August 2024 release notes

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

Merged the Funding Detail tabs

When an administrator is using the Funding Detail tab and wants to get an overall picture of the organisation while still being able to filter for separate values and data for each funding stream, they can now do this within the newly combined Funding Detail page. This page combines the previous 4 pages, Funding Detail - Standard, Framework, Traineeship and AEB/Study Programmes into one convenient page with an added filter for these types. The new Funding filter defaults to Standard. The filter contains any applicable funding type, traineeships, frameworks, etc. Note: The single Traineeship/Study funding value in the chart has been split into its component parts; 16-18 Traineeships, 16-18 Study Programmes, etc.

Merged the Learner Funding Data and Funding Summary tabs

When a MIS Manager is using the funding dashboard and they want to analyse the detail of the KPIs and summary information that was originally displayed across two pages, Funding Summary and Learner Funding Detail, they can now do this using a new page, Funding Data. This is a single, comprehensive view of funding information. This integration brings the following key benefits:
Unified Interface

• Single Access Point: Users no longer need to navigate between two pages to get a complete view of funding data. All relevant information is now accessible from a unified interface, improving efficiency and user experience.

Enhanced Filtering Capabilities

• Comprehensive KPI Filtering: The KPIs can filter the detailed funding data table. This means users can click any KPI and immediately see the corresponding detailed data, providing a more granular and insightful analysis.
• Additional Filters for Custom Analysis: Users can leverage additional filters to adjust and refine the summary KPIs, charts, and the detail table. This flexibility allows for a more customized and targeted exploration of the data.

Benefits and Impact

• Enhanced Data Insight: By merging the pages and enhancing the filtering capabilities, users can derive deeper insights from the funding data. The ability to drill down into specific details from a high-level summary empowers users to make more informed decisions.

Filter Usage

If you have applied filters to the data and then selected a KPI the filters you have selected will be reset to the KPI's present defaults. If you require the KPI data to be filtered further then select the KPI first and then the additional filters can be applied.

Merged Popout Errors, Provider Weighting and Learning Aim's Tabs.

When an Admin is using the Funding dashboard and wants to set the provider weighting value and check for errors, this can be done on a single tab by using the newly merged Missing aims, Weighting & Errors tab, where they can set the weighting value, view any missing aims and get an understanding of any funding errors.

Updated the Funding Dashboard to include 24/25 Rates

When an MIS manager is using the Funding Dashboard and they want to see the funding calculations based on the latest LARS information they can continue to use all pages within the dashboard knowing that the underlying data is now using the latest LARS funding files from the UK Government.

Updated the QAR Reports in the Quality Reporting Dashboard to include 24/25 academic year

When an Administrator is using the QAR pages within the Quality dashboard and they want to be able to view the current academic years, 2024/25, data is now available within the charts and via a filter option in the detailed tables.

When an administrator wants to customise the Periodic Checkpoint trigger with different types of questions, they now have the ability to set the target number of scenario-based questions for a configuration set.
When creating a new Programme Set, an administrator can choose a target number of scenario-based questions per KSB.
The default value for this number of questions field is 1, the maximum number allowed is 3 questions.
An Admin could choose to only include theory-based questions by setting the scenario-based questions field to 0. An Admin could also set the theory-based questions to 0 to only have scenario-based questions surface to the Learner in those Checkpoints.

These updates affect you if you have purchased the relevant Integration/Add-on.

Return OTJ hours for meetings

When a learner attends a meeting that has been scheduled in Teams via the Communications Connector with Teams, we can now return OTJ hours for those meetings. The Communications Connector will only return OTJ hours where planned hours have been recorded against a Learning Plan Component. Note: the Tutor (component owner) will always be the “Organiser” of the Teams meeting.
The OTJ hours are calculated in the following way:

• If the Tutor joins the Teams meeting, but the Learner does not join, hours will not be recorded against the component.
• If the Tutor and the Learner join the Teams meeting, the hours will be returned for the exact amount of time the Learner joins the meeting for - for example, if the Tutor joins for 1 hour, but the Learner only joins for 50 minutes, we will record 50 minutes of OTJ hours against the component.
• In the unlikely event that the link is shared with another attendee outside of Aptem and the meeting is joined by the Tutor and 2 other attendees, the hours will be returned for the whole meeting duration - for example, if the Tutor joins the meeting for 1 hour, person A joins for 50 minutes and person B joins for 40 minutes, Aptem will record 1 hour of OTJ against the component.

