Version 4.22.0 - 01/03/2022

Release Date: Mar 1, 2022

Version: 4.22.0

Notifications - Amend SMS method to perform sending via a cron.

SMS sending is now performed as part of a background batch process, instead of being done on the fly. This offers a significant performance improvement when sending multiple SMS.

Please note that a delay of up to one minute may be experienced as a result of this change.

Planning Meeting Booking Screen - User Telephone Number to be displayed

The planning meeting screen as been extended to show telephone numbers for system users where available within the attendees area and modal.

Assign Apprentice - Covid Compliance

On the assign apprentice and bulk assign apprentice screens we have added an information badge to the EPA name to inform where they are covid-19 compliant, and to the apprentice name to inform that they are in a workplace that requires covid-19 compliance.

Reporting - Add missing ULN

We have added the apprentice ULN to the Gateway Status report.

Apprentice - Show CoC history on edit apprentice

The edit/view apprentice screen has been updated to include a new “Change of Circumstance Details” tab. This new tab shows a paginated list of change of circumstance history that has happened against the apprentice’s current programme.

The change of circumstance button has also been moved from the Start New Programme tab onto this new tab, to keep change of circumstance functionality together.

ESFA - Send the address line 2 optional field

ESFA submission will now send the 2nd address line if it is either available against the selected address or populated manually within the address block.

News - Add a new label and read tracking

The news articles within EPAPro have been extended to show as New by default when a user has not read the article. This works in a similar way to how support materials are new until they have been downloaded or viewed.

A user with permission is also able to re-mark the news item as New for every user by editing it and selecting the “Mark as New” option when saving (no changes to the news article are required for this).

Given the history of news that already exists we’ve also tried to mark existing news items as read, where the user has logged into the system since that article’s creation. This should ensure that a user is not met with a large volume of “new” news, that may not be new, but also allowing you as an awarding organisation user to flag the latest news article as new to ensure that every user sees it.

New Permissions

Reporting - Put "Enable Reporting" first

We have renamed the ‘Enable Reporting’ permission to ‘Allow Reporting’ so that it is now the first permission listed in the Reporting permissions category.

Gateway - Stamp the user that approved/rejected the gateway

The gateway status report has been updated to show the new “gateway_action_user” - this shows the name of the user that performed the given gateway action (submission, approval, rejection).

Assessment Profile - Remove email from attendees widget

Within the assessment profile, the attendees widget has been changed to better suit some privacy needs and increase usability.

All email addresses for attendees are now hidden for external users so that the EPAO can better control this information.

If a user has the permission to view or edit an apprentice or EPA record then the name of that user will now also link to that record.

New Permissions

Recommend_Training

File Uploads - New file browser to use an existing file from central storage

Now that files can be uploaded to a central place for Apprentices we have built a consistent file browser that will hook into this new area and provide the user with the ability to link existing files to a result, QA, certification, gateway or assessment info without having to reupload the file. This new browser will open as a side drawer and provide a convenient way to upload a new file, or use an already uploaded file.

This change also means the upload process in each of these areas is now consistent with result, QA, certification, gateway and assessment info now supporting internal-only uploads, programme specific files (will be hidden on a new programme) and duplicate upload detection.

Deleting a file via a context area, such as Gateway, will provide you with a side drawer to unlink the file from that entity. If the file needs to be deleted from EPAPro this can be done via the new files tab found on the apprentice’s profile. Note: the file must not have any links in order to be deleted.

This browser will take into account the type of user using it, so internal-only uploads will not be visible to external users; providers, employers or apprentices.

New Permissions

Reporting - Report to show the responses against assessment component questions

We have created a report called called Assessment Component Question Responses that details out the assessment component question responses which can be located under the Assessment tab of the reporting area. This report includes basic information about the apprentice including their apprentice_id, name, uln, programme_id, standard, specialism, provider, employer, EPA and primary EPA name. The question_id, component name (the name of the assessment component that the question relates to), question text, answer provided and the date the answer was created and updated are also included.

New Permissions

Reporting - Report so show the responses against gateway component questions

We have created a report called Gateway Component Question Responses that details out the gateway component question responses which can be located under the Gateway tab of the reporting area. This report includes basic information about the apprentice, including their apprentice_id, name, uln, programme_id, standard, specialism, provider, employer, EPA and primary EPA name. The question id, component name (the name of the gateway component that the question relates to), question text, answer provided and the date the answer was created and updated are also included.

We have created a new filter for this report, to allow filtering on the gateway component name.

New Permissions

Reporting - Report to show the questions against assessment components

We have created a new report called Assessment Component Questions, that details out the questions that are associated with an assessment component. This report includes the following information: the component id, component name, question id, question text, question order (the order in which the questions are to be displayed on the gateway processing screen), question_key (the unique identifier for that question), question type (for example, text field or number input), mandatory (whether or not the question has to be answered) and the created and updated columns for the question.

The current column, and connected current version filter, indicate the version of a question currently in use. If a version of a question is used for a result, any future changes will result in a new version of that question being created. If further changes are made before that version is used again, then the current version line will be updated.

