The final exam opens only when every lesson in the course is marked complete. On a long course the figure is rounded, so a course with 200 lessons can open the exam at 199. On any normal course it means all of them. Until it does, the exam page reads "This exam is not available yet. Complete all lessons first." and the server will not hand over the questions.
The message names no lesson, which is the hard part. Nearly always a single lesson is sitting just short of its completion trigger, and the trigger is different for each kind of lesson.
Each kind of lesson completes on a different trigger
- A video lesson completes at 90% watched. Stopping at 88% and moving on leaves it in progress. Skipping ahead past the 90% mark counts, and so does letting the video play to the end.
- A reading lesson completes when you press Mark complete. Scrolling to the bottom does nothing on its own.
- A quiz lesson completes when you pass the quiz, not when you attempt it. A failed attempt leaves the lesson open.
- An assignment lesson completes when you submit it, before anyone has graded it.
Nothing counts until you are enrolled
Progress is recorded against your enrolment in the course, not against your account. On a free course the lessons play whether you enrolled or not, so it is possible to watch a course end to end and have none of it saved, and there is no way to backfill it afterwards. The course page tells you which side you are on: an enrolled learner sees Continue with a percentage, everyone else sees Enroll. If it still says Enroll, press it and work through the lessons again.
Finding the lesson that is holding you up
Open the course content list, either on the course page or below the player on the lessons page. Every lesson you have finished carries a tick. Read down it module by module and find the one without a tick, then open that lesson and finish it on the rule above. The exam opens as soon as the last tick appears. There is nothing to wait for and nothing to request.
If the lesson without a tick is a video you thought you had watched, watch the last stretch of it rather than the whole thing. Ninety per cent of the running time is the bar, so the final minutes are what is missing.
A course that grows can close the exam again
Your percentage is counted live against the lessons the course holds today, including any the instructor adds after you enrolled. A new module lowers everyone's figure and shuts the exam until the new lessons are done.
Two things survive that. Once you have passed the final exam it stays open to you, whatever later happens to the lesson count. And a certificate you have already earned stays valid: it is issued once and is never withdrawn.