Overview

Process automation helps you reduce the amount of administrative effort in managing learners and helps you ensure compliance.

The return to learning process automation automates the tasks associated with the return to learning for a learner who is on an apprenticeship programme, and is currently on a break in learning.

Process automations are designed to eliminate the possibility of errors in re-keying and reduce the associated administrative effort in updating the relevant areas of the system. The automation also includes an approval process that involves an administrator reviewing the request. This ensures that you have complete control over changes made to your learners' data.

This process automation makes the following changes:

• Updates the programme status of the learner to "Active", depending upon certain criteria
• Re-enables the learner to access and make progress on their learning plan, including submission of evidence
• Re-calculates planned end date on returning aims
• Adjusts dates within learning plan to reflect restart where required
• Creates a task to remind administrators that an awarding organisation may need to be made aware of the change
• Updates the aims within the ILR to reflect the return to learning. All the ILR fields that were previously populated for an aim, they will be re-instated on the returned aim.
• Updates the associated ILR fields, where present:
  • • Planned Hours
    • Aim reference
    • Aim type
    • Fund model
    • Prog type
    • Delivery location post code
    • Funding adjustment for prior learning
    • Learning Start Date
    • Learning Planned End Date
    • EPA
    • Partner UKPRN
    • Standard code
    • Framework code
    • Pathway code
    • Full Funding Indicator
    • Source of funding
    • Original Learning Start Date
    • Completion Status '
    • Eligibility for Enhanced Funding
• Updates the following ILR sections, where present:
  • Apprenticeship Financial Records
  • Apprenticeship Contract Type Records
  • Learner Support Funding
  • Learning Delivery Monitoring
  • Provider Specified Delivery Monitoring
  • Learning Delivery HE
  • Advanced Learner Loans Bursary
  • Devolved Area Monitoring

Notes

1. If the learner's ILR is marked to be excluded, the process automation will not update the learner's ILR.
2. This process automation will be applicable to any learners in who have "Break in learning" status. The process automation will not support moving a learner from "Break in learning" to "Withdrawn". 
3. This process automation is limited to delivery programmes only, as this is where funding rules require changes to be monitored.

Configuration

The return to learning process automation can be turned on or off at the tenant level. This provides administrators with complete control over this feature.

By default, this configuration is set to OFF. If your organisation wishes to take advantage of the process automation functionality, you will need to contact our support team, or your implementation consultant, and request this functionality be enabled on your tenant.

Note that the when the "Return to Learning" process automation is enabled, the "Withdrawal from Learning" and “Change of Programme” process automations must also be enabled.

Workflow

The following steps describe the workflow for the return to learning process automation.

1. A tutor or an administrator uses the Aptem console to create a tracker. The tracker contains the details of the return to learning request.
   • Status: For new trackers, this will be New.
   • Assignee: Set an assignee for the tracker
   • Date of return to learning: when the learner is expected to be back. This will be used to update the ILR.
   • New suggested learning planned end date: This is calculated based on adding the duration of the break to the original planned end date. 
   • Revised learning planned end date: You can use the suggested end date, or you can modify it.
   • If you want the remaining learning plan activity dates to take into account the break, select Yes. Any learning plan components that have not yet been started and have a generic date will get moved by the length of the break.
   • You can record a message to be sent to the learner and tutor, you can also append some notes relevant to the tracker.
     
     
2. A user with the Process Automation Trackers (pre-authorise) role, typically a line manager, can preauthorise the request. This will preauthorise the request, but it wont submit the details for change until it has been processed.
3. A user with the Process Automation Trackers (process) role, typically a senior administrator, can then process the request.
4. The administrator views the tracker. To edit the tracker, the administrator must click the options icon ⋮ on the far right, under the Actions column.
5. At this stage, the status of the tracker is new. The administrator updates the status of the tracker, and sets it to process or rejected, and clicks Save.
6. The learner is notified about the approval/rejection of the request. At this stage, the status of the tracker is set to closed.
7. If the administrator rejects the request, the learner and tutor will be notified of the rejection and the reason for rejection.
8. If the administrator approves the request, the process automation makes the following changes:

• • Updates the programme status of the learner to "Active", depending upon certain criteria
  • Re-enables the learner to access and make progress on their learning plan, including submission of evidence.
  • Re-calculates planned end date on returning aims
  • Adjusts dates within learning plan to reflect restart where required
  • Creates a task to remind administrators that an awarding organisation may need to be made aware of the change.
  • Updates the aims within the ILR to reflect the return to learning. All the ILR fields that were previously populated for an aim, they will be re-instated on the returned aim.
  • Updates the associated ILR fields, where present:
    • • Planned Hours
      • Aim reference
      • Aim type
      • Fund model
      • Prog type
      • Delivery location post code
      • Funding adjustment for prior learning
      • Learning Start Date
      • Learning Planned End Date
      • EPA
      • Partner UKPRN
      • Standard code
      • Framework code
      • Pathway code
      • Full Funding Indicator
      • Source of funding
      • Original Learning Start Date
      • Completion Status '
      • Eligibility for Enhanced Funding
        •  
  • Updates the following ILR sections, where present:
    • Apprenticeship Financial Records
    • Apprenticeship Contract Type Records
    • Learner Support Funding
    • Learning Delivery Monitoring
    • Provider Specified Delivery Monitoring
    • Learning Delivery HE
    • Advanced Learner Loans Bursary
    • Devolved Area Monitoring