July 2024 release 1

 

Release date: 10 July 2024 

 

Key Updates

24/25 ILR Migration Specification

When MI Managers return their organisation's ILR file for R01 in 24/25, continuing learners will be reported using the 24/25 schema. This ensures the correct level of funding for learner cohorts. The 24/25 migration schema follows the 23/24 specification with the following exceptions:

  • Aims with Programme Type 24,
  • Framework Code and Pathway Code for aims with Funding Model = 25 and Programme type = 31
  • Employment outcome (EmpOutcome)
  • The Destination and Progression entity (excluding LearnRefNumber and ULN, which are still part of the learner entity)

These exceptions will not be migrated. This change ensures accurate reporting, compliance with funding regulations, and proper funding claims for learner cohorts.

Additionally, we have made the following changes:

  • Added the ability to select the 24/25 schema from the 'Get ILR Batch' functionality when you export your ILR batch file.
  • Removed the option for 22/23 from the 'Get ILR Batch' function,
  • Added the option for 24/25 to the 'Force include in batch' functionality.
  • Added the option for 24/25 in the 'Schema' dropdown on the ILR token in the Programme Builder.
  • Removed the option for 22/23 from the 'Schema' dropdown on the ILR token in the Programme Builder.

Virtual Assistant

We've introduced Aptem's new Virtual Assistant: an AI-powered tool designed to support learners throughout their apprenticeship journey. This is available to learners while aiming to reduce the administrative burden on Tutors by answering repetitive questions from learners. The Virtual Assistant aims to deliver the following benefits:

  • 24/7 learner support: The Virtual Assistant is available around the clock to answer any questions related to the learner's specific apprenticeship standard, providing timely support to learners.
  • Increased learner engagement: By offering immediate responses to repetitive questions, we anticipate higher engagement from learners.
  • More effective use of tutor time: By offering immediate responses to learners' repetitive questions, we anticipate tutors will be able to focus on more complex / "value add" queries.

For more information, see: Virtual Assistant: Overview.

Aptem Checkpoint: Applied KSB's

The Applied KSBs feature adds scenario-based questions to Aptem Checkpoint. Each Checkpoint now includes a Scenario-based question aimed at evaluating Learners' application of theoretical knowledge to real-world job scenarios. As part of this feature, the distinct question types within Checkpoints will also be reflected in the Checkpoint reporting, and will lead to improved Learner assessment. Note that 'Theory' labels will only be applied to new Checkpoints going forward. Previous Checkpoints questions will not have any labels against them.

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Other Updates

Updates to the Reporting functionality

Since the last release, the following updates to the Reporting functionality have been made and released as part of a minor release:

QAR In Learning Number Difference

When an Administrator accesses the QAR Headline page within the Quality Dashboard and they want to understand which specific learners contribute to these totals, they are now presented with an overview of key metrics, summary totals and detailed information of each learner related to learner performance and achievements, all visible on the QAR Headline page. They can do this by using the new filters introduced on the QAR Headline page to facilitate this process by allowing the administrator to narrow down the Learner Aims data table according to specific criteria.

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The following changes have been made:

  • The Learner aims table has been relocated to be visible on the QAR Headline tab, this was previously accessible behind a grey bar at the top of the page.
  • The Learner aims table has also had 5 new columns added: Learner Count, Completed, Achieved, Withdrawn, In Learning - these will assist with identifying the Learners in the Summary table, without the need to locate the data within different tabs.
  • QAR Headline has two new filters added; Learning status and Hybrid end year - will not affect the 3 bar charts and the Summary table, but apply to the Learner aims table.
  • In addition, the Learner Data table tab has been renamed to Learner Date and has a new filter added; Hybrid end year, however there may still be discrepancies between the two tabs because QAR Learner Aims are based on the main aim for a Learner within a hybrid end year whereas Learner Data is the current state of the Learners.

