diff --git a/course/externallib.php b/course/externallib.php
index b348aa1a21e..d5fb71335d2 100644
--- a/course/externallib.php
+++ b/course/externallib.php
@@ -429,8 +429,8 @@ class core_course_external extends external_api {
 
             $courseinfo = array();
             $courseinfo['id'] = $course->id;
-            $courseinfo['fullname'] = $course->fullname;
-            $courseinfo['shortname'] = $course->shortname;
+            $courseinfo['fullname'] = external_format_string($course->fullname, $context->id);
+            $courseinfo['shortname'] = external_format_string($course->shortname, $context->id);
             $courseinfo['displayname'] = external_format_string(get_course_display_name_for_list($course), $context->id);
             $courseinfo['categoryid'] = $course->category;
             list($courseinfo['summary'], $courseinfo['summaryformat']) =
diff --git a/course/tests/externallib_test.php b/course/tests/externallib_test.php
index 9ad5d73aab3..07e7de04a55 100644
--- a/course/tests/externallib_test.php
+++ b/course/tests/externallib_test.php
@@ -521,7 +521,9 @@ class core_course_externallib_testcase extends externallib_advanced_testcase {
 
         $generatedcourses = array();
         $coursedata['idnumber'] = 'idnumbercourse1';
-        $coursedata['fullname'] = 'Course 1 for PHPunit test';
+        // Adding tags here to check that format_string is applied.
+        $coursedata['fullname'] = '<b>Course 1 for PHPunit test</b>';
+        $coursedata['shortname'] = '<b>Course 1 for PHPunit test</b>';
         $coursedata['summary'] = 'Course 1 description';
         $coursedata['summaryformat'] = FORMAT_MOODLE;
         $course1  = self::getDataGenerator()->create_course($coursedata);
@@ -551,14 +553,16 @@ class core_course_externallib_testcase extends externallib_advanced_testcase {
         $this->assertEquals(2, count($courses));
 
         foreach ($courses as $course) {
+            $coursecontext = context_course::instance($course['id']);
             $dbcourse = $generatedcourses[$course['id']];
             $this->assertEquals($course['idnumber'], $dbcourse->idnumber);
-            $this->assertEquals($course['fullname'], $dbcourse->fullname);
-            $this->assertEquals($course['displayname'], get_course_display_name_for_list($dbcourse));
+            $this->assertEquals($course['fullname'], external_format_string($dbcourse->fullname, $coursecontext->id));
+            $this->assertEquals($course['displayname'], external_format_string(get_course_display_name_for_list($dbcourse),
+                $coursecontext->id));
             // Summary was converted to the HTML format.
             $this->assertEquals($course['summary'], format_text($dbcourse->summary, FORMAT_MOODLE, array('para' => false)));
             $this->assertEquals($course['summaryformat'], FORMAT_HTML);
-            $this->assertEquals($course['shortname'], $dbcourse->shortname);
+            $this->assertEquals($course['shortname'], external_format_string($dbcourse->shortname, $coursecontext->id));
             $this->assertEquals($course['categoryid'], $dbcourse->category);
             $this->assertEquals($course['format'], $dbcourse->format);
             $this->assertEquals($course['showgrades'], $dbcourse->showgrades);
diff --git a/enrol/externallib.php b/enrol/externallib.php
index 8db19d9186c..669f50f68a7 100644
--- a/enrol/externallib.php
+++ b/enrol/externallib.php
@@ -323,6 +323,8 @@ class core_enrol_external extends external_api {
 
             list($course->summary, $course->summaryformat) =
                 external_format_text($course->summary, $course->summaryformat, $context->id, 'course', 'summary', null);
+            $course->fullname = external_format_string($course->fullname, $context->id);
+            $course->shortname = external_format_string($course->shortname, $context->id);
 