New Permissions

Reporting - Report to show the questions assigned against gateway components

We have created a new report called Gateway Component Questions, that details out the questions that are associated with a gateway component. This report includes the following information: the component id, component name, question id, question text, question order (the order in which the questions are to be displayed on the gateway processing screen), question_key (the unique identifier for that question), question type (for example, text field or number input), mandatory (whether or not the question has to be answered) and the created and updated columns for the question.

We have also created three new filters for this report to allow filtering on the component name, question type and mandatory status of the question.

Certification - Change to use central file system

As part of our assessment file system improvements, we have updated the certification screen to use this new system.

• Updated the “Upload” button to use our new file browser

• Updated the file uploads section to be consistent with the apprentice file management area

• Migrated existing uploads to the new file system structure

QA - Change to use central file system

As part of our assessment file system improvements, we have updated the QA screen to use this new system.

• Updated the “Upload” button to use our new file browser

• Updated the file uploads section to be consistent with the apprentice file management area

• Migrated existing uploads to the new file system structure

Assessment Results - Change to use central file system

As part of our assessment file system improvements, we have updated the assessment result screen to use this new system.

• Updated the “Upload” button to use our new file browser

• Updated the file uploads section to be consistent with the apprentice file management area

• Migrated existing uploads to the new file system structure

Assessment Info - Change to use central file system

As part of our assessment file system improvements, we have updated the assessment info widget in the manage element sidebar to use the new file system for apprentice files:

• Updated the “Upload” button to use our new file browser

• Migrated existing uploads to the new file system structure

• Updated the assessment info delete button to be consistent with the other apprentice file areas

• Tweaks and improvements to the side drawers to support the new stacking required for this work

Gateway - Change to use central file system

As part of our assessment file system improvements, we have updated the gateway screens to use this new system.

• Updated the “Upload” button to use our new file browser

• Migrated existing uploads to the new file system structure

Apprentice Profile - File management area

A new tab has been added to the apprentice profile called “Files” - this tab will show all of the files that have been associated against an apprentice, as part of the new apprentice file changes.

New files can be uploaded against the apprentice for use elsewhere in the system, using the add new file button - this prompts the user to upload a file, along with a label. The user can also specify whether the file is an internal only file, and whether the file is programme specific.

Users can use the links icon to view where this file has been used in the gateway/assessment process.

The edit/view buttons can be used to change/view attributes against an uploaded file, such as the label, internal flag & programme specific flag (note the file cannot be changed). The delete button can be used to remove a file, providing it has no active links.

File Management Setup

As part of the new apprentice file system work we’ve added the foundation for the rest of the areas to use. This includes setting up of the backend storage for file names, uploaders etc. and also the various ways of EPAPro to interact with these files. Using this new setup, EPAPro will now be able to store the following information for uploaded files where this new system is used:

• Label - The name given to the file during upload

• Uploaded User - The user that uploaded the file

• Internal - Is the file visible to external users; Employers, Providers, Apprentices

• Programme ID - If the upload is programme specific then it’ll be hidden on future programmes

• File Size - The size of the uploaded file, this is displayed on screen to provide an indication of how long the download may take

• File Type - The type of file, this is displayed on screen to provide an indication of what tools may be needed to read the file

• Hash - A unique hash of the file’s contents, this is used to provide duplicate upload warnings when uploading the same file to an apprentice’s programme

When linking an uploaded file to a result, QA, gateway or certification EPAPro will now store the following information about the link:

• Linking User - The user that linked the file, as this could be different to the user that uploaded it

NFS Changes - Folder structure

As part of the apprentice files storage work we’ve updated how we store new uploads to the apprentice/gateway/assessment areas. These uploads will now be stored in a date structure. There will be no noticeable change from a user’s perspective but this will allow for easier maintenance and archiving moving forward.

Setup Required

Notifications - Extend to include SMS method

A new SMS notification method has been introduced. This method allows notifications to be sent via SMS, along side existing delivery formats like email & in app notifications. The new method can be configured in the same way as existing notifications.

A new dropdown has also been added to the communications management screen. The new dropdown (“Allowed Method”) allows owner users to limit particular methods for each notification, to prevent individual users from selecting them via their own communications preferences. This is particularly useful in preventing users from selecting SMS for all notifications, though it can be used to restrict any method. If no allowed methods are defined, it is assumed that all notification methods are allowed.

A new report has been created (Miscellaneous → SMS History) to show a history of SMS messages that have been sent via EPAPro. The report shows information such as the notification type, recipient, status & message part count (the number of SMS needed to send the message, based on it’s length).

The Email Templates screen has been renamed to Communication Templates, as this screen has now been enhanced to enable the configuration of both email & SMS contents. All of the existing variables available in email templates are also available within SMS templates.

For example, the “assessment_details” variable within the External Assessment notification can be thousands of characters long when sent to Apprentices on a ProctorU exam!

Provider & employer component attendees can now have telephone numbers associated against them when booking elements - this phone number will be used when sending SMS, if this notification method is enabled.

