Here are some common questions and scenarios you might encounter. Click on each heading to view guidance related to that topic.
Compliance documents generation, access and visibility
Compliance documents generation, access and visibility
Will a change in line manager affect a learner’s compliance documents?
A change in line manager will not impact any previous documents for a learner.
All updated versions of the compliance documents, after the change has taken place, will display the name of the new line manager.
Why am I unable to update the compliance documents for my learner?
If you are unable to update the compliance documents, please check if a Change of Employer tracker has been used for this particular learner. If so, you will need to reset the documents first, before updating them. This can be done by selecting the reset option available on the right-hand side of the documents, in the Classic profile:
Once this has been actioned, you will then have the option to update the document.
Can I delete Compliance Documents from a learner's profile?
You cannot delete Compliance documents created using Aptem template from a Learner's record, as these documents are kept for audit purposes. A new instance of the compliance document is generated whenever changes are made, and all instances can be found in the Compliance document section of the User Profile. However, you can delete any uploaded compliance document and then re-upload the updated document.
My data is not showing in a compliance document as expected?
Three possible causes:
- Have you checked the data entered in the relevant area is correct?
- Has the document been regenerated since any changes were made?
- Has the compliance document template been correctly configured and enabled from the programme settings?
Is it possible to download compliance documents in bulk for a learner?
No, there is no way to download compliance documents in bulk for a learner.
Why am I unable to edit compliance documents for an individual learner when I have the correct admin rights?
This can be caused by the learner being attached to a programme when the compliance docs were not completed or set up. To correct this error, stop the programme and then put the learner back on.
DfE announced changes to a compliance document - when can we have an updated version in Aptem?
We monitor DfE updates regularly, so changes are normally identified when announced or shortly afterwards. However, changes to the system must be planned, built and tested, so availability varies somewhat depending on the complexity of the change.
We take our responsibility for document maintenance seriously, but we are unable to delegate such changes to our customers.
Can we add information that is not in the template to the compliance documents?
Apart from the configurable areas of the template, the fields in the compliance documents are fixed and cannot be modified by a customer.
We need a compliance document that is not available for use.
All compliance documents are configured at programme level. You need to ensure that the correct document is configured and enabled within the training programme.
Has the learner been applied to the correct training programme with the compliance documents configured as required?
Can we upload our version of a compliance document instead of the Aptem defined version?
No - it is not possible to replace the Aptem versions of the compliance documents with your own.
You can upload scanned / digital copies of the documents to a user's profile, but these will not be populated with data from the Aptem system.
Does checking the EHC checkbox in the ILR make this visible to employers and can I report on this checkbox?
If the Education Healthcare Plan checkbox is checked on the learner's ILR
- This will be visible and included in the learner's ILR file.
- This field is reportable in the UGR and OData.
- Employers cannot see the ILR, they will therefore not know whether or not this option was ticked unless it is explicitly shared with them. However, it does pull through onto compliance documents which Employers can view.
Can employers generate Compliance documents?
Employers will be able to view the Compliance documents when they are applying their signatures, but they cannot generate the PDF document for themselves. If they have permission to access the Learner profile, employers can download any historical versions of the document, including the most up to date one, from the Documents page.
Can I generate a new compliance document for a learner after they’ve already signed it?
If a document has already been signed and completed, you are unable to "create" a new document for the Learner. You can Update the document as many times as needed, if there have been any changes to the Learner profile or template, but this will just generate a new version of the document with the updated information.
Please note that learners will be asked to re-sign the document if any changes are made to the template and the Update option is used. You can also use the reset option to remove all signatures and trigger a re-sign.
A compliance document has not automatically generated for my learner, how do they sign it?
Please ask the learner to revisit their onboarding wizard and to click through to finish. This will generate all available compliance documents and allow the learner to sign them.
Alternatively, you can manually create these documents from the User Profile in Classic, by selecting the Create option. The learner will be asked to sign these documents the next time they log into their account.
Signing compliance documents
How can I manage offline Compliance Document Signatures in Aptem?
In certain scenarios, obtaining compliance document signatures offline may be necessary. However, Aptem may continue to indicate the need for signatures as they haven't been completed on the platform. This article provides guidance on efficiently managing compliance document signatures when offline, ensuring accurate representation within the Aptem system.
If you encounter a situation where obtaining signatures on Aptem for a compliance document using Aptem is not possible, you have the option to upload the signed document to the learner's profile within the Document section.
If the person uploading has the "ILR QA" administrator role, then no further action needs to be taken (as seen in the screengrab above).
