation button replaces the usual completion celebration, and a short dialog warns that lessons and quiz answers lock until the review is finished. Once submitted, the course shows "Submitted for evaluation. Your instructor is reviewing your work."

Turning it off again

Clearing the setting releases every student who is currently waiting: their work unfreezes on their next visit and the course completes normally. Any evaluation you already closed keeps its grade and its feedback.

See also

Next, review and grade a submission, set up your grade scale, or read what students see from the other side of the screen.

Last updated 2026-09-07