Records retention basics
Know what to keep, for how long, when to destroy it securely, and when you must not destroy anything.
- Level
- Beginner
- Length
- About 35 minutes
- Contents
- 3 lessons · 1 video · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 1 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Read a retention schedule and work out when a record may be destroyed
- Recognize a legal hold and stop destruction
- Choose a secure disposal method for paper and electronic records
- Record what was destroyed, when and by whom
Course outline
- 1.Records retention basicsVideo · 2 min
- 2.Keep, destroy, or holdLesson · 15 min
- 3.Electronic records and secure disposalLesson · 13 min
- 4.Legal holds in practiceLesson · 12 min
- 5.Records retention basics: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 24 questions
- 6.Records retention basics: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 7.Final exam6 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- General records-management practice (retention schedules, legal holds, secure disposal)
- General office administration and recordkeeping practice
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