If they do not, then an administrator with this role must look at the uploaded document and then click "Verify" if it is acceptable:
Why am I unable to proceed with signing the Compliance documents at the end of Onboarding?
If you encounter this issue, please review the configuration of the Onboarding wizard for that specific program.
Make sure to remove the bootstrap link from the last step of the Onboarding wizard. This should resolve the problem and allow you to proceed with signing the Compliance documents.
Why are Employers unable to sign Compliance Documents?
If employers or their apprentices are encountering difficulties when attempting to sign compliance documents, the root cause may lie in the non-activation of the compliance documents feature within the current program.
To resolve this issue, start by logging into the platform and navigating to the specific program where the problem is occurring. Once within the program, it's essential to review the settings to ensure that compliance documents are enabled.
In the program interface, locate the 'Compliance Documents' Tile. If this Tile is not enabled (Greyed out), it will be necessary to activate it:To enable this feature you will need to select the compliance Document tile, then select the Tab at the top right of the appearing field to enable this feature:
Once this has been ticked, click “Confirm” and then “Save” on the programme to save the changes you have just made. Ensuring that the 'Compliance Documents' Tile is enabled in the current program should address the issue of being unable to sign compliance documents.
Can an employer sign the Apprenticeship Agreement or the Training Plan before a learner?
No, the employer can only sign the App agreement or the Training plan after the learner has signed them. Once the learner signs these compliance documents, they will become accessible for the employer to sign.
In Classic, how do I generate a document to be signed?
In the Compliance Documents section of the User Profile, please select the Update option to generate an up-to-date pdf document. The relevant parties will then be prompted to sign.
If this is the first time a document is being generated, the "Create" option will appear as shown below:
Please note: any changes made to the Compliance Document template, or to the Learner’s details since the last update will also be pulled through to the document.
Learners are unable to access their Learning Plans and are being prompted to sign Compliance Documents that do not exist; why is this?
Any update to the template for Compliance Documents will trigger a prompt to resign the document, even if the document has not yet been generated.
The best way to generate the document would be to ask the Learners to navigate to their Onboarding Wizards, and to click through to Finish. The documents are generated at the end of the Onboarding process, giving the Learners an opportunity to apply their signatures.
Is there an order that apprenticeship compliance documents must be signed in?
Yes, there is. The order needs to be:
- Training plan
- Apprenticeship agreement
- Onboarding and others
Specifically, this is the order the compliance documents appear for the learner when they finish the Onboarding Wizard.
Also, in case the documents are generated manually by the tutor in the reverse order, the learner will receive Signature Required notification for each document created for them - but the corresponding document may not be available for signing yet, which is expected due to the order rule. To address this, the learner needs to sign the visible document first, and then the other document in the queue will be available for signing.
The same applies to employers: the Signature Required notification will be sent, but the document may have a greyed out ‘Sign’ button in the Signatures grid.
Please note, that this logic applies to learners and employers only. Tutors can sign the compliance documents in any order.
I've uploaded a signed version of the compliance document, but there's also a system-generated document and this is causing problems with viewing the Learning Plan. How can I fix this?
If a user uploads a compliance document without selecting the option to refrain from generating compliance documents upon completing the onboarding process, a system-generated document will be produced following the upload timestamp. This may result in difficulties when accessing the learning plan.
To address this matter, we recommend deleting the initially uploaded document and re-uploading it after the system-generated document has been created. This action will ensure seamless access to the learning plan.
Do employer line managers and mentors have visibility of Compliance documents signed by the applicant and training provider during onboarding?
Employer line managers and mentors can access any compliance documents that have been generated or uploaded for a Learner, provided they are set to be visible to Employers. This applies to the documents from both current and previous programmes:
- Programme-Level Control: The visibility of compliance document groups is managed at programme level.
- Mandatory Visibility: If an Employer’s signature is required on a compliance document, visibility cannot be revoked.
- Optional Visibility: For other compliance documents, visibility can be granted by selecting the 'Employer' option within the relevant compliance group settings.
Compliance documents can be accessed through both the Console and Classic interfaces:
- Classic Interface: Navigate to the User Profile and select the Compliance Documents section.
- Console Interface: Go to the Learner Profile, click on the Documents page, and then open the Compliance Documents folder.
For learners, “documents need signing” appears on login, but no documents are showing as needing a signature.
If a learner is seeing a “documents need signing” message appear when they login, but there are no documents showing as needing a signature, this can be caused by three main factors.
All these apply to Training plan and Apprenticeship agreement compliance documents only.
