Certificate of attendance template, wording and a free sample
A certificate of attendance says someone was there. It doesn't say they passed anything. Getting that difference right keeps your certificates honest and saves awkward questions later. Here's when to use one, wording you can copy, and a sample layout made in CertSheet that you can download.
Attendance or completion?
| Certificate of attendance | Certificate of completion | |
|---|---|---|
| What it confirms | The person was present | The person finished the required work |
| Typical events | Conferences, seminars, webinars, open days, short talks | Courses, training programmes, workshops with exercises |
| What you need to check | A sign-in sheet, registration scan or webinar log | Assignments, a test, practical sign-off or full attendance |
| Key verb | “attended”, “participated in” | “has successfully completed” |
Use attendance whenever you didn't assess anyone. If a workshop had a test but some people only sat in, give completion certificates to those who passed and attendance certificates to the rest. Don't give everyone a completion certificate to be kind; the people who did the work lose out, and an employer who checks may stop trusting your certificates.
Some professions count attendance towards continuing professional development (CPD) hours. If yours does, put the hours on the certificate, and only count the time the person was actually there.
What to put on it
- Title: “Certificate of Attendance” or “Certificate of Participation”.
- Presentation line: “This certifies that”.
- Name, spelled as the person wants it shown. Copy it from the registration form, not from a badge someone typed in a hurry.
- The event: its full name, and the place if it was held in person.
- Date: one day, or a range such as “24–26 September 2026”.
- Hours (optional): useful for CPD, only if you can stand behind them.
- Organiser: who ran the event, with a signature line or a certificate ID and QR code so it can be checked.
Wording you can copy
Words in {braces} are spreadsheet columns. In CertSheet you type them as fixed text, and each certificate fills in its own row.
This certifies that
{Name}
attended {Event}
held in {City} on {Date}
This is to certify that
{Name}
attended {Hours} hours of {Event}
on {Date}
This certifies that
{Name}
participated in the live webinar {Event}
on {Date}
This certifies that
{Name}
attended {Event}
from {Start date} to {End date}
Avoid words that suggest an assessment: “qualified”, “passed”, “competent” or “certified in”. An attendance certificate can't support them.
A free sample, made in CertSheet
This is a real certificate from CertSheet, unedited. The organiser of a one-day business summit in Montego Bay uploaded a three-column sheet:
| Attendee | Event | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Kerry-Ann Thompson | the Montego Bay Small Business Summit 2026 | 2026-09-26 |
| Damion Clarke | the Montego Bay Small Business Summit 2026 | 2026-09-26 |
| Simone Grant | the Montego Bay Small Business Summit 2026 | 2026-09-26 |
They picked the Paper template, one of CertSheet's two attendance designs. CertSheet recognised the Attendee, Event and Date columns, filled in “Certificate of Attendance”, “This certifies that” and “attended {Event}”, and wrote the date as “26 September 2026”. Nothing else was changed. Putting “the” at the start of the event name in the sheet makes the sentence read naturally.
The whole batch came back as a ZIP with one PDF per person, named Kerry-Ann Thompson.pdf and so on. The QR code in the corner holds the certificate's unique ID. With online verification turned on (Pro or Event Pass), it opens a page confirming the certificate instead.
To make your own: open the app, upload your list as CSV or Excel, choose Paper or Tide, and adjust the wording. Add the organiser's name or the hours as one of the three custom fields. Up to 20 certificates per batch are free.
Checks before you send them
- Compare the list against your sign-in records, not just registrations. People who registered but didn't come shouldn't get a certificate.
- Scroll through the preview for long names that wrap, and for accents (CertSheet's fonts cover them).
- Print one copy if people will print them, and scan the QR code from the paper.
- Send them within a week while the event is fresh. Attendees often post them, which is free publicity for your next event.
Running a course instead? See certificate of completion wording. For the step-by-step, see how to make certificates from a spreadsheet.