Configure Moodle Conditional Activities to Control Visibility Based on Completion Criteria

Problem Statement

In many courses you want to pace learners by hiding a quiz, assignment or resource until they finish a prerequisite activity or reach a minimum grade. Moodle’s Conditional activities plugin lets you enforce these rules without manual intervention. This guide walks you through the exact steps, checks, and recovery options for a typical scenario.

Desired Outcome

Hide the Final Quiz activity until the student completes the Reading Material activity and scores at least 70 % on the Pre‑test.

Prerequisites

Item	Requirement
Moodle Site	Version 4.0 or newer (Conditional activities shipped in core)
Roles	Editing teacher or higher to modify course settings
Completion Tracking	Enabled at course level for all relevant activities
Prerequisite Activities	Reading Material and Pre‑test must have completion criteria set
Conditional Activities Plugin	Installed and enabled (core in 4.0+)

Step‑by‑Step Procedure

1. Verify Completion Tracking
   • Navigate to Course administration > Settings > Availability.
   • Ensure Activity completion is set to Enabled for the course.
   • For each prerequisite activity, edit its settings and set Completion criteria (e.g., Mark as complete when the user has viewed the activity or Mark as complete when the user has achieved a grade of 70 %).
2. Set Up the Conditional Activity
   • In the course page, click Edit settings for the Final Quiz.
   • Scroll to the Restrict access section and click Add restriction.
   • Select Activity completion from the list.
   • Configure the condition:
     • Prerequisite activity: Reading Material
     • Completion status: Completed
     • Grade threshold (optional): 70 % – check Require a grade of at least 70 %.
     • Condition type: All of the following (if multiple prerequisites)
   • Optionally, set Hide activity to Yes so it remains invisible until the condition is met.
   • Click Save and return to course.
3. Preview the Result
   • Log in as a student (or use Preview as a user).
   • Verify that the Final Quiz is either greyed out or hidden.
   • Complete the Reading Material and Pre‑test to meet the criteria.
   • Refresh the course page and confirm the Final Quiz becomes available.

Expected Checks

• In the student view, the target activity should display Locked or be invisible until prerequisites are satisfied.
• In the teacher view, the Restrict access block should list the condition you added.
• After meeting the prerequisites, the activity icon should change from Locked to Available (a green check or unlocked icon).
• Use the Activity completion reports to confirm the status flags update correctly.

Recovery & Troubleshooting

1. Condition Not Working
   • Check that completion tracking is indeed enabled on the course and on each prerequisite activity.
   • Verify that the student’s role has the View activity completion capability; otherwise the system cannot evaluate the condition.
   • Confirm that the grade threshold is calculated against the correct grading method (e.g., highest grade, weighted average).
2. Activity Becomes Unavailable After Completion
   • Re‑edit the Restrict access block and ensure the condition is set to Completed (not Not completed).
   • Remove any conflicting restrictions that may override the desired behavior.
3. Rollback Plan
   • If the conditional logic unintentionally blocks all students, edit the activity and remove the Restrict access restriction.
   • Alternatively, restore a recent course backup taken before the changes.
   • Note: Deleting completion records can affect the condition; avoid purging data unless necessary.

Limitations & Performance Considerations

• Conditional activities rely on completion data; if your course has thousands of activities, the database can grow quickly. Monitor mdl_logstore_standard_log and mdl_completion_criteria tables.
• Grade‑based conditions use the current grade calculation algorithm; any changes to grading scales will affect the condition dynamically.
• Conditional activities are evaluated on page load; heavy conditions may increase page rendering time.
• Users with the View all activities capability (e.g., administrators) can bypass restrictions; ensure role permissions align with your security model.

Practical Verification Checklist

• [ ] Confirm completion tracking is enabled.
• [ ] Verify each prerequisite activity has a valid completion criterion.
• [ ] Ensure the target activity’s Restrict access block lists the intended condition.
• [ ] Test with a student account: activity is hidden until prerequisites are met.
• [ ] Review the activity completion report to see status flags change.
• [ ] Document any custom conditions for future reference.

Diagram Labels

Site administration → Course settings → Availability → Conditional activities
Course view → Edit settings → Restrict access → Activity completion condition
Student preview → Lock icon → Unlock after completion

Conclusion

By enabling completion tracking and configuring Conditional activities, you can enforce a logical learning flow without manual intervention. The steps above provide a repeatable pattern that scales from small courses to large, multi‑section programs. Remember to test thoroughly in a staging environment before deploying to production, and keep an eye on database growth if you enable many conditions.