Factor 1 - Compliance document is not generated for the Learner
This applies to a scenario where the learner has not signed compliance documents upon finishing the Onboarding Wizard:
- Onboarding Wizard is disabled for the programme.
OR - Onboarding Wizard is not mandatory, and the learner has not finished it yet.
OR - The compliance document(s) were added to the Programme template after the learner had finished their Onboarding Wizard.
And if the above-mentioned compliance documents are configured in the Programme template, but none of these are generated for the learner, the learner will see the Documents Need Signing banner on their Learning Plan page. If they click on the Review & Sign button, the learner will be redirected to the Documents page but will not see any items under the ‘Signatures Required’ area.
To address this, the tutor needs to create the documents for the learner in the compliance document section of their profile. The learner will then be able to see and sign these documents.
Factor 2 - Improper order of signing
(This is an extension to the Factor 1)
In case some compliance documents of the above-mentioned types are already created for the Learner, but the rest are not - the learner may not see the documents due to the conflicting sign order.
For instance, both Apprenticeship Agreement and Training plan compliance documents are configured in the Programme template for the Learner’s programme.
Only Apprenticeship Agreement document is created in the Learner profile.
Since Training plan must be signed prior to any other compliance documents, and it’s not generated for the Learner yet, Apprenticeship Agreement document is locked for signing - until Training plan is generated for the Learner and signed.
Please find the compliance documents sign order details here: Is there an order that apprenticeship compliance documents must be signed in?
To resolve this, the tutor needs to create the missing compliance documents for the learner, so that these appear in the Learner’s Documents page, and the Learner will be able to sign those one by one in the designed order.
Factor 3 - Compliance documents settings have been updated in the Programme template
In this scenario, the learner had already signed all the requested compliance documents and had their Learning Plan page unlocked - but now they see the 'Documents Need Signing' banner again with no documents available for signing.
This could be a result of the following updates to the Programme template:
- New Apprenticeship agreement or Training plan compliance documents have been added to the Programme template.
- If this situation has occurred, then the issue can be resolved by creating a new document for the learner in the compliance document section of their profile. The learner will then be prompted to sign this document.
- or, any of these documents' template versions have been changed since the learner signed the document (as shown below). For example, the learner signed Apprenticeship Agreement v3 compliance document, and then v3 template is replaced with v4 for the same compliance group in the Programme template.
The issue can be resolved by undertaking either of the following options:
- Create a new document for the learner in the compliance document section of their profile. The learner will then be prompted to sign this document. This option is best used if the provider believes that changes are significant enough to need new signatures.
OR - An administrator with the Compliance QA role can select the learner’s compliance documents and review the previous documents. If these do not require revisiting and re-signing, the administrator can accept these documents, this will resolve the issue.
Apprenticeship Agreement
How do I update the end date on the Apprenticeship Agreement for a learner who has exceeded their planned end date?
You will need to edit the learner's Programme details, and amend the end date there; these changes will reflect in the Apprenticeship Agreement document once it is updated.
Is it possible to extract a blank copy of the training plan and apprenticeship agreement?
The system doesn't provide a direct means to extract a master copy of these documents. It was designed to utilize the PDF generator or the option to upload customized documents using your templates.
As an alternative approach, you might consider creating a test user within your tenant and ensuring the required compliance documents are included in the learner's programme. Subsequently, you can download the documents from the learner's profile.
Written agreement
How do we populate the section 'Assessment that [Insert company name] will deliver (Including Progress Reviews)' on the Written Agreement?
This section of the Written Agreement is populated with any Review and Meeting type components from the Learning Plan.
The End Point Assessment Organisation (EPAO) details are not pulling through to the Written Agreement for a learner. Why is this?
Please check the learner’s learning plan to make sure there is only one End Point Assessment component and that it has the correct organisation selected.
The Written Agreement is not being generated when a Learner completes Onboarding, Why is this?
The Written Agreement is not generated automatically on completion of Onboarding. The Written Agreement must be generated by an Administrator because the learner does not sign this document.
Is it possible to use a bespoke Employer Written Agreement in Aptem?
There is no way to use a completely different Written Agreement from the one that is in Aptem, however you are able to make some small adjustments the template to help fit your needs.
To do this navigate to the Compliance Document token in the Programme Builder and click the 'Prepopulate' option. Make the adjustments and click 'Save'.
Off the Job log
Is there a way to update the Off the Job evidence record document once a learner has been confirmed as completed and stopped on programme?
You are unable to update a Compliance document for a programme that the learner is not currently on. To remedy this, please enrol the learner on to the relevant programme.