New Feature - EP-3356 Ofqual Categorised Reasonable Adjustments
- Lisa Clancy
new permissions setup required training recommended
Overview
Released in (5.18.0), we have extended epaPRO to add a more structured entry of reasonable adjustments and special considerations. We support Ofqual’s Pre-Agreed and Post-Mark adjustments and also provide reports for each. The new functionality has been developed with Ofqual’s specification in-mind, but additional fields have also been added for EPAO specific data.
Changes to Functionality
New field against standards
We have added a new Ofqual Qualification Number field to standards. This can be entered on the “External Details” tab. This new field has also been added to the Standards report.
New fields against assessment centres
We have added two new fields to assessment centres.;
National Centre Number (NCN)
Unique Reference Number (URN)
Deprecation of old reasonable adjustments text field
The API documentation and apprentice screen have been updated to highlight the “reasonable adjustment” text field as deprecated.
This field is no longer recommended for use, this new functionality should be used instead. The old field will be disabled for editing in the next release. The historical data will be retained in this field.
New reasonable adjustments tab
A new tab on the edit/create apprentice screen has been added. This new tab allows for the creation of reasonable adjustments. These adjustments follow the format from Ofqual, allowing for consistent reporting across apprentices. New entries can be created and edited to adjust the status. Adjustments can also be deleted.
The screen now offers Providers the ability to upload a file for evidence
Filters have been added to easily narrow down adjustments based on type. The active filter will allow for switching between adjustments that are currently valid, based on the criteria:
Active - The adjustment is in an accepted state and the current date is between its start/end window
Inactive - The adjustment is in a pending, withdrawn, or rejected state, or the current date is outside the adjustment’s start/end window
If external users have permission to update or create adjustments, the statuses they can choose will be restricted to just pending and withdrawn.
Reasonable adjustments have restricted editing if they have been tied to a planning meeting or component booking, this means the meeting or component was booked whilst the apprentice had one or more reasonable adjustments.
Customisable additional reasonable adjustment and special consideration fields
To provide additional information when there are some more fine-grained selections for internal reporting, we have added two new fields “Additional Reasonable Adjustment” and “Additional Special Consideration” fields. These are to provide extensions to Ofquals existing Reasonable Adjustment (long-term) and Special Consideration (short-term) options.
These can be customised via the Custom Dropdowns section of epaPRO. If no active values are given then the dropdown will not be shown.
API Apprentice endpoints
The APIs “get apprentice” and “get apprentice list” endpoints have both been updated to include a list of reasonable adjustments via a new reasonable_adjustments_list parameter. This will only include active adjustments.
Visibility of adjustments when booking meetings
The schedule planning meeting screen has been updated to include a table of the reasonable adjustments defined against the apprentice. This table will only show the active adjustments, meaning that now is between the adjustment’s date range and it is accepted.
Booking the meeting will ensure that any adjustments are automatically linked to the meeting. This means that once the meeting is in a read-only state (as denoted by this icon below)
you can still see the adjustments that applied at the time the last update or booking was made.
Updating or rescheduling the meeting will update it with the currently valid adjustments, removing any that are no longer active.
A valid adjustment must be accepted and have a date range overlapping with the meeting’s scheduled date.
Visibility of adjustments when booking elements
The assessment plan has been updated so that the reasonable adjustments popup now includes a table of adjustments for the new format, similar to the planning meeting screen above.
Booking an element, like the planning meeting, will tie the adjustments to the booking, if the booking is updated or rescheduled, the linked adjustments will also be updated. However, once the element is in a read-only state the adjustments will remain visible for audit purposes.
A valid adjustment must be accepted and have a date range overlapping with the element’s scheduled date.
A new stage “Reasonable Adjustments” has been added to the element booking process so that you can see what adjustments have been tied to the element. Various warnings and alerts have also been added to indicate to the user if the apprentice has adjustments that do not match the booking or if the booking has adjustments.
Unable to bulk book apprentices with adjustments
The assessment booking screen has been updated to no longer allow the bulk booking of apprentices with reasonable adjustments. Due to the nature of the adjustments this apprentice may likely need extra time or additional details added to the booking, so they should be booked on an individual basis.
New Apprentice Pre-Agreed Adjustments report
A new report called “Ofqual Pre-Agreed Adjustments” has been added to the reporting area, it’s available under the “Apprentice” category.
This report will provide output in a similar structure to the requested data by Ofqual, filters are available to query for a subset of data.
The Additional Reasonable Adjustment and Additional Special Consideration fields are also included in this report, although these are custom values for the EPAO and may not be relevant for Ofqual.
Assessment Result Post-Mark Adjustments
We have added the ability to enter Post-Mark Reasonable Adjustments as defined by Ofqual. These can be entered directly against a result and can also be added via a result adjustment. The process of adding these is similar to adding reasonable adjustments directly to the apprentice record. While adding, editing, or adjusting a result, there is a new “Reasonable Adjustment” box, this will list the current adjustments against the result, and clicking “Add Adjustment” will allow you to add any additional ones you need to.
Please note - This is not covered by a separate Reasonable Adjustment permission, instead it is visible & available to anyone who can add results.
The Additional Special Consideration dropdown is also available here if configured.
Note that this section is for audit and reporting purposes and does not directly impact the grade. For example, ticking “Grade Adjusted” will require the user to also adjust the grade as they would have done normally, as epaPRO would not know what the new grade should be.
New Assessment Post-Mark Adjustments Report
A new report called “Ofqual Post-Mark Adjustments” has been added to the reporting area, it is available under the “Assessment” category.
This report will provide output in a similar structure to the requested data by Ofqual, filters are available to query for a subset of data.
The Additional Special Consideration field is also included in this report, although these are custom values for the EPAO and may not be relevant for Ofqual.
Where Ofqual are requesting fields that we are unable to populate, these will be blank. The “UnitReferenceNumber" and "AssessmentCode" fields are also blank as we do not store references for these and epaPRO does not have a concept of "Units" and so would be unable to fit this into the Assessment Component structure we currently have.
New Communications
Three new comms have been added, these all apply to apprentice reasonable adjustments and allow for comms to be sent when an adjustment is added, accepted, or rejected. They can be found under the User tab.
Impacted Areas
Entity Management - Standards
Reporting - Standards
Entity Management - Assessment Centre
API Apprentice Endpoints
Apprentice create/edit
Assessment Booking
Schedule Planning Meeting
Assessment Plan
Reporting
Assessment Result
Permissions
Read Apprentice Reasonable Adjustments - Allows for the reading of the adjustments, and affects both the visibility of the tab on the edit apprentice screen and the API. This permission has been given to any user or role that has Read Apprentice.
Update Apprentice Reasonable Adjustments - Allows for the editing of adjustments. This permission has been given to any user or role that has Update Apprentice.
Create Apprentice Reasonable Adjustments - Allows for the creation of new adjustments. This permission has been given to any user or role that has Update Apprentice.
Delete Apprentice Reasonable Adjustments - Allows for the deletion of new adjustments. This permission has been given to any user or role that has Update Apprentice.
Ofqual Pre-Agreed Adjustments - Allows for the user to run the Ofqual Pre-Agreed Adjustments report. This permission has been given to the owner, awardingorganisation, provider, employer, epa, and epamanager default system roles.
Ofqual Post-Mark Adjustments - Allows for the user to run the Ofqual Post-Mark Adjustments report. This permission has been given to the owner, awardingorganisation, epa, and epamanager default system roles.