EP-3099

FEATURE

Setup Required

ProctorU - Cancellations webhook and billing report

The ProctorU integration has been extended to cope with cancellations triggered from the ProctorU application.

This uses their “Reservation Cancelled” event and will require a new webhook to be set up inside your ProctorU account.

A cancelled reservation from ProctorU will be flagged as cancelled within EPAPro and will store the cancellation reason given by ProctorU.

To coincide with this cancellation extension, a new financial report for ProctorU - “ProctorU Reservations” has been added to the system.

This allows you to track reservations that you want to charge for, as well as track cancellations with their associated reason. If available the Incident Report status from ProctorU will be shown in this report to provide further guidance to the state of the reservation, to aid in billing decisions.

Essentials - SLA report not being excluded

Fixed a bug where the SLA report for Time from apprentice assignment to EPA decision was showing on essentials accounts. This has now been removed.

Back Into Learning - Possible to enter date far into future for the earliest return date

Amended the back into learning “earliest return date” to warn the user if the date selected is greater than 365 days.

Back Into Learning - Reason for Change missing maxlength

The Reason for Change field when updating a Back Into Learning has been updated to limit the field to 255 characters. Validation currently prevented more than 255 characters, so the front end has been brought inline with this change.

Back Into Learning - Possible to complete assessment plan when apprentice is in RR

It is no longer possible to complete an assessment plan for an apprentice at retake review status.

Back Into Learning - Possible to immediately edit next action causing incorrect setup

We’ve fixed a bug where the user was able to immediately change the next action after saving retake, via the edit next action widget in the side drawer. This would cause the apprentice to enter an incorrect state.

• The edit next action widget will now error if the apprentice is in a BiL status.

• Setting a next action of retake via the side drawer will cause the screen to reload to ensure the apprentice new state is correctly shown.

QA - Cannot delete file uploads

EPA - Not possible to remove times from availability

EPA availability times can now be deleted by blanking the non-required times. Previously these changes were ignored.

Search - Fatal error logged in New Relic

Fixed an error notification with the Teams integration where a booking was done as a ‘Teams’ event but the MS Account has not been linked. The element was still booked but EPAPro is unable to book an event in Teams. This now fails silently allowing users to flag elements as Teams events without requiring the account to be linked - although this is still recommended to allow EPAPro to automatically book the element as a Teams meeting.

Essentials - Newly created subscriptions need to have the tax rate defined

We’ve fixed a bug where new essentials customers were sometimes initially being linked to an incorrect VAT rate when completing their sign up.

Assessment Info - File type cause odd layout

We’ve fixed an issue where long file type names for assessment info uploads would break the layout of the widget. File types will now show with a relevant icon and the details type can be seen by hovering over the icon.

We’ve also improved how the other fields show within this widget forcing them to wrap if there are long names, for example, the user that uploaded the file.

Standards - Apprentices can be assigned inactive standards

Fixed a bug where an inactive standard could show as selectable for an apprentice on create or edit, or show under view apprentice or start new programme. Validation for these areas has also been updated to deny inactive standards.

Dashboard - Read certification permission does not grant users use of Published Certifications view details link

Fixed a bug where user permissions were being incorrectly cached within the dashboard area statistics which could cause a caching overlap.

Assessment Profile - Add result: Declaration not read only

Declaration name and signature are now read only when accessing the result in view mode.

Record of Achievement - Long filenames cause an error on Windows

Fixed a bug when record of achievement files were downloaded on Standards or Components with very long names that caused the maximum file name length in Windows to be exceeded. The standard name and component name are now limited to 50 characters each.

Support materials - Cannot select the last standard from the standard dropdown menu

Fixed a bug where you were unable to select standards from the support materials dropdown if it overlapped the container.

Surpass - Improve error handling with viewing, editing or adjusting results

We’ve fixed an error where if the retrieval of Surpass details failed then the whole page would error. This now fails silently and the Surpass block of the add/edit results page will be empty; all other functionality is preserved.

Assessment Components - Upload required and Require Invigilator do not persist on error

Fixed a bug where the ‘Upload Required’ and ‘Invigilator’ toggles were not persisting when an error occurs during saving. Also tidied up some of the error field highlighting.

Assessment Progress - Results with a retake next action should not display Earliest Date for Resit

Fixed a bug where the earliest date for resit field would display when viewing a result even when the next action was set to Failed or Retake.

Fixed error notices when validation is triggered when adding or editing a result. The fields are now have better highlighting.

Reporting - SLA Reports inconsistent with screen

SLA Reports now always show as passed when a threshold is not set against that SLA. Note that the minutes_remaining field will always show a negative number if an SLA threshold is not set - only the sla_status will reflect this new change.

Reporting - Results page number should be reset to 1 if a new filtered report is run

Fixed a bug where the current page was not forgotten when running a report fresh. This meant that a user could run a report, go to a page, run the report again fresh with different options and the page number would be remembered; however there may not be results for that page number.

When running a report via the “Apply & Run” button the page will always be reset to page 1 now.