             $result[] = array('id' => $course->id, 'shortname' => $course->shortname, 'fullname' => $course->fullname,
                 'idnumber' => $course->idnumber, 'visible' => $course->visible, 'enrolledusercount' => $enrolledusercount,
diff --git a/enrol/tests/externallib_test.php b/enrol/tests/externallib_test.php
index 21ad04d8bdf..a7d35ad4a38 100644
--- a/enrol/tests/externallib_test.php
+++ b/enrol/tests/externallib_test.php
@@ -363,6 +363,8 @@ class core_enrol_externallib_testcase extends externallib_advanced_testcase {
         $this->resetAfterTest(true);
 
         $coursedata1 = array(
+            'fullname'         => '<b>Course 1</b>',                // Adding tags here to check that external_format_string works.
+            'shortname'         => '<b>Course 1</b>',               // Adding tags here to check that external_format_string works.
             'summary'          => 'Lightwork Course 1 description',
             'summaryformat'    => FORMAT_MOODLE,
             'lang'             => 'en',
@@ -401,6 +403,8 @@ class core_enrol_externallib_testcase extends externallib_advanced_testcase {
 
         // Check there are no differences between $course1 properties and course values returned by the webservice
         // only for those fields listed in the $coursedata1 array.
+        $course1->fullname = external_format_string($course1->fullname, $contexts[$course1->id]->id);
+        $course1->shortname = external_format_string($course1->shortname, $contexts[$course1->id]->id);
         foreach ($enrolledincourses as $courseenrol) {
             if ($courseenrol['id'] == $course1->id) {
                 foreach ($coursedata1 as $fieldname => $value) {
diff --git a/mod/assign/externallib.php b/mod/assign/externallib.php
index d0924caafa0..3cac4ed1baa 100644
--- a/mod/assign/externallib.php
+++ b/mod/assign/externallib.php
@@ -341,6 +341,7 @@ class mod_assign_external extends external_api {
                 if (!isset($courses[$cid])) {
                     $courses[$cid] = get_course($cid);
                 }
+                $courses[$cid]->contextid = $context->id;
             } catch (Exception $e) {
                 unset($courses[$cid]);
                 $warnings[] = array(
@@ -473,8 +474,8 @@ class mod_assign_external extends external_api {
             }
             $coursearray[]= array(
                 'id' => $courses[$id]->id,
-                'fullname' => $courses[$id]->fullname,
-                'shortname' => $courses[$id]->shortname,
+                'fullname' => external_format_string($courses[$id]->fullname, $course->contextid),
+                'shortname' => external_format_string($courses[$id]->shortname, $course->contextid),
                 'timemodified' => $courses[$id]->timemodified,
                 'assignments' => $assignmentarray
             );
diff --git a/mod/assign/tests/externallib_test.php b/mod/assign/tests/externallib_test.php
index c0805d4e07c..fccdbef4d01 100644
--- a/mod/assign/tests/externallib_test.php
+++ b/mod/assign/tests/externallib_test.php
@@ -153,7 +153,8 @@ class mod_assign_external_testcase extends externallib_advanced_testcase {
         // Create a course.
         $course1 = self::getDataGenerator()->create_course(array(
             'idnumber' => 'idnumbercourse1',
-            'fullname' => 'Lightwork Course 1',
+            'fullname' => '<b>Lightwork Course 1</b>',      // Adding tags here to check that external_format_string works.
+            'shortname' => '<b>Lightwork Course 1</b>',     // Adding tags here to check that external_format_string works.
             'summary' => 'Lightwork Course 1 description',
             'summaryformat' => FORMAT_MOODLE,
             'category' => $category->id
@@ -221,6 +222,7 @@ class mod_assign_external_testcase extends externallib_advanced_testcase {
         $this->assertEquals(1, count($result['courses']));
         $course = $result['courses'][0];
         $this->assertEquals('Lightwork Course 1', $course['fullname']);
+        $this->assertEquals('Lightwork Course 1', $course['shortname']);
         $this->assertEquals(1, count($course['assignments']));
         $assignment = $course['assignments'][0];
         $this->assertEquals($assign1->id, $assignment['id']);