If a meeting occurs on a different day to which it is scheduled, the hours will not be automatically returned. A note is attached to the associated Meetings component confirming “[component name] hours verified” with the hours attached. Note: this will count as evidence toward component completion, and could lead to the component being marked as complete depending on the setup of the component.
The attendance verification process is run overnight, meaning the attendance will be returned and off-the-job hours are verified 1 day after the meeting was scheduled.

Rescheduling and cancelling reviews and meetings from Teams

As a Tutor, when you reschedule a Review or Meeting event in Teams, the associated review or meeting in Aptem will now be updated with the new date and/or time.

As a Tutor, when you cancel a Review event in Teams (which has been scheduled via the Communications Connector), the cancellation will be reflected in Aptem. The associated Review will be marked as offline, and the Teams link will be removed from the task, the Review instance and the learning plan component. It is possible to schedule the same Review in Teams again by marking the Review as online.

As a Tutor, when you cancel a Meeting event in Teams (which has been scheduled via the Communications Connector), the cancellation will be reflected in Aptem. The Task in Aptem will be cancelled. The associated Learning Plan Component will remain, and the Task can be re-created should the Tutor want to schedule the Meeting again. The Meet Online button will remain ticked as the default option on the re-creation of this Task. Note: the Meet Online button should be retained when re-creating the Task if the Tutor would like this Meeting to be scheduled in Teams.

Periodic Triggers in reporting tables

When an Admin is using the Checkpoint Reporting pages and wishes to view the statistics for Learner Checkpoints by Trigger type, they can now easily distinguish between Periodic and Automatic Triggers. Before this change, Periodic Checkpoints were shown as an ‘Automatic Learning Plan Component’ in the Trigger Type columns. Now Periodic Checkpoint has its own trigger type description within these pages – ‘Periodic Generation’. This has been included in the following areas:

• Individual Learner Reporting - Checkpoints Tab - Trigger Column
• Individual Learner Reporting - Checkpoints Tab - Trigger Filter
• Learner Profile - Checkpoint Tab - Trigger Column
• Learner Checkpoints - History - Trigger Column
• Learner Checkpoints - History - Trigger Type Filter

Periodic Triggering - Create Page - Optional user entered end date

When an Admin creates a new Periodic Trigger, there is now an option to add an optional end date. This gives more flexibility to allow Admins to specify when a configuration should stop triggering Checkpoints to be surfaced to Learners.

When an administrator, learner or employer is viewing the off-the-job hours widget on individual Learner’s Dashboard (or OTJH drilldown on their personal dashboard, or ‘Learning progress’ review section) and they want to see 'Target metric' of the 'Overall' progress bar they can now see the calculation is a correlation between ILR Planned Hours and ILR Programme aim start and end dates. To further clarify the behaviour:

1. If ILR Programme aim start date is in the future, Target is set to 0.
2. If ILR Programme aim start date is in the past and ILR Programme aim end date is in the future, Target is calculated as proportion between ILR Planned Hours and ILR Programme aim start and end dates.
3. If ILR Programme aim end date is in the past, Target is set to ILR Planned Hours.

This calculation has been updated to be consistent across the following areas:

1. Admin Performance Dashboard OTJH widget (drilldown)
2. Employer Dashboard OTJH widget (drilldown)
3. Learner Personal Dashboard OTJH widget (incl. when viewed by Admin/Employer)
4. Reviews - ‘Learning progress’ section OTJH graph in both Console and Classic

The 'Complete %' has also been updated to reflect the true value, and is no longer capped at 100%.

Updated text in Review "Save & Close" and "Finish" popout windows

When Admin or Tutor, views sections of a Review and selects the "Finish" button, a modal window will appear, listing any incomplete sections and warning the user to complete these sections.
The following text has been added to this modal window: "Any unsaved changes in individual Review sections will be lost. Please ensure you have saved each section before closing." This update is designed to clearly alert the potential for data loss, ensuring work is saved before closing.

