Partial Access
Give a learner access to only part of an offering, such as one semester or one purchased section.
Sometimes a learner should see only part of an offering — for example, someone who bought just "Semester 1", or one section of a larger course. Partial access lets you do exactly that.
The simple rule
- No partial access set = full access. By default, an enrolled learner sees everything in the offering.
- With partial access set, the learner sees only the parts you grant — the rest is hidden from them.
So partial access is something you switch on for an enrollment when you want to narrow it. If you never touch it, the learner gets the whole offering.
What you can grant access to
You grant access to specific parts of an offering — for example a particular section or a particular term/period (such as a semester). A learner can hold access to one part, or several parts at once.
How learners get partial access
| Source | How it happens |
|---|---|
| A purchase | A learner buys a specific part, and gets access to only that part. |
| Admin assignment | You grant specific parts to a learner yourself. |
Granting or changing access for many learners
You can adjust partial access for a whole group at once:
- Open any enrollments list (the global one, or a course/cohort/learning path Learners tab).
- Select the learners you want to change.
- Choose the parts they should have access to.
- Preview the change — you'll see a before-and-after for each learner, with what's being added and what's being removed.
- Save.
The selection becomes the learner's exact set of accessible parts: anything you picked is added, and anything you didn't pick is removed.
Bulk partial-access edits only affect learners who already have partial access. Learners with full access are left untouched, so you can't accidentally restrict everyone by applying a partial set. You must select at least one part — there is no "remove everything" shortcut.
Purchases and refunds
Partial access stays in sync with what a learner bought:
- Buying a part grants access to that part.
- Refunding a part removes access to just that part — the learner keeps everything else they still hold.
What the learner sees
A learner with partial access simply sees the parts they have. The parts they don't have aren't shown. There's no separate "locked" notice for content they were never granted — it just isn't part of their view.
Partial access controls which parts a learner owns. When those parts open and close over time is handled separately by drip scheduling.