Please note that this release will begin at the slightly earlier time of 18:30 and will include the Business Intelligence release.
Breaks in Learning
We are pleased to announce several key improvements to the Break in Learning (BIL) and Return from Break in Learning (RBIL) functionality within the Bud platform. These updates have been driven by customer feedback and compliance forum discussions and are the start of further improvements to key compliance areas in Bud.
The changes include:
- New Break in Learning area in Bud: We have moved the BIL functionality from the Overview page to a new area in the learning plan administration.
- New Return from Break in Learning process: We have introduced a two-step process for returning learners from a BIL. When a return is requested, a new learning plan status will reflect the request and unlock the learning plan so evidence of the return can be collected. The ILR will not be updated with the new return details until the RBIL has been approved by another user.
For more information on breaks in learning in Bud, please refer to the following articles:
- Requesting, approving and processing breaks in learning (BIL)
- Requesting and processing returns from a break in learning (BIL)
- Requesting and processing a withdrawal from a break in learning (BIL)
- The calculation used for the learning planned end date when returning from a break in learning (BIL)
Edit Off the Job Hours
Once an activity is completed, OTJ Hours added into the log can now be edited. This allows the Training Provider to ensure hours are accurately reflected on each activity.
Completed activities can only be edited if the Learner status is not withdrawn, completed, in EPA or on a break.
For more information on the OTJH log, please see this article.
Programme Builder
We have added the following category codes to the Bootcamp programme builder:
- Z0060517
- Z0060509
- Z0060521
- Z0060457
- Z0060481
As per current functionality, selecting one of these Bootcamp category codes in the programme builder will subsequently populate the ILR for any learner then enrolled on that programme.
Multi-Role User
If you have a login with multiple users associated (for example, you're a training provider user AND an employer), you no longer need to log out and in again to change your user role.
From the user setting you will see a new option to " change user type" once selected you are presented with the option of your other user types to switch to
Bug Fixes
In this release, we have fixed the following bugs:
-
Learning plan status not updating when a withdrawal from break is cancelled: We have resolved an issue where a learner’s status was incorrectly being set to “in progress” when a request to withdrawal directly from a break in learning was cancelled. The status will now update to the correct value of “on break”.
-
Original Learning Planned End Date (LPED) updating following a return from a break in learning: We have resolved an issue where in a small number of cases the original LPED was being updated following a return from a break in learning. For all new learners when returning from a break in learning the original ZPROG LPED will remain unchanged.
-
OST learning plans not creating correctly: In some cases, when the OST application was completed there was no learning plan for that learner. This has been fixed for any new applications after the release. If any learning plans have failed to generate prior to this release, please go through the OST enrolment edit flow to trigger the creation of the learning plan.
Business Intelligence
Reports
24/25 Funding Rules - Active learning
In line with the 24/25 Funding Rules, we’ve updated the Active Learning calculation across our Standard reports, Employer reports, and Learner observations. This change now factors in the Programme Delivery Model, adjusting the active learning requirement to 3 calendar months for front-loaded and block release models, while keeping it at 1 calendar month for activity-based sequential delivery.
Additionally, we’ve introduced a Delivery Model slicer and column in the Standard reports to make it easier for you to filter and explore the data.
NEW REPORT - Standard Reports – Learner Destinations
A new report has been added to our Standard Report suite and can be accessed in the Leavers – Additional information section.
This report provides an overview of the latest destination and progression records for learners who have left their programme. It does not use the deprecated ILR Destination fields but instead uses the Bud Destination and Progression record.
Accessibility enhancements - Operations Dashboard
We've improved accessibility in the Operations Dashboard to better support users who rely on screen readers. ALT text has been added to all slicers, presenting their field names for clearer navigation. Additionally, tab ordering has been optimised for keyboard users, ensuring a smooth and uninterrupted flow through the report.
Operations Dashboard - Reviews
In response to user feedback, the Reviews page in the Operations Dashboard has been updated to focus solely on progress reviews, allowing users to accurately monitor Trainer KPIs as they could before multiple review types were introduced. All other review types remain available in the Standard reports for more detailed tracking and analysis.
Qualification Achievement Rates
Traineeships have now been removed from the QAR calculation as they were previously incorrectly included. The report now shows only Apprenticeship QAR values as per design.
A mis-calculation in days on programme for some learners with break records was previously excluding a handful of learners incorrectly, this has now been resolved.
Data Warehouse
As part of the platform changes to support the new Break functionality, the following changes have been made in the data warehouse. These changes have been made to minimise impact to ETL and report building customers.
Breaks table changes - Presentation.[Break]
Suspension Date - The platform is no longer capturing this field. This will now be the Last Activity Date, but previous values are being kept.
Last Activity Type has been deprecated and will not be populated for new breaks. Values for old Breaks will be kept.
LastModifiedDateTime used to only be populated when there was an update, it is now populated on creation with the creation date. This applies to all three Break tables.
Status Cancelled has been deprecated in favour of Rejected. Breaks previously with a status of Cancelled will now show as Rejected.
