This work replaces the surrounding areas of the layout of EPAPro such as header, footer, and menu. Furthermore these areas have been redesigned and reworked with the user experience in mind. From a technical perspective this work removes a lot of older code and moves the application fully onto the new framework.

The first thing to note is that all users will now have the same layout throughout the application for consistency. This work also makes large strides towards mobile friendliness for the application and this will be expanded in later releases. This work also adds a pop up indicating when a user has been logged out due to inactivity.

The menu has been restructured with a view to prioritise the items needed most towards the top for most users. Categories have been reworked to better group together common functionality and split out that which is used for an initial set up of EPAPro and that used on a day to day basis.

The header is now fixed and is available application wide; it is also where the profile and logout functionality is available.
As part of this work we have removed the user manager and it has been replaced with a global user search available in the header at all times. This searches all user types and the results link through to the specific user type page depending on the logged in user's permissions.
Finally the notifications widget on the dashboard has been removed and you can now view your notifications from anywhere via the header by clicking on the 'bell' icon; these are updated in near real time.

In addition to the above we have added additional layers of security to multiple areas of the application. This includes Gateway, Assessment Progress, QA, and Certification to help ensure that users only have access to the areas and apprentices that they should. We've also implemented an allow list for file uploads as an additional security mesaure so that only accepted file types can be uploaded into EPAPro.

This replaces the previous ESFA screen that was used in conjunction with the, now defunct, spreadsheet. The screen shows apprentices that have completed EPA and are ready to be submitted to the ESFA so that certificates can be sent out to them. Users are given the opportunity to amend the address to where the certificate should be sent prior to submission.

There are prerequisites for this functionality and the most straight forward are new fields added to the Standard and any Specialisms.
Against the standard there is a new field called "External Standard Code". This is the unique numerical reference that the ESFA uses to reference the standard (sometimes referred to as a LARS code) i.e. Commis chef under Catering and Hospitality is 93.
Against specialism there is a new field called "Course Option". These are the specialisms defined by the ESFA based on the external standard code (LARS code). These are supplied by the ESFA and cannot be customised. Any specialism must have one of these set otherwise submission to the ESFA for a certificate will be rejected.

The final prerequisite is that before this functionality can be used we will require your ESFA API Key. The steps to acquire this are given by the ESFA below:

You will need to sign back into your Apprenticeship Assessment Service account.
- Select 'API Subscription' link within the 'Organisation' box at the bottom left.
- If you have 'Organisation details' permissions you will now need to select 'Enable key.'
- The 'API Subscription' page will then be displayed. If you do not have 'Organisation details' permissions you will first need to request this by selecting 'request the Organisation details permission.'

If you have any issues obtaining this API key then please contact us and we will help you to find it.

TO TEST THE API IN YOUR UAT ENVIRONMENT YOU WILL NEED TO DO THE FOLLOWING;

You DO NOT require an API key for UAT

Firstly set up your Standards as mentioned above;

Against the standard there is a new field called "External Standard Code". This is the unique numerical reference that the ESFA uses to reference the standard (sometimes referred to as a LARS code) i.e. Commis chef under Catering and Hospitality is 93.
Against specialism there is a new field called "Course Option". These are the specialisms defined by the ESFA based on the external standard code (LARS code). These are supplied by the ESFA and cannot be customised. Any specialism must have one of these set otherwise submission to the ESFA for a certificate will be rejected.

You will then need to edit the ULN and Family name on apprentices you wish to submit in the UAT environment;

As there is no specific sandbox environment for the ESFA portal, you must send test data.  This is done by changing the Apprentice family name and ULN to a test ULN.  You can send 10 apprentices per standard.

TEST uln numbers must be 10 digits and made up as follows;

• "1" - leading digit
• "xxxx" - 4 digits of EPAOrgId
• "xxx" - 3 digits of LARS Standard Code (leading 0s)
• "00 - 09" - 10 unique ulns per standard code

1-EPAOID-LARSID-00to09

Example. For EPA0001, Standard Code = ST0237, and 1st uln in the sequence

• uln = "1" + "0001" + "080" + "01" = 1000123701
• familyName = 1000123701 (same value as uln)

The next test ULN would be 1000123702, then 100123703 etc.  

Your EPAO registration number can be found on the Register of End Point Assessment Organisations if you do not know it 

Once you can construct your ULNs go to Manage Apprentice, select the relevant standard and a status of certified, then edit one or multiple apprentice records and for each change the ULN and the Family name to one of your test ULNs. This will allow you to submit the apprentice and get back a Certificate reference.  

Reporting > Assessment > Certification  Overview

This report shows if an apprentice has been processed and sent to ESFA