Paul commented, 11 December 2020 11:25

Hi  Ceri Great to hear it was so helpful. I gather we are not planning to produce that report this month. The thinking was that we’d only produce it between July and November each year (for the period covering the overlap where two funding years are paid at the same time). Would you find it beneficial for us to keep producing this report beyond that period? It was a beta version, so we’re very keen to hear what users think of it and how we can continue to improve it. Many thanks Paul

1. Beta Cross Year Indicative Payments report

Hi  CeriGreat to hear it was so helpful. I gather we are not planning to produce that report this month. The thinking was that we’d only produce it between July and November each year (for the peri...

Paul commented, 16 October 2020 15:54

Hi Martin Here are the responses to your questions... Q1. The current validations rules for 2020/21 are version 2 but this does not include LearnDelFAMType_91 which is reported in R02, it is assumed that an updated version of the validation rules was used at R02, is it acceptable that the validation rules uses for R02 has not been published? Sorry that the published validation rules got out of sync with Submit learner data during R02. It's something we try to avoid. Providers have told us in the past that they need stability in terms of rules, reference datasets and so on, so that the service offers consistent results throughout the return period. It’s a challenge at the start of each funding year to get our services developed, tested and deployed. In this case, it was a rule that passed internal testing and put into the live environment without re-publishing the validation rules at the same time. We’re looking at alternative ways of sharing validation rule information so that we could share in real time the status for each rule (whether it is live, in testing, has a known issue and so on). We’d be interested in your views on whether an online service like that would be an improvement to the current way of working where we publish and release rules in batches. Q2. The ILR provider Support manual does not contain any guidance on recording in the ILR EPA assessment resits and updating the ILR for any additional EPA costs that may apply, is it intended to include such guidance in the future? Resits (including resits for EPA assessments) are not currently recorded on the ILR. If there are any additional costs for in this space, they are not recorded on the ILR but we would expect to be something that the employer and the End point assessment organisation arranges. We are currently reviewing how we record EPA data on the ILR and will raise this scenario with the Apprenticeship Service to see whether we need to add any guidance. Q3. I have read and researched the legislative requirements that have resulted in HTML replacing the PDF versions of the ILR Specifications and ILR provider Support Manual but in my opinion this does not preclude making a PDF version available in addition to the HTML published on the website, why have you taken the decision not to make available a PDF version to supplement the HTML when the sector has requested this format as it is necessary for reference when preparing ILR data in their normal operation? We opted for a digital first approach so that we met the new accessibility requirements and keep ILR documents up to date. We hadn’t picked up the need for producing multiple formats. We recognise that this is a change to how training providers and software writers have historically worked. Since going live with the new service we have had feedback from users highlighting aspects of the service that we can improve and have published our backlog of updates and improvements. We would like to work with you and other users to continue to improve the service and to understand what need the pdf meets that the online service cannot provide. To get involved in user research on this, we’d like people to contact customer.experience@education.gov.uk Thanks Paul  

1. Q&A with ESFA - Submit learner data, ILR documents and FIS

Hi MartinHere are the responses to your questions...Q1. The current validations rules for 2020/21 are version 2 but this does not include LearnDelFAMType_91 which is reported in R02, it is assumed ...

Paul commented, 12 October 2020 07:36

Hi Carol Here's the response from the ILR team... The ILR specification and guidance is now produced as an HTML publication to comply with legislative requirements. Pages within the ILR specification and support manual can be printed from the browser or app, but we're not in favour of printing and are discouraging the ‘print-and-annotate' method. Users relying on printed versions could miss updates and compromise their data quality. We’ve published further details on the reasons behind the change – they cover the accessibility requirements, but also show how to keep an offline version (which will refresh when you connect to the internet).

1. Q&A with ESFA - Submit learner data, ILR documents and FIS

Hi CarolHere's the response from the ILR team...The ILR specification and guidance is now produced as an HTML publication to comply with legislative requirements. Pages within the ILR specification...

Paul commented, 07 October 2020 16:11

Thanks Peter, I've asked them to look at the info on that call number. 

1. 2019/20 FIS MS Access Export Broken since 1.2.24

Thanks Peter, I've asked them to look at the info on that call number. 

Paul commented, 02 October 2020 15:28

Hi Martin Thanks for flagging the suggestions above, We're looking to bundle up a few fixes / improvements and get them out next week hopefully.  I expect that update will include both things you've suggested - changing the default notification and making user profiles visible. Another thing we'll fix is the 'last updated' on the home screen. It's showing the date the post was created rather than the time/date of the latest reply.  Thanks Paul

1. Requests for Q&A sessions with the ESFA

Hi MartinThanks for flagging the suggestions above, We're looking to bundle up a few fixes / improvements and get them out next week hopefully. I expect that update will include both things you've ...