Trackers in Console

The management of trackers is now available on Aptem Console. Administrators with the Manage Tenant Settings permission can navigate to Settings>General to configure their tracker settings. With this change, administrators can directly control which process automation trackers they want to make available.

For more information, see: Configure Process Automation settings for your tenant.

Addition of Custom Withdrawal Reasons to the ‘Withdrawal from learning’ tracker

We have added the ability for customers to have flexible withdrawal reasons. The customer will have the ability to accurately describe the withdrawal reason and be able to report on it while at the same time using the correct ESFA withdrawal reason in their ILR batch file.

Administrators with the Manage Tenant Settings permission can navigate to Settings>General to configure their tracker settings. Under the Withdrawal from Learning settings, they can configure the withdrawal reasons for their tenant.

For more information, see: Configure the 'Withdrawal from learning' Process Automation tracker and Withdrawal from learning.

Functionality for administrators to delete learner eligibility documentation

Administrators now have the option to delete files that are uploaded by the user and stored in their ‘Documents’ area.

A new 'Delete User Documents' permission has been added. Administrators with this permission can use the bin icon to delete relevant files from the learner’s documents in Aptem Console.

The new permission will be available to all administrators but will need to be added to their permissions by an administrator with the Supervisor permission.

Updates to the OData functionality

Custom Withdrawal Reasons

The following data is surfaced in the new WithdrawalReasons OData table:

1. Id: The unique identifier for the Withdrawal Reason.
2. Description: A human-readable explanation or justification provided for the withdrawal from the learning program.
3. DateAdded: Date when WithdrawalReason was added. NULL for ESFA reasons.
4. EsfaReasonId: Foreign key, points to the parent ESFA reason's record.
5. IsArchived: Shows if WithdrawalReason is active or Archived. False by default.

Aptem Assess OData feed

We have added a new OData feed for the Aptem Assess cognitive assessments. Customers will be able to use the data to report on historical and current assessments and track progress, trends, and insights.

Note that this OData feed returns data from Aptem Assess cognitive assessments, and not for Cognassist. The results are limited to the groups which the administrator has access to.

For detailed field descriptions, and expected output for each field, please refer to the OData dictionary.

Accessibility improvements

At Aptem, we aim to offer our users an accessible product that meets the latest WCAG AA Standards. We are committed to improving accessibility, including updating styles for interactive elements like buttons and links. In this release, a number of Accessibility improvements were made, For more information, see: Accessibility improvements - September 2023.

Minor improvements

• We have made the following changes to the LDM codes:
  • Updates to ‘valid to’ date for the following LDM codes:
    • LDM 355 end date 31/07/2024
    • LDM 377 end date 31/07/2024
    • LDM 379 end date 31/07/2023
  • Addition of New LDM codes for 23/24:
    • 388 - Adult Education Budget procurement 2023
    • 389 - LSIF – Local Skills Improvement Fund – Additionality valid to 31/03/2025
    • 390 - LSIF – Local Skills Improvement Fund – Delivery valid to 31/03/2025
• The National insurance number has been made mandatory in onboarding wizards, by default in both Classic and Console.
  • A toggle has been added in the ILR Config page in the Programme Builder.  When the National Insurance Number is set to mandatory, users who have not provided a NiNo will not be able to sign their ILR. If the checkbox for 'Please confirm that you have done so by ticking the box to the right.' is checked, the user will be able to sign their ILR.
• On the ILR onboarding step in both Classic and Console, the label text ‘Sex’ has been replaced with ‘Legal Sex’. A tooltip has been added which reads: “Select your legal sex as it appears on your official documents”.
• We resolved a bug where a customer reported issues with ILR errors in relation to the Learning Delivery HE: Entity.
• We have improved the way updates are received from epaPRO. The queuing functionality allows for large volumes of updates to be received. Previously, this option was off by default. Now, we are enabling this by default for all customers. Customers who have used the epaPRO API with multiple MI systems using the same account, may be asked to opt out for a period of time. For example, customers who are transitioning from an MI system to Aptem. Your CSM will discuss with you if we think that the Queue is not suitable for your organisation, and as such, we may request that you are opted out for an agreed period of time.
• There was an issue when a user created a Withdrawal from Learning Tracker in Console, and populated the 'Actual Off The Job Hours' field, then updated the tracker in Classic (where this field does not show). In this case, the Actual Hours were removed from the tracker. This issue has been resolved, and the actual OtJ hours are now retained when the tracker is edited in Classic.
• In Console, upon opening a component in the learning plan, users were taken back to the top of the learning plan and have to scroll back down again to where they were before. This navigation issue has now been resolved, and opening a component in the learning plan no longer changes the user’s position on the screen.
• We have resolved the difference in behaviour between Classic and Console where the change of working conditions process automation was not defaulting to the current employer in Console. The Change of working conditions tracker in Console now shows the current employer as default, to mirror the behaviour in Classic.
• When generating a Review PDF, the specified Programme Start Date was being pulled from the newly updated Apprenticeship Start Date ILR field - causing a date to appear blank of for Users who do not use the Apprenticeship Start Date field within the ILR. This issue has been resolved and the Programme Start Date field now returns the correct date via the PDF. Note that this fix prevents this issue going forward. This fix will not re-generate any existing PDFs therefore customers who faced this issue previously will need to manually regenerate their PDFs.
• Classic was previously displaying a date earlier than the date entered in the Custom Date field within the Learner Details page of Console. This has now been resolved. Note that this fix prevents this issue going forward. Any incorrect dates that were in place before the September release will need to be manually corrected via the date picker field.

Upcoming features – not part of this release 

Based on the work we have completed in the past feature sprint(s), we have the following features lined up for release in the near future: 

Multifactor Authentication using email

To improve the accessibility of the MFA system for learners and employers who are unable to use the authenticator app, Aptem will allow users to choose between two authentication methods: the authenticator app or email as their preferred authentication method.

Surfacing Review Responses sections via OData

In order to give customers greater reporting and forecasting abilities with regards to the Reviews functionality, we will surface the following sections, including their responses via a new OData feed:

• Custom
• Core Topics
• EPA Gateway
• Individual Support Needs/ Requirements
• Short and Long Term Goals
• Comments
• RAG

This will ensure parity with the Classic review export functionality,

Convert ILR document to Editable template

Where configured at the programme level, administrators will be able to make amendments to the 'Learning Declaration' section. They can enter their own text on the ILR declaration, and can add logos to the header. The ILR declaration will be generated with the new text and logos in a read-only state for the learner, who can then view/sign the ILR declaration.