Moodle 5.1 explained: improvements and technical migration

As the release of Moodle 5.1scheduled for release on October 6, 2025, we invite you to discover the main developments taking place around the user experience and opening up new technical perspectives.

Moodle 5.1 is positioned as an intermediate version. The support cycle remains 18 months – no surprise there.

This Moodle LMS update deserves your attention, especially for system administrators, developers and teaching teams.

One of the most visible changes in Moodle 5.1 is the redesign of the activity selector. If you’ve ever seen a teacher try to choose an activity in Moodle, you know that there was room for improvement. Moodle 5.1 solves this problem by organizing activities by pedagogical approach:

• Evaluation
• Collaboration
• Communication
• Resources
• Interactive content

By clicking on the “i” (information) icon, each activity displays :

• A clear description of its use
• If it can be evaluated
• The different pedagogical approaches it can support

This evolution makes it easier to get an overview of the range of pedagogical functions offered by Moodle, and will save time for teachers.

Establishments that practice correction with several trainers or teachers will appreciate this. Moodle 5.1 introduces a Double Mar king system for assignments, meeting the academic rigor requirements of higher education institutions or training organizations.

Moodle 5.1 integrates this new approach:

• The system assigns two graders per assignment
• Each of us notes
• In the event of significant disagreement, a mediator intervenes
• Anonymous correction option available

Before, we had to juggle Excel spreadsheets and emails. Now everything happens in Moodle with real-time tracking. The assessment process, or the possibility of assigning a specific assessor, completes these new features for a complete system.

The improvements are targeted but useful:

• Possibility of noting participation in sessions (at last!)
• Reliable backup/restore at last
• Fewer display bugs in recordings
• Extension via sub-plugins for greater developer flexibility

It may not be spectacular, but this kind of evolution positions BigBlueButton as an even more mature virtual classroom solution, integrated into the Moodle ecosystem.

Here’s a biggie: all Moodle code migrates to a public folder.

Why? Security and compliance with modern web best practices. The problem? It will break your deployment scripts if you have any!

What you’ll need to do:

• Review your Apache/Nginx configurations
• Adapt your backup scripts
• Update your CI/CD tools
• Notify your technical teams

It’s the kind of change you make once every 10 years. You might as well prepare it well.

Moodle 5.1 modernizes the internal management of language strings with the creation of a new class core\strings injectable. This technical evolution replaces the old methods. For the moment, this mainly concerns plugin developers who use the internal language management APIs. The idea is to prepare a cleaner, testable architecture.

This modernization is part of a larger project to improve Moodle’s PHP architecture, even if it remains invisible to end users.

Moodle 5.1 updates its prerequisites:

• PHP 8.2 minimum (8.1 is no longer supported)
• PostgreSQL 15+ or MySQL 8.4+.
• PHP sodium extension required
• Set max_input_vars to 5000 minimum

Please note: “Oracle Database” is no longer supported. If you’re still using it as a database… it’s time to migrate.

As usual, Moodle updates its dependencies. Updates on :

• Chart.js (prettier graphics)
• TCPDF (enhanced PDF generation)
• TinyMCE with new editing functions
• Various safety corrections

Nothing extraordinary, but these are important developments for a robust and serious LMS.

For system administrators:

• Test first: install 5.1 on a test environment
• Audit your plugins: check their compatibility
• Prepare for the new tree structure: adapt your server configurations
• Document the changes: your teams are likely to ask questions

For developers:

• Migrate your plugins to the new file structure
• Test your integrations with the new APIs
• Update your build and deployment tools

For teaching teams

It’s not much, and it won’t take long. The new activity selector is intuitive, and double correction is only for those who need it.

This new Moodle 5.1 update is a bit like renovating a house: a lot of work on the foundations, and a few visible improvements in the living room.
The new activity selector will make life easier for teachers. Double correction meets a specific need of the establishments that use it. As for BigBlueButton, nothing spectacular but some useful fixes.

But most of the work is done under the hood. Code restructuring, new server requirements, metadata migration… all this prepares the future more than it improves the present.

In concrete terms :

• If you’re a teacher: you’ll love the new activity selector
• If you’re an administrator: prepare yourself for a migration that may not be glamorous, but is necessary for the future.
• If you’re managing a long-term LMS strategy: Moodle continues to modernize its foundations. This is reassuring for the coming years.

This Moodle update gets the job done: it keeps the platform technically up to date, continues to prepare for the future while bringing user improvements.

A normal step in the evolution of the benchmark LMS platform.