The Break Status of Completed has been deprecated by the platform. The platform will no longer be setting a break to this when a learner returns to learning or withdraws. However, in the DWH we will continue to use it and we will set the Status to Completed based on the following rules:
-
A break is set to Processed and the Date Returned to Learning is populated (i.e. the learner has returned to learning)
-
A break is set to Processed and a related Withdrawal is set to Processed (i.e. the learner has withdrawn from learning)
This represents a small change in behaviour that report authors should be aware of.
In the event of a break being followed by a processed withdrawal, the Break Status will change, but the LastModifiedDateTime will not change. The DW_LastModifiedDateTime will be updated as usual.
As always, when detecting changes in the DWH for your own ETL, we recommend that you calculate a hash of the fields you are interested in and update your database when the hash changes.
Break Withdrawal Notes table - Presentation.[Break Withdrawal Notes]
Break Return notes are included here and are linked to both the Break Return and the original Break.
When a withdrawal followed a break, any notes were linked to both the break and withdrawal. Whilst we have maintained this link for historic notes, new notes will only be linked to one or the other.
New Table Break Return - Presentation.[Break Return]
In light of the new workflow to support the Return from Break process, a new table called Presentation.[Break Return] has been created. The fields are detailed in the New Fields section below.
New Learning Plan Status
When a learner is going through the return from break process, a learning plan will have a new status of Break Return Requested. When in this status, a learner will have access to their learning plan, so they are considered In Progress for reporting purposes although this status will be present in the Status Description field. We suggest providers building their own reports review filters on learning plan status in their reports to ensure this new status is being captured according to your needs.
New Datawarehouse Fields
An additional field has been added to Presentation.[Break Withdrawal Notes] linking the Notes to the Break Return request.
| Column Name | Description | Data Type | Nullable | |
| BreakReturnId | Bud Break Return ID (if applicable) | uniqueidentifier | Yes | |
As described above, Presentation.[Break Return] is a new table, with the following fields.
| Column Name | Description | Data Type | Length of Column | Nullable |
| ApprenticeId | Metadata: Bud Internal Apprentice Id | uniqueidentifier | Yes | |
| BreakId | Metadata: Bud Internal Break Id | uniqueidentifier | No | |
| BreakReturnId | Metadata: Bud Internal Break Return Id | uniqueidentifier | No | |
| CreationDateTime | Metadata: Record creation time | datetime2 | Yes | |
| Date Returned To Learning | Requested date returned to learning | date | Yes | |
| Dim_BreakReturn_SK | Metadata: Break Return Surrogate Key | int | No | |
| DW_CreationDateTime | Metadata: Time when the record was created in the Data Warehouse | datetime2 | Yes | |
| DW_LastModifiedDateTime | Metadata: Time when the record was modified in the Data Warehouse | datetime2 | Yes | |
| EmployerId | Metadata: Bud Internal Employer Id | uniqueidentifier | Yes | |
| LastModifiedDateTime | Metadata: Last time record was modified | datetime2 | Yes | |
| Learning Planned End Date On Return | Updated Planned End of Practical Period now the learner has returned to learning | date | Yes | |
| LearningPlanId | Metadata: Bud Internal Learning Plan Id | uniqueidentifier | No | |
| Processed By | Full name of the person who processed the return from break | nvarchar | 100 | Yes |
| Processed By (Id) | Metadata: Bud User ID of the person who processed the return from break | uniqueidentifier | Yes | |
| Processed Date | Date break was processed | date | Yes | |
| Rejected By | Full name of the person who rejected the request (if applicable) | nvarchar | 100 | Yes |
| Rejected By (Id) | Metadata: Bud User ID of the person who rejected the request (if applicable) | uniqueidentifier | Yes | |
| Rejected Date | Date the return from break request was rejected (if applicable) | date | Yes | |
| Requested By | Full name of the person who requested the return from break (Trainer) | nvarchar | 100 | Yes |
| Requested By (Id) | Metadata: Bud User ID of the person who requested the return from break | uniqueidentifier | Yes | |
| Requested Date | Date return from break was requested | date | Yes | |
| Status | Break Return Status | varchar | 100 | Yes |
| Status (Code) | Break Return Status (Code) | int | No | |
| TrainerId | Metadata: Bud Internal Trainer Id | uniqueidentifier | Yes | |
| TrainingProviderId | Metadata: Bud Internal Training Provider Id | uniqueidentifier | No | |
Notice for ETL Customers
First notice of change to data type length
In preparation for an upcoming change to the Learner Cohort Reference length on the platform, we will be updating the Learning Plan.[DAS Info Cohort Reference] field from nvarchar(6) to nvarchar(50) in our release scheduled for 13/11/2024. Please take this notice into account and prepare for this field adjustment.
Deprecated Table
As mentioned in our previous release notes. We are planning to remove the view Presentation.[Learning Outcomes] from the data warehouse in a future release. For more information and guidance for report developers or ETL customers, please refe r to the original notice here