Updated Apprenticeship Accountability Measures

When an Administrator is viewing the Accountability Framework quality indicators on the Accountability tab of the Quality Dashboard, and they want to proactively review and assess the quality and success of their individual programmes against the updated thresholds released by the DfE, they can do this by continuing to use the indicators within the Accountability tab, which have been updated to reflect the new thresholds from June 2024. The updated Accountability Framework guidance can be seen here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/apprenticeship-training-provider-accountability-framework/apprenticeship-training-provider-accountability-framework-and-specification--

 

Fixes and Minor improvements

  • Updated Contract and Performance pages in Quality dashboard: When an MIS Manager is using the Contract and Performance pages in the Quality Dashboard and wants to update these pages with the latest available data from the UK Government, they can now do so. Administrators will now see enhanced features in the Quality Dashboard to streamline their experience and stay up-to-date with the latest ESFA Contracts and Qualification Achievement Rates (Performance) effortlessly. We've incorporated automatic updates to seamlessly integrate the most current Government data, ensuring we always have the latest insights. Navigate the Contract page with ease by utilising the newly introduced filtering option, allowing you to refine your results by year effortlessly. Additionally, the Funding Values table now boasts convenient subtotals, simplifying the process of tying specific values to the overarching Total value by year metric. These latest enhancements to the Quality Dashboard are important to MIS Managers and Administrators by enhancing efficiency and precision in tracking and analysing data.
  • Age bands reporting in QAR the age group now set correctly to 19-23 and 24+: When an Administrator is using the Power BI Quality Dashboard and they want to group their learner data by the age ranges defined by the UK Government, they can now do this through the updated Age Range filters available on the Dashboard pages. Previously, the age range options on the Quality Dashboard might not have aligned perfectly with the Government’s categories, potentially causing confusion or misalignment in reporting and analysis. However, with this update, the Age Range filters on the Dashboard have been adjusted to match the official UK Government age ranges. This alignment ensures consistency in how data is categorised and analysed, providing Administrators with more accurate and relevant insights
  • When an Administrator is viewing the Accountability Framework quality indicators on the Accountability tab of the Quality Dashboard, and they want to review and assess the quality and success of their individual programmes within the current or previous years, they can do this by continuing to use the indicators within the Accountability tab, which have been updated to reflect only those years.
  • When an Administrator is using the Power BI Quality Dashboard and wants to view or export learner-level data, which includes important dates associated with each learner, such as the start date, and planned end date, they can continue to utilise the Dashboard for their reporting needs and confidently ensure that all significant dates are recorded and exported in a standardised format that is not influenced by time zone discrepancies. Previously, there might have been inconsistencies or errors in the date and time information due to differences in time zone settings, e.g. daylight saving time.
  • When an MIS manager is using the funding dashboard and wants to verify that traineeships are not generating funding if they have started after 31st July 2023. To achieve this, updates have been made to the funding calculation that stipulate that traineeships need to have started before 1st August 2023 to generate funding between their start date and planned end date. Note: They will still generate funding between 1st August 2023 and their planned end date as long as their start date is before 1st August 2023.
  • When an Admin is using the funding dashboard and they want to monitor the funding generated by learners studying functional skills courses to ensure that any starting after 31st December 2023 are using the new funding rates they can do this by using the Funding Detail pages of the dashboard, specifically the English/Maths funding columns. Here, they can see that any learner studying a functional skill has an increased monthly value compared to those that started before 2024. 

Updates to Aptem Data/ Integrations

Return Attendance & OTJ hours for placement

When a Tutor is managing attendance for learners who participate in Teams meetings and they want to ensure accurate attendance tracking and off-the-job hours verification, they can now do so. learners using either their work/school account or their personal account (as a guest) which has been added to a group in the customers' Microsoft Teams account will now have attendance returned. Attendance is returned and off-the-job hours are verified for the exact amount of time the learner attends for.

The hours are attached as notes in the Evidence section, as per existing functionality for manual verification: Hours will be also identified as verified in the Placements/Workshops screen as per existing functionality for manual verification: Note: hours logged refers to all hours completed for the placement so far. Once the verification of attendance has run (overnight), the verified hours will match the logged hours. 

Configuring Teams Integration - Back End Changes

When a Tenant Administrator wants to configure the Communications Connector with Microsoft Teams, they can now do so easily. This can be done after Support enables this feature for a customer. Once this has been enabled, Tenant Administrators can configure the Communications Connector from the Settings>Integrations>Microsoft Teams screen in Aptem Console.

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Other updates to Aptem Checkpoint

Pagination for individual level reporting screen - Learning plan components

When a Tutor accesses the Learning Plan Components tab within the Individual Level learner Checkpoint reporting, they can easily browse through the Learning Plan Components. This feature allows for quick navigation between extensive lists of data, enhancing efficiency.

