Open this guide when someone says, "I got stuck on step 4," or "I submitted but my place is not confirmed." It breaks down the five-step public journey exactly as Classia runs it, including the checks between steps. If you understand these checks, support replies become short and accurate instead of vague. That is especially useful during week-one peaks when requests arrive faster than your admin window.
Quick triage before you debug a user complaint
When a parent reports a failure, check these first:
- Is the class still publicly available (published and publicly visible)?
- Which step failed: Who, Age, Details, Attendance, or Review?
- Was the enrolment for self or parent/guardian?
- Was the enrolment type full term or single class?
- Did the user try with an email that already has an account?
These five answers usually reveal the issue in under five minutes.
Step 1: Who is enrolling?
The journey starts with relationship choice:
I am signing up for myselfI am a parent or guardian signing up a child
This choice is not cosmetic. It changes required fields in later steps and changes safeguarding expectations.
If relationship is missing or unsupported, the step fails with a clear prompt to choose who is enrolling.
Example: wrong relationship chosen in a rush
An adult participant accidentally selects parent/guardian on mobile, then gets asked for parent details in step 3. They think the form is broken. Resetting to self in step 1 resolves it immediately.
Step 2: Age and eligibility checks
Step 2 asks for date of birth and performs strict checks:
- date must be present,
- date must be valid,
- date cannot be in the future,
- date must fit class age-min and age-max settings.
There is one critical safeguarding rule here:
- if relationship is self and age is under 18, the flow blocks and shows parental consent messaging.
This is an intentional stop, not a bug.
Step 3: Contact details
Step 3 requirements depend on relationship.
For self:
- participant first name,
- participant last name,
- participant email,
- participant phone number.
For parent/guardian:
- participant first name and last name,
- parent first name and last name,
- parent email,
- parent phone number.
Email format is validated. Blank required fields are rejected before moving forward.
Example: details pass for child but fail for parent
A parent enters child names and date of birth correctly but leaves parent phone blank. Step 3 fails, even though participant fields are complete. This is expected because parent contact is mandatory for child enrolments.
Step 4: Attendance and payment-plan choice
Step 4 combines enrolment type and payment-plan compatibility.
Enrolment types:
Single classFull term
When single class is chosen, a date is required and checked for:
- valid date format,
- date inside term dates,
- date matching class weekday.
Payment plan is always required. The selected plan must be:
- assigned to the class,
- active,
- compatible with chosen enrolment type.
Single-class requests cannot use direct-debit-only plans.
Example: single-class date and plan both wrong
A parent chooses single class for a Thursday class, selects Friday, and picks a direct-debit-only profile. Step 4 can reject date and payment plan in one pass. Fixing one but not the other still blocks progression.
Step 5: Review and submit
Step 5 shows a summary and requires explicit confirmation checkbox before submission.
If confirmation is not ticked, submission is rejected on step 5.
If the step passes, Classia attempts to create a pending enrolment request. On success, the user sees confirmation that the request was sent and is pending studio review.
Important wording for support:
- "Sent" does not mean "approved".
- Place confirmation happens after admin decision in the enrolment request queue.
Known-email sign-in requirement
There is a specific protection that catches many "why did it stop" messages.
If someone submits using an email that already belongs to an existing user account, unauthenticated submission is blocked and sign-in is required for that email address.
This prevents account confusion and reduces duplicate identity records.
Support response template that works:
- "Please sign in with that email and continue, rather than creating a second profile."
Rate limiting and repeated retries
Public steps are rate limited. If someone repeatedly submits in a short period, they can hit Try again later. responses.
In practice, this appears when parents keep refreshing and resubmitting after partial failures. Ask them to pause, then retry once after checking their details.
UK payment language to use when helping families
Keep payment explanations concrete:
Full termmeans a plan for the term period.Single classmeans one class date only.- Payment-plan choice depends on class setup and method compatibility.
If your class uses Direct Debit for term plans, explain that single-class checkout options may differ. Avoid implying every method is always available on every option.
Pitfalls to avoid
- Skipping step diagnosis and asking users to restart blindly.
- Treating under-18 self-enrolment block as an error instead of safeguarding behaviour.
- Ignoring weekday rules when troubleshooting single-class date failures.
- Assuming missing payment-plan options are random rather than configuration-driven.
- Telling users they are fully enrolled when they are only pending review.
Related feature
Pitfalls to avoid
- Skipping step diagnosis and asking users to restart blindly.
- Treating under-18 self-enrolment block as an error instead of safeguarding behaviour.
- Ignoring weekday rules when troubleshooting single-class date failures.
- Assuming missing payment-plan options are random rather than configuration-driven.
- Telling users they are fully enrolled when they are only pending review.
Related guides
- Public pages and enrolment requests
- Approve, reject, waitlist, and match resolution
- From request to enrolment records
FAQ
What are the exact five steps?
Who, Age, Details, Attendance, and Review.
Can under-18 users self-enrol?
No. Self-enrolment under 18 is blocked and the flow requires parent or guardian completion.
Why does step 4 reject a selected date?
For single-class enrolments, the date must be valid, inside term dates, and on the class day of week.
Why does the form ask someone to sign in before submitting?
If the submitted email already belongs to an existing user account, sign-in is required for that email.
What if no payment plan appears for the chosen enrolment type?
The assigned class payment profiles are either inactive or not compatible with that enrolment type.
Does submitting step 5 confirm a class place immediately?
No. Step 5 creates a pending enrolment request that still requires studio review.