---
title: How to Require a Learner to Complete Another Course Before Starting This Course?
description: "This article will tell you how a Learner can complete another course before starting this course. To make a prerequisite course please follow this article Specifying Prerequisite Courses Tip: Make sur"
---
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# How to Require a Learner to Complete Another Course Before Starting This Course?
### Overview
Course prerequisites in Open edX lock a course (e.g., Course B) until a learner achieves a passing grade in a required course (e.g., Course A). By designating Course A as a prerequisite for Course B, you ensure learners complete foundational content before progressing to advanced material. When a learner attempts to access the locked course, the LMS checks their grade history and blocks entry if the prerequisite has not been passed.
**Tip:** Ensure you possess course administration or staff privileges and are logged into **Open edX Studio** before configuring requirements.
### Step-by-Step Implementation
### Step 1: Open Advanced Settings
1. Log in to **Open edX Studio** and click into the course that **requires** the requirement (the advanced course, e.g., *Course B*).
2. From the top horizontal navigation menu, click on the **Settings** dropdown and select **Advanced Settings**.
### Step 2: Enable the prerequisites feature
1. On the Advanced Settings page canvas, scroll through the parameter options row or use `Ctrl + F` to search for **Prerequisites**.
2. Locate the global toggle or Boolean field for the prerequisite feature and switch it to **True** (or toggle it **On**).
3. Scroll to the bottom or top of the page workspace and click **Save Changes**. The page will reload and compile the updated tracking rules.
### Step 3: Link the prerequisite course
With the backend feature activated, a dedicated selection card or section will populate.
1. Scroll down to the newly visible **Prerequisites** configuration section on the settings canvas.
2. Click on the **Add Prerequisites** button.
3. A search catalog dropdown field or text parameter box will appear. Select or type the exact **Course ID** of the foundation block course that must be completed first (e.g., *Course A*).
4. In the **Minimum Grade** field that appears alongside the Course ID, enter the minimum passing grade percentage that learners must achieve in the prerequisite course before they can access this course (e.g., `0.75` for 75%).
5. Click **Save Changes** to apply the prerequisite configuration.
### Learner Perspective and System Safeguards
- **The Storefront Gateway:** When a learner views your catalog or Discovery Site, they can still view the advanced course description summary page.
- **The LMS Player Block:** The moment they enroll and click to enter the course player inside the LMS dashboard, the system evaluates their grade ledger. If they haven't passed the requirement, the core learning units are hidden, and an automated alert banner states: *"You must complete \[Prerequisite Course Name\] with a passing grade before you can access this content."*
### Critical Administrative Rules
> - **The Circular Dependency Error Trap:** The validation compiler does not actively prevent you from making mistakes in your sequence maps. Ensure you do not accidentally create a circular chain of prerequisites (e.g., mapping Course A to require Course B, while Course B requires Course A). This logic loop will permanently lock both courses, preventing all student profiles from accessing either course player.
> - **Re-run and Export Constraints:** Prerequisite course tracking connections are highly specific to system database IDs. If you create a **Course Re-run** for a new semester or **Export/Import** your course shell `.tar.gz` data files into a fresh catalog bucket, these background prerequisite mappings are intentionally cleared out to prevent database errors. You must manually repeat this step-by-step pipeline to establish connections on any newly cloned course run lines.
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