Cancelling an ILC

Updated April 28, 2026 20:04

This article explains how to cancel an Instructor Led Course (ILC) Session in Absorb LMS, how Cancel differs from Delete, and how the Cancel action affects Enrollments, Messaging, and Reporting. It also covers the Learner self-cancel experience and known behaviors to consider when cancelling a Session.

Cancel Is A Recent Addition

The Cancel action for ILC Sessions became available February 2026. Before this release, the only way to remove a Session was to Delete it, which cleared the Session association from every affected Enrollment.

Cancel vs. Delete

Cancel and Delete both remove a Session from the active schedule, but they preserve very different amounts of data. Cancel is designed for Sessions that are being called off but may be offered again, while Delete is designed for Sessions that were created in error or are no longer needed at all.

Action	Cancel	Delete
Session record	Retained and marked as Cancelled.	Removed from the ILC Sessions report.
Enrollment records	Preserved with their Session reference intact.	Retained at the Course level, but the Session reference is cleared.
Notification	Sends a Cancelled Session message to recipients selected during the workflow.	Sends the standard Session removal notification, including a Remove From Calendar option.
Reporting visibility	Visible on the ILC Sessions report with Cancelled = Yes, Date Cancelled, and Cancelled By.	No longer appears in the ILC Sessions report. The ILC Activity report shows No Session Selected for the affected Enrollments.
Best used for	A Session that is being called off, rescheduled, or preserved for historical interest tracking.	A Session that was created in error or is no longer relevant.

Cancelling an ILC Session does not un-enroll Learners from the ILC. Learners remain enrolled in the Course and must either choose a new Session or be un-enrolled from the ILC by an Admin.

How to Cancel an ILC Session

An Admin with permissions to edit the ILC can Cancel a Session from the Edit Instructor Led Course page. Follow the steps below to cancel a Session and notify Learners and Instructors.

In the Admin Experience, open the Courses report from the Courses menu.
Edit the ILC that contains the Session you want to Cancel.
Scroll to the Sessions section.
Locate the Session in the Upcoming Sessions Preview, or click the Future Sessions panel under Session Details to open the full Sessions overlay.
Click the Cancel button beside the Session. The Cancel Session workspace opens.
Review the Session Cancellation Message Template and adjust the body or subject line as needed.
Add any context the Admin team should retain in the Cancellation Notes field.
Click Cancel Session to confirm.
Click Publish on the ILC to commit the change. The Session will not appear as Cancelled in reporting or to Learners until the Course is published.

After cancellation, the Session moves to the Cancelled Sessions panel under Session Details. Enrollment records for each affected Learner remain intact and continue to reference the cancelled Session, which supports re-invitation if the Session is rescheduled or duplicated.

Notifications and Message Templates

The Cancel Session workspace uses the Cancelled Session Message Template to notify affected recipients. Admins can adjust the Message Template at the system level under Setup > Message Templates, or customize the copy in place during the cancellation workflow when no system-level Custom Template is in use.

Reporting on Cancelled Sessions

Cancelled Sessions remain visible in the ILC Sessions report and can be surfaced by filtering the Cancelled column. The following columns are relevant when auditing cancellations.

Column	Description
Cancelled	Displays the Session's cancellation status as Yes or No.
Cancelled By	Displays the name of the Admin who cancelled the Session.
Date Cancelled	Displays the date and time the Session was cancelled.

For Learner-level detail, review the ILC Activity Report. The Enrollment records will continue to reference the cancelled Session rather than displaying No Session Selected, which is the behavior associated with deleted Sessions.

Learner-Initiated Session Cancellation

Learners can cancel their own Session Enrollment provided the ILC allows it. This behavior is controlled by the Prohibit Learners from Modifying Sessions toggle and the Set Cancellation Cutoff Period field, both located under the Availability section of the Overview of Instructor Led Course (ILC) Settings.

Setting	Behavior
Prohibit Learners from Modifying Sessions = OFF	Learners can change or Cancel their Session Enrollment for any future Session.
Prohibit Learners from Modifying Sessions = ON	Learners cannot change or Cancel their Session Enrollment. An Admin must make the change on their behalf.
Set Cancellation Cutoff Period	Sets the number of days before Session start when Learners can no longer change or Cancel their attendance.

A Learner can only Cancel enrollment in a future Session. Once a Session has started, cancellation is no longer available to the Learner.

Edge Cases and Known Behaviors

The following behaviors have surfaced in field testing of the Cancel action. Review these before cancelling a Session so you can set Learner expectations and plan any manual follow-up.

Calendar Invites Are Not Withdrawn

When a Session is cancelled, the Learner receives the cancellation email, but the original calendar invite remains in their calendar without any status change. This differs from the Delete action, which marks the invite as Cancelled and surfaces a Remove From Calendar option.

Advise Learners to remove the invite manually after receiving the cancellation email, or include explicit removal instructions in the Session Cancellation Message Template.

Publish Is Required to Commit the Cancellation

Cancelling a Session is not final until the ILC is republished. If the Course is closed without clicking Publish, the Session will not appear as Cancelled to Learners or in reporting, and the cancellation email may not reach recipients.

Editing a Custom Message Template in the Workspace

When a custom Session Cancellation template is configured at the system level, the message body cannot be edited in the Cancel Session workspace for that specific Session. To adjust the copy, update the Custom Template under Setup > Message Templates, or temporarily disable the Custom Template before cancelling the Session.

Reopening the Cancellation Window After the Fact

After a Session is cancelled, the Cancel Session workspace cannot be reopened from the Cancelled Sessions panel, and the Session cannot be edited from the ILC Sessions report. Draft the Cancellation Notes and finalize the recipient list before confirming the cancellation.

Rescheduling or Reusing a Cancelled Session

Because Enrollment records are preserved on cancelled Sessions, an Admin can duplicate the cancelled Session to create a replacement and use the existing Enrollment history to re-invite prior registrants.

Roles and Permissions

An Admin must have permission to edit the ILC in order to cancel one of its Sessions. Required and suggested permissions are covered in the Overview of Instructor Led Course (ILC) Settings article.

If your environment uses customized roles or permissions, confirm cancellation access with your System Admin before the first Session cancellation.

More Information

This section contains links to related articles in our Knowledge Base. If you have additional questions not covered here, please reach out to your Client Success representative.