November 2025 release notes

Exercise cloning and relationships

Administrators with the Manage marking aid exercises and Manage programme roles can now clone existing Marking aid exercises to any other target programme or component. This enhancement allows for faster setup and reuse of AI-enhanced exercises, reducing time spent recreating content across multiple programmes.

A new Clone exercise screen simplifies the process of copying exercises. Administrators can either replicate an exercise exactly or use the clone as a base, copying questions and feedback schemes to reduce creation effort.

Al learning data is copied as a snapshot at the moment of cloning. The cloned exercise inherits the AI learning state of the source exercise at that time, but no ongoing synchronisation occurs between the original and clone.

Administrators can now view relationships between cloned exercises directly from the Marking Aid admin dashboard. A new tab displays all exercises cloned from a selected exercise, and a link to the original “Cloned from” source appears in the summary section. This provides clear traceability between linked exercises, improving management and oversight.

Note: Only exercises that are generic or very similar should be cloned to avoid conflicts with AI-generated feedback. Avoid making changes that substantially alter the original questions, feedback or rubrics, as this will reduce the effectiveness of AI feedback, because the AI learning has already used answers from the original exercise.

Direct access to learner components

Administrators using the Marking Aid exercise screen can now navigate directly to a learner’s linked Learning Plan component by clicking anywhere on that learner’s row. This improves efficiency by removing the need for separate searches and allowing faster access to learner details.

Learner and employer action management

Learners and employers can now create and manage their own actions directly within the Actions section of a review. Learners can add actions for themselves, while employers can add actions for the learners they manage. Each action includes a due date and is saved within the review.

Learners and employers can amend, complete, or delete only the actions they have created, allowing them to correct mistakes or update their own progress while maintaining data integrity. Tutors continue to have full control and can edit, complete, or delete any action, regardless of who created it.

This enhancement supports greater collaboration and accountability between tutors, learners, and employers by allowing all participants to record, update, and track their own actions directly within the review.

Usability, visibility, and layout updates

The Actions section has been improved to make managing and tracking actions more intuitive. Users can now view actions by status through three tabs — Open, Closed, and All — ensuring only relevant items are displayed. Actions automatically move between tabs when their status changes.

Users can now duplicate actions to quickly create similar follow-up items. Duplicated actions appear in an editable state under the Open tab, without copying the due date. A new warning message appears whenever there are unsaved changes — “You have [no.] unsaved change(s).” — helping prevent accidental data loss.

Tutors, learners and employers can now see when each action was completed, with a “Closed: [date]” line shown beneath the item. Colour-coded tags indicate the status: Completed (green) and Not required (grey). The Due date remains visible after saving, improving visibility of upcoming deadlines. A new empty state appears when there are no actions to display, providing clear messaging and removing redundant navigation buttons.

In the Programme Builder, configuration options for the Actions section are now read-only. Employers and learners are shown as Can edit in UI, while Referrers are listed as Not applicable. Learners and employers can manage only the actions they have created and cannot modify, complete, or delete actions created by others.

Enhanced review summaries

When tutors use Enhanced Reviews to generate review summaries, the summaries are now more detailed and robust, offering a clearer reflection of the review discussion for tutors, learners, and employers. Note: This enhancement was released on 24 October 2025.

Dynamic section title

When viewing a review, the section title now updates dynamically based on the user’s role: it displays Participant Information when the Job Finder permission is enabled, or Learner Information otherwise.

The login process has been updated to improve privacy and account protection. If a username or password is entered incorrectly, the system now displays a generic error message without indicating which field is wrong.

If a user enters an incorrect password more than five times and the username exists in Aptem, a password reset link will be sent to their registered email address. When using the password reset feature, users now see a standard confirmation message: “If the username you entered is correct, you will receive an email shortly with a link to reset your password.”

These changes improve security by preventing username enumeration and ensuring consistent, privacy-focused messaging.

When administrators update components at the programme level, they can now choose to sync only specific component attributes using the new Apply and overwrite SELECTED Component attributes based on programme template option in Console.

Selectable attributes include:

• Component name

• Completion mode

• Criteria mappings

• Instructions

• Evidence required

• Minimum number of evidence

• Documents

• Delivery via organisation

• Marking Aid exercise (for tenants with Marking Aid enabled)

Additional improvements include:

• The source learner now appears in the Summary screen when using this synchronisation type.

• Warnings related to components are displayed in the Summary screen against each component.

• Expired, Cancelled, and Archived learners are excluded from the Select Learners step grid in Console.

• Component status selection and synchronisation type selection now appear on separate pages in the wizard.

This enhancement reduces the risk of overwriting customised learner components while ensuring efficient updates across programmes.

Quality Dashboard - Updated QAR calculations for learners on a break in learning

When an administrator uses the Quality Dashboard to review QAR data, they can now see calculations that accurately reflect the latest Department for Education (DfE) guidance on how learners on a break in learning are included. The QAR logic has been updated so that a learner on a break is only counted if they are no longer being reported and have no restart. This applies where the learner’s actual end date falls before the start of the previous QAR year, and the Force Include flag is either not used or does not match the QAR year.

Additionally, overdue continuing learners are now excluded when their planned end date is two years before the beginning of the QAR year and the Force Include flag is not applied or does not match the QAR year. This change ensures that QAR reporting aligns with current DfE rules, improving data consistency and compliance.

Users can view the affected aims in the Learner Aims Detail table on the QAR Headline page. Two new fields — Overdue Planned Break and Overdue Continuing Aim — have been added to help identify learners impacted by these updated rules. These updates may affect QAR rates and inclusion counts, so users may wish to review relevant learner records to understand any changes to reported achievement figures.

Quality Dashboard - Excluded aims removed from QAR calculations

When an administrator uses the Quality Dashboard to review QAR performance, they can now rely on aims marked as Exclude from batch being fully omitted from all QAR calculations. This update ensures that excluded aims no longer influence achievement rates or related metrics, improving the accuracy and alignment of reported figures with established QAR processing rules.

The change enhances the reliability of QAR reporting and ensures that performance data reflects only eligible aims. It may affect reported QAR percentages and learner counts, so users may wish to compare results with previous reports to understand any differences.

• Export Portfolio: Administrators can now export Marking Aid exercises containing special characters. Unsupported characters in evidence names are automatically removed to ensure successful exports.
• SCORM components: Asset reports now generate correctly when learners complete SCORM activities, ensuring reliable completion data for administrators and tutors.
• Onboarding: Learners can no longer skip Skills Radar steps during onboarding. All questions across every step must be completed before progressing, ensuring accurate skills data capture.
• Tasks: The Task due date calendar is now fully accessible for screen readers and keyboard users, resolving navigation issues and ensuring compliance with accessibility standards.
• Job Finder: Users can now search by the first part of a postcode. Typing the initial three to four characters displays relevant locations in the dropdown, improving search accuracy and usability.
• ILR - Prior Attainment for Funding Model 38: When learners transfer from onboarding to a delivery programme without a ZPROG aim, the Prior Attainment value now pulls through correctly, preventing funding validation errors and eliminating manual fixes.

We're excited to announce that we have begun development on a brand-new off-the-job hours logging feature. Our goal is to provide a more intuitive and efficient way for apprentices to record all their learning hours, making it easier to track progress and ensure compliance. This functionality will also offer improved oversight and reporting for providers. We're actively engaging with customers at this point. Customers who wish to be involved with the upcoming beta program should reach out to their IC or CSM.