Configure Learner Unenroll Survey

Configure Learner Unenroll Survey#

Overview#

When learners unenroll from a course in the Learner Dashboard, they can optionally be shown a survey asking them for their reason for unenrolling. This survey helps course teams and site operators understand why learners are leaving courses and can inform improvements to course content and platform features.

As of the Verawood release, the unenroll survey can be configured to be either shown or skipped entirely. This allows site operators to customize the unenrollment experience based on their institutional needs.

This document explains how to configure the SHOW_UNENROLL_SURVEY setting for the frontend-app-learner-dashboard micro-frontend (MFE).

Configuration Options#

The unenroll survey behavior is controlled by the SHOW_UNENROLL_SURVEY environment variable, which accepts a boolean value:

true (default): Shows the unenroll survey modal after the learner confirms they want to unenroll. The survey presents multiple-choice reasons and an optional custom text field.
false: Skips the survey entirely and unenrolls the learner immediately after they confirm the unenrollment action.

Unenrollment Flow#

When SHOW_UNENROLL_SURVEY is true:

Learner clicks “Unenroll” from the course actions menu
Confirmation modal appears asking “Are you sure you want to unenroll?”
Learner clicks “Unenroll” button in the confirmation modal
Survey modal appears asking “Why are you unenrolling?”
Learner selects a reason (or skips the survey)
Learner is unenrolled and sees a success message

When SHOW_UNENROLL_SURVEY is false:

Learner clicks “Unenroll” from the course actions menu
Confirmation modal appears asking “Are you sure you want to unenroll?”
Learner clicks “Unenroll” button in the confirmation modal
Learner is unenrolled immediately and sees a success message

Survey Reasons#

When the survey is enabled (SHOW_UNENROLL_SURVEY=true), learners can choose from the following predefined reasons:

I don’t have the academic or language prerequisites
The course material was too hard
The course material was too easy
This won’t help me reach my goals
Something was broken
I don’t have the time
I just wanted to browse the material
I don’t have enough support
I am not happy with the quality of the content
Other (custom text input)
I prefer not to say

Configuring the Setting#

The configuration method depends on your deployment approach:

For Tutor Deployments#

If you’re using Tutor to manage your Open edX installation, you can configure this setting using a Tutor plugin:

Create or edit a Tutor plugin file (e.g., myplugin.py)

Add the following configuration using the appropriate settings hook:

from tutor import hooks

hooks.Filters.ENV_PATCHES.add_item(
    (
        "openedx-lms-production-settings",
        """
MFE_CONFIG["SHOW_UNENROLL_SURVEY"] = {{ SHOW_UNENROLL_SURVEY|tojson }}
"""
    )
)

hooks.Filters.ENV_PATCHES.add_item(
    (
        "openedx-lms-development-settings",
        """
MFE_CONFIG["SHOW_UNENROLL_SURVEY"] = {{ SHOW_UNENROLL_SURVEY|tojson }}
"""
    )
)

hooks.Filters.CONFIG_DEFAULTS.add_item(
    ("SHOW_UNENROLL_SURVEY", True)
)

Enable the plugin:
```
tutor plugins enable myplugin
```
Save the new configuration:
```
tutor config save
```
If you want to disable the survey, you can set the value when saving the configuration:
```
tutor config save --set SHOW_UNENROLL_SURVEY=false
```

Rebuild and restart the MFE:

tutor images build mfe
tutor local start -d

For Direct MFE Deployment#

If you’re deploying the frontend-app-learner-dashboard MFE directly (without Tutor):

Locate your MFE’s .env file or environment configuration
Add or modify the following line:
```
SHOW_UNENROLL_SURVEY=true
```
Or to disable the survey:
```
SHOW_UNENROLL_SURVEY=false
```
Rebuild the MFE:
```
npm run build
```
Restart your web server to apply the changes

Verifying the Configuration#

To verify that the configuration has been applied correctly:

Log in to your Open edX site as a learner
Enroll in a test course
Navigate to your learner dashboard
Click on the course actions menu (three dots) for the test course
Click Unenroll
Observe the unenrollment flow:
- If SHOW_UNENROLL_SURVEY is true: You should see a survey modal after confirming unenrollment
- If SHOW_UNENROLL_SURVEY is false: You should be unenrolled immediately after confirming, without seeing the survey

Troubleshooting#

Survey not showing when expected#

If you’ve set SHOW_UNENROLL_SURVEY=true but the survey isn’t appearing:

Verify that the environment variable is correctly set in your deployment
Clear your browser cache and MFE cache
Check the browser console for any JavaScript errors
Ensure you’ve rebuilt the MFE after changing the configuration
Verify that the MFE is loading the correct configuration using the browser console method above

Survey still showing when disabled#

If you’ve set SHOW_UNENROLL_SURVEY=false but the survey still appears:

Verify that the configuration has been properly saved
Restart the MFE service
Clear any CDN or proxy caches that might be serving old versions of the MFE
Check if there are multiple configuration sources (e.g., site configuration overriding the default)

Institutional Considerations#

Benefits of Enabling the Survey#

Data-driven insights: Collect valuable feedback about why learners are leaving courses
Course improvement: Help instructors identify problem areas in their courses
Platform improvement: Identify systemic issues that affect multiple courses
Research opportunities: Generate data for educational research

Benefits of Disabling the Survey#

Streamlined experience: Reduce friction in the unenrollment process
Learner autonomy: Respect learners who want to leave quickly without providing feedback
Lower abandonment rates: Some learners might abandon unenrollment if required to complete a survey
Compliance: Meet institutional policies that prohibit mandatory or suggested feedback collection

Maintenance chart

Review Date	Working Group Reviewer	Release	Test situation
2026-02-23	Muhammad Arslan Abdul Rauf	Verawood	Verified on local deployment

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