Programme report – sorting and filtering

When a Tutor accesses the Programme-Level Reporting screen for Checkpoint, they can sort the table columns in ascending or descending order according to various metrics. They can also filter the data by Programme Start and End dates, and Average Checkpoint Score.

Learner reporting: Sorting

When learners are using the Checkpoint History Reporting screen to view and manage their previous Checkpoints, they can now utilise the new sorting feature and sort Components in ascending or descending order.

Individual learner reporting: Sorting

Tutors are using the Individual Level Reporting screens for Checkpoint can now sort components inside the Checkpoint History tab and the Learning Plan Components table.

Individual learner reporting: Filtering

Checkpoint History screen

When Tutors are using the Checkpoint History screen and they want to group and organise data more efficiently to streamline workflows, they can now filter by:

  • Checkpoint Score
  • Date Taken
  • Component Type
  • Trigger Type

Learning Plan Component

When Tutors are using the Learning Plan Components Summary screen and they want to group and organise data more efficiently to streamline workflows, they can now filter by:

  • Complete By
  • Due By
  • Status

Learner reporting Summary in the Learner Profile

When a Tutor is using the Checkpoint tab inside the Learner Profile and they want to achieve an overview of Checkpoint data for that learner, they can now see the following information:

  • Checkpoints Completed
  • Latest Score
  • Average Score
  • Average Number of Questions
  • Average Time Spent on each Checkpoint

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This information is being pulled in from the Checkpoint Reporting screens for that learner. This allows the Tutor to avoid switching between screens to obtain this information and streamline their workload.

Fixes and Minor improvements

  • When an Administrator/Tutor accesses the Performance Dashboard or Employers access the Employer Dashboard, and they want to use the Dashboard content to manage their caseload or gain insights into areas that need attention, they can now utilise the enhanced filtering capability for learners' programmes. This enhancement narrows down the data displayed, improving visibility and ensuring a more timely performance of the Dashboard. The following updates have been introduced to the data representing the programmes to be selected:
    • The underlying data query has been improved for quicker response
    • The set of programmes returned has been limited to only programmes having accessible, enrolled learners, to make sure there are no filtering entries resulting in no meaningful data being returned.
  • When a customer managing ILR Programmes wants to ensure historical aims are correctly included for accurate QAR reporting in PowerBI Dashboards, they can now force include aims for the years 20/21 and 21/22. This resolves discrepancies in QAR data caused by differences in reporting years.
  • Updated the Aptem Assess Cognitive Assessment Test result labels.
    When a Learning Support Administrator is reviewing completed Aptem Assess Cognitive Assessments, they want to ensure that the language used does not imply a diagnosis, but rather suggests that additional learning support may be required. With this update, the Cognitive Assessment results wording has been updated to provide a more suggestive tone. Note that these changes will apply to the historic cognitive assessments, as well as the new assessments. The changes will also be reflected in OData and UGR.
    • 'Support Required’ has been updated to ‘Support Indicated’.
    • 'Support Not Required' has been updated to ‘No Support Indicated’.

 

Upcoming features - within the next three releases

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:

Centralising Compliance Documents

We are developing a document creation tool that allows customers to maintain their Compliance Documents using Aptem templates from one central point. Customers can select templates to apply by programme and start date. This enables customers to maintain Compliance Document templates without needing to clone and rebuild programmes, reducing the administrative burden whenever a new template version is released.

Checkpoint: Applied KSBs

The next iteration will build upon already available functionality by adding the ability to customise the number of Applied KSB Scenario-based questions per KSB within a Checkpoint. It will also allow Tutors and Admins to select the type of Checkpoint Trigger (Automatic, Periodic, or Manual) and specify if the Checkpoint should include Theory-based questions, Scenario-based questions, or a mixture of both.

Aptem Assess: Additional Learning Support Resources

Building on our latest customer feedback, we continue to develop Aptem Assess by making additional learning support resources available via the Resource Centre. This will aid learner progression for those identified by giving them access to relevant resources that can support and modify their Learning Plan.

PowerBI Funding Dashboard Updates

We are continuing to improve the user experience and value of data provided within the Funding Dashboard Report. A number of changes will be made including:

  • Merging funding detail reporting tabs
  • Merging pop out errors into existing tabs
  • Merging the provider weighting tab with the funding headline reporting tabs
  • Merging funding summary and Learner funding tables

For more information, see: Planned updates to the PowerBI Funding Dashboard.

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