BMS Progress Group is an Aptem Apprentice customer who was among the very first providers to use Aptem for apprenticeship delivery. BMS delivers a range of programmes, including Level 3 Team Leader, Level 4 Sales Executive, and Level 5 Operational or Departmental Manager.
At the end of a recent Aptem training session, Dan Hodgetts, Implementation Consultant at Aptem, took the opportunity to gather some feedback from Emily Bowler, Head of MIS, Funding & Compliance at BMS Progress Group. In this article, you can read Emily’s comments on the early days of Aptem’s implementation at BMS, how Aptem has evolved, and how, as an Enterprise package customer, her team now has access to the latest innovative functionality, including Aptem Enhance AI-powered features.
DH: You have been using Aptem for a good few years now and have seen the product evolve, including the transition of the user interface from ‘Classic’ to ‘Console’. How does it compare with day one?
EB: We were possibly the second or third provider to implement Aptem and have been using it the whole time we’ve been a training provider. It’s been amazing to see it develop over the years. I always get so excited about new features that come out and look forward to seeing how they will help the coaches and the learners.
DH: You’re a Compliance lead. So, from a compliance perspective, does Aptem cut down on the amount of time and effort it takes to keep you on the right side of all the compliance you must adhere to?
EB: Yes, massively. One feature I really liked when it came out was Trackers—an automation tool that enables you to do otherwise time-consuming multi-step tasks such as putting learners on Breaks in Learning (BiL) and processing returners and withdrawals. It cuts out so much time, such as restarting the Aims and completing actions one at a time. It’s now all done in one go.
Every time I submit the Individualised Learner Records (ILR) batch to the funding body and it comes back with no errors, it feels good to know that all that data is clean. Data-wise, I know it’s all as it should be because Aptem does it for me. I don’t know what I’d do if we changed systems and we had to use something where I had to do everything manually.
"I've been so excited about Aptem Enhance. Before we even had it, I read through every single article and every slide deck that was sent to us and put together my own slides to share with my team. I've done all my research just so that I knew as soon as it was active on our tenant, I was able to then put it live and do all the training with the team. Aptem is one of my favourite things. I love it."
DH: You mention new features that are continuously released. Do you have any feedback on the recently released virtual assistant for learners?
EB: We are in testing at the moment. There are three coaches across Team Leader and Level 5 Operations Manager who are testing it out, they’ve already had sessions with the learners, and they’ve got it on their test users as well. One learner shared a scenario where they wanted to determine if a particular workplace activity would count towards Off-the-Job training. The virtual assistant responded instantly, explaining that the activity wouldn’t qualify because it was part of the learner’s routine duties. I hadn’t even considered that question before, but it’s incredibly helpful. Instead of calling their coach, who might be busy with another call, and waiting for a response, the learner could get immediate clarification from the virtual assistant. I think it’s great.
DH: I agree, it’s a game changer. It’s just way ahead of anything else that I’ve seen in terms of any other systems that are out there. Generally, do you get good feedback about the platform?
EB: Honestly, I love talking about Aptem. I could talk about it all day, every day. Learners tend to love Aptem and the way that it looks, works, and helps them as they progress through the programme. Obviously, all these new features that are coming out, the marking aid, the feedback assistant, review summarisation – coaches are very excited about that because it cuts their admin time, and they want to be on calls with learners – teaching and coaching. All these new things that they can add in, such as Checkpoints to check their learners’ understanding and application of KSBs, they want to be doing that rather than writing up reviews and typing up.
DH: Thank you, Emily. We might be a software solution, but it’s there to support the learner experience, the employer experience and everything that we can do to remove admin from coaches so they can spend more time supporting those apprentices – that’s exactly what our system is there to do. We appreciate your feedback.
Interested?
- Find out how Aptem Apprentice, including our ever-growing suite of Aptem Enhance AI-powered features, can support your learners, tutors, and administrative staff.
- Read the full BMS Progress case study.
