Additional learning support

Overview

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

The additional learning support process automation automates the tasks associated with applying learning support funding claim for a learner with identified support needs.

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.

No ILR-specific roles are required for administrators who will be processing the tracker. This allows for more flexibility in keeping your learners' ILRs up-to-date.

This process automation makes the following changes:

• Notifies learner’s case owner about the tracker approval. The notification will include additional information if the 'Message to Tutor' is populated.

• Notifies Tracker Assignee and Tracker creator about changes applied to the tracker.

• Captures learner Support funding date information: "Date from" and "Date to" when support commences and updates the ILR.
• Captures learner support funding "Date to" when support ceases and updates the ILR.

This process automation will be applicable to any learners in who have an active programme status. This tracker cannot be applied where the programme does not have an active programme aim.

Note that an active programme aim is one where:

• ILR status is not Excluded.
• Programme Aim is not excluded from the batch.
• The completion status of the Programme Aim is 1 [The learner is continuing or intending to continue the learning activities leading to the learning aim].
• Programme Aim’s FundModel is 36 or 35, or FundModel is 81 with ProgType 25

Please note that this process automation is limited to delivery programmes only, as this is where funding rules require changes to be monitored.

Note that this process automation can only be created using Aptem console.

Configuration

The additional learning support 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. Administrators with the Manage Tenant Settings permission can navigate to Settings>General>Process Automation to configure their process automation tracker settings. For more information, see: Configure Process Automation settings for your tenant.

Workflow

The following steps describe the workflow for the additional learning support process automation.

1. A tutor or an administrator uses the Aptem console to create a tracker. The tracker contains the details of the additional learning support request.
   • • Description is a read-only field.
     • Status: For new trackers, this will be New.
     • Assignee: Set an assignee for the tracker
     • Where the programme has an active programme aim, Learner Support Funding Records from the ILR are pulled into the tracker.
       
   • If Learner support funding is not currently active for the learner, you can specify the learner support start and end dates under the Claim Learner Support Funding for this Learner section.
     
   • If Learner support funding is currently active for the learner, you can specify the learner support end date under the Stop Claiming Learner Support Funding for this Learner section.
     
   • You can use the Message to tutor and Notes sections, as applicable.

     • The Message to tutor field appears if the tracker status is in the 'Process' status.

     • The Notes field is only available from the Edit Tracker screen.

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 won't 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. When the tracker status is process, the administrator can send a message to the learner's case owner, and can attach notes and supporting documents to the tracker. 
7. After the tracker is processed, the status of the tracker is set to closed.
8. If the administrator rejects the request, the tracker will be closed and no changes will be made.
9. If the administrator approves the request, the process automation makes the following changes:

• • Notifies learner’s case owner about the tracker approval. The notification will include additional information if the 'Message to Tutor' is populated.

  • Notifies Tracker Assignee and Tracker creator about changes applied to the tracker.

  • Captures learner Support funding date information: "Date from" and "Date to" when support commences and updates the ILR.
  • Captures learner support funding "Date to" when support ceases and updates the ILR.