Improved the handling of LRS credentials

We have updated the Account Programme to enhance the handling of LRS credentials. LRS credentials can now be entered only in the Account Programme on the PLR token. Entering a new password will overwrite the existing one.

Additionally, we have removed the ability to enter LRS credentials on onboarding and delivery programmes. You cannot disable the PLR token if PLR is enabled as an onboarding step. Disabling PLR on the Account Programme disables the token on all programs. This change enhances the security and management of LRS credentials and ensures consistent handling across the platform. Note - For customers with this integration already enabled, the deployment will automatically hide these passwords - they will not need to be re-saved.

Ability to report on UKPRN / Training Provider

When a person with access to OData is using the OData - Episode feed, you can now use OData by UKPRN to achieve accurate reporting and efficiently identify any issues that could impact funding.

• When an Admin/Employer is using the Caseload Dashboard and wants to see the Learner counts in the "Caseload lifecycle widget," they can now see correctly calculated figures in all groups, including "In EPA period." Learners are no longer incorrectly counted twice across the categories "Learners on Programme" and "EPA period."

  When the Learner satisfies multiple conditions, they will be shown in Drilldown based on priority order to ensure that the Learner is only in one state at a given point in time.
  The priority order is as follows

  • If a Learner is in EPA.
  • If a learner has started in last 30 days.
  • If a Learner is on a programme.
  • if a Learner is within 30 days of expected end date.
  • If a Learner is past planned end date.

  Example - If a learner started in the last 30 days and also if the same learner is in EPA Period as well, then the learner will be counted only toward “In EPA Period“ according to the priority order.

• When a learner is using the onboarding wizard for an Onboarding type program, they will only encounter questions that are set up in the Onboarding wizard Programme Builder, allowing them to complete the onboarding process smoothly.

• Users of the Performance Dashboard will notice a change in numbers in the Workload card following the update. This is due to the calculations being updated to accurately reflect the workload, by including metrics that were previously excluded.
• When users of the Performance Dashboard, particularly those responsible for monitoring and managing Learner progress and workload, want to view accurate calculation of Learner progress and workload, they can now expect the following improvements:
  
  • Correct calculations and display of workload metrics on the Workload Card.
  • Restored Totals on the following Requires Attention cards:
    
    • Activities Overdue
    • Requires Marking
    • Feedback Received
    • Open Trackers
      Note: this change will be released on Wednesday 11th September.

We are working towards a first iteration of the integration with CENTURY. This will include the learner being able to complete their initial assessment as part of the Aptem Onboarding programme. This will automatically register Learners with CENTURY and allow a seamless user experience as the Learner navigates to CENTURY to complete their initial assessment. This will cut down on the administrative effort for providers who manually register learners. This will also save time during onboarding, as learners can complete this all within a single workflow.
Detailed documentation will be distributed shortly. 

Based on customer feedback from the beta trial, the virtual assistant for learners will be optimised before we make it available for all Aptem Enterprise customers. This iteration will also include technical improvements to ensure that each customer can roll out the virtual assistant across their learners on a scalable basis. 

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 Manual type of Checkpoint Trigger and specify if the Checkpoint should include Theory-based questions, Scenario-based questions, or a mixture of both. This is currently only available for automatic and periodic triggers. 

We are continuing to improve the user experience and value of data provided within the Funding Dashboard Report. As part of these changes, we will extend the reporting period filters.

Where date filters exist on a Funding Dashboard reporting tab, we will update these options to provide customers with the ability to report on the funding data within those reporting tabs by historical, current, and future academic years.

Users will be able to select one option at a time from the following:

• Current academic year
• The past 5 academic years (if data exists within Aptem)
• Future academic years (if data exists within Aptem)

We have formalised our existing technical approach to have tenant-specific APIs as part of our best practices. The legacy method to process requests via api.aptem.co.uk will be disabled as of January 2025. Please ensure your API calls are updated to use the revised {tenant}.aptem.co.uk URL in time. Note that this will not cause any change in functionality. The API documentation at https://aptem.co.uk/api.html will be updated to reflect this change.