Creating a certificate of attendance: content, template, prevention courses

What belongs on a certificate of attendance

For general courses there is no statutory form. These details have proved their worth:

the name and address of the course provider, ideally with a logo,
the participant's first name and surname – the date of birth only if the recipient requires it,
the course title and, if needed, the course number,
the period from the first to the last session and the place,
the scope, for example “10 sessions of 90 minutes”,
the number of sessions attended,
if you wish, the content in keywords,
the course leader with their qualification, plus place, date, signature and stamp.

Only certify what you can prove. The basis for that is a clean attendance list.

Prevention courses under § 20 SGB V

For certified prevention courses subsidised by German health insurers, separate rules apply. Under the prevention guidance of the GKV-Spitzenverband, the template for the certificate of attendance has been mandatory since 1 January 2026. A digital signature is allowed; false statements can lead to reclaims and even exclusion.

You fill in the first part of the template as the course provider:

the participant's name and the course title,
the period from – to,
“at __ of __ course units of __ minutes”,
the prevention principle and the course leader,
the course ID from the database of the Zentrale Prüfstelle Prävention (ZPP),
whether it is an ICT-based course,
confirmation that the course leader ran the course in person,
the fee paid,
declarations regarding membership fees and that this is not a subscription,
place, date, signature.

The insured person fills in the second part themselves. The ZPP provides the certificate pre-filled in your provider account. If the fee differs, you correct it; if a stand-in led individual sessions, you note that.

For context: a certified course has 8 to 12 units of 45 to 90 minutes and 6 to 15 participants. At most two courses per person per year are subsidised.

How often does someone have to have attended?

The guidance only speaks of “regular” attendance. The individual insurers set the actual figures. Techniker Krankenkasse, for example, requires at least 80 per cent of the sessions for classroom courses and time-bound online courses, and 100 per cent for courses taken independently of time and place. The insurers' certification criteria state 100 per cent for online courses and at least 80 per cent for live online seminars. If in doubt, ask the insurer concerned.

Not legal advice. This article gives a general overview of German practice as at 22 September 2026. For prevention courses the current prevention guidance and the ZPP requirements are authoritative.

A printable template

For general courses we have prepared a plain portrait template – with space for your logo, all the details above and fields for signature and stamp. The template is in German. For prevention courses under § 20 SGB V you use the mandatory template of the health insurers instead.

Download the certificate as a PDF (A4, to fill in and print)

Certificates in Kursimple

For everyone at once: at the end of the course Kursimple creates the certificates as a collected PDF or emails them to everyone – or individually per participant (from the Plus plan).
Your template: name, course, date and your course details are filled in automatically; on request we adapt the template to your specifications.
Attendance as the basis: you tick off attendance per course day, and the overview shows per participant how often they were there – exactly the figure you enter in the insurers' template.

More about participants & certificates

Sources

Read on: Keeping an attendance list · Kursimple for yoga, pilates & fitness

Creating a certificate of attendance: content, template and prevention courses