Abstract Flipped learning (FL) has had a substantial impact on higher education worldwide, prompting active dialog among educational researchers and practitioners. It is widely accepted that the value of FL lies in enabling in‐depth, learner‐centered learning experiences by offloading content delivery onto pre‐class online learning. The in‐class component is thus generally considered more critical, even though both pre‐class and in‐class elements are indispensable components of FL and practitioners are faced with the issue of under‐prepared learners. In this study, we examine the significance of pre‐class learning as a gateway to the intended benefits of FL. We aim to investigate the extent to which FL pre‐class learning influences overall FL success and what other factors affect FL pre‐class learning to ascertain the implications of designing and implementing FL pre‐class learning. A college life science course was designed and implemented with the FL model for a semester, from which data were collected and statistically analyzed. The results indicate that the influence of pre‐class learning on final FL success is significant and strong. Regarding the modality of pre‐class learning materials, learners demonstrated higher levels of performance in the weeks with video materials than during those with reading materials. Among several learner factors, self‐direction was found to significantly influence pre‐class learning performance and perceived learning readiness. The role of FL pre‐class learning to attain the intended value of FL is discussed, and theoretical and practical design implications are suggested.