Aptem has integrated its virtual assistant with the Checkpoint functionality. As a result, after completing a Checkpoint, the virtual assistant will be available to the learner, providing them with the opportunity to delve deeper into the topic. This timely intervention allows learners to enhance their understanding by engaging in targeted conversations right at the moment they are assessing their knowledge.

This development will allow organisations to personalise the style and tone of the virtual assistant based on their teaching practices and brand values. The update will also allow for the addition of supplementary knowledge such as employer practices and proprietary learning materials.

The additional flexibility of Checkpoint triggering will allow organisations to use the resource for all learners regardless of their start and end dates, allowing for greater personalisation of the learner journey. 

This feature adds more value to reviews by generating specific actions and goals for learners that are measurable and time limited. These goals can be tracked through the system to allow tutors to monitor progress and support where required. 

To support better-informed reviews, this feature will provide a summary of key points, including achievements, outstanding actions and previous review summarise to ensure that both the tutor and the learner can effectively prepare for a structured review.

This new feature allows organisations to pinpoint and address any quality issues relating to marking and also to implement improvements in a syllabus or learning materials where learner performance is not as expected across a cohort.

This new feature allows organisations to save time and drive high quality marking across all apprenticeship standards. The ability to deliver this at scale is a significant time saving that gives tutors more time to spend with learners.

Achieve significant time savings without compromising feedback quality. By reducing the time taken to provide repetitive feedback, it allows for more personalised guidance that improves learner outcomes.

Expanding on the initial iteration of Aptem’s marking aid, this feature introduces intelligent KSB criteria mapping to assist tutors during the marking process. The tool learns how you mark, every time you mark. With this human-in-the-loop approach, it helps to drive accuracy and efficiency, freeing up tutors’ time and allowing them to focus on personalised guidance that supports learner progress.

In our first iteration, we have delivered a fresh look and feel that aligns seamlessly with the Aptem product and website, giving you a consistent and familiar experience. This update offers simplified navigation, a new Knowledge Base for all Aptem product information, and a new Promoted Articles section containing regularly updated, timely, and relevant content to keep you up-to-date with the latest sector and product changes.​​​

In the coming months, you will see improved article organisation to help you find information based on tasks, like ‘conducting a review’ or ‘updating a sub-programme’. We will also release Tiered Articles, tagged by Aptem packaging tier, so you can quickly identify content relevant to your subscription.

We are actively developing a new process for maintaining compliance document templates, by dissociating them from specific programmes and sharing them from a central location. This will reduce the administrative burden on our customers and allow for easier changes in the future. We are also considering ways to allow customers to control which learners see compliance document changes, based on the applicable funding rules.

We’ve added a new OData field that allows you to report on each UKPRN separately, and therefore split and analyse your current reporting with greater precision. This means you can quickly and efficiently identify any issues that could impact funding.

We have also enhanced our reporting capabilities for providers with multiple UKPRNs by adding a UKPRN filter to the Quality Power BI dashboard, allowing customers to gain more refined insights. Combined with our upcoming Power BI funding dashboard enhancements, you can split out your past-years’ reporting and future projections based on UKPRN.

By providing the ability to manually or automatically add transcripts and meeting notes to reviews, our enhanced functionality will reduce administration effort for tutors and increase the accuracy of what is recorded, driving quality, compliance, and efficiency.

Unlike generic chatbots, our virtual assistant is purpose-built for each learner’s apprenticeship programme, so its accuracy in relation to the apprenticeship standard is far higher than that of a standard large language model.

Using this approach gives learners more ownership of their learning journey, maximise learning momentum, and reduce the administrative burden for tutors to respond to repetitive questions.

To help identify areas where learners may need additional support or stretch, tutors can now see the chat history between the virtual assistant and the learner. This has been developed in response to Early Adopter feedback. It can also be used for QA purposes.

Unlock impactful, learner-centred support by shifting the focus from basic routine feedback to meaningful constructive guidance, tailored to each learner’s needs.

The review summarisation eliminates the trade-off between valuable conversations and accurate record-keeping, by automatically generating the key discussion points and themes from each review. As the conversation progresses, crucial feedback and action points will be documented, helping to improve engagement, boost accuracy and shorten feedback loops.

We present realistic scenarios in the context of the learner’s employment and programme of study. This will empower apprentices to apply theoretical understanding to the skills and behaviours they are working towards, fostering a deeper understanding of on-the-job challenges. This supports the goal of aligning apprenticeship training and real-world requirements, while also providing tutors with a comprehensive understanding of each learner’s progress.  

The first phase of development focuses on efficiently housing information about the submission within Aptem, enabling learners and tutors to easily access it via the Learning Plan. A streamlined process that encourages clarity of expectations and standardised assessment criteria for consistency, fairness and efficiency.

Learn more: https://www.aptem.co.uk/aptem-news/aptem-and-graide-launch-first-ai-driven-integrated-marking-aid-for-apprenticeships/

Checkpoint
The first of our Aptem Enhance features, Aptem Checkpoint, uses large language models (LLMs) and built-in knowledge of the KSBs to check a learner’s understanding throughout their apprenticeship, evidencing progress and acting as a supportive tool to successful completion.

Providing access to custom review data
With Aptem, providers can create and customise reviews that relate to stages throughout the learner journey. In order to give customers greater reporting and forecasting abilities with regard to the reviews functionality, we will surface valuable data, including responses, via a new OData feed.

GDPR control
We have created additional functionality that enables customers to remove learner-uploaded evidence, to help maintain compliance with data protection and GDPR regulations.

Funding rule changes 24/25
Aptem is regularly updated to comply with the latest apprenticeship funding rules and enhance user experience. We have made several updates to the ILR functionality that align with the 2024/25 apprenticeship funding rules.

Aptem Assess – learning support resources

Following the launch of our cognitive assessment tool Aptem Assess in 2023, we have made several enhancements that enable you to better identify and respond to Additional Learning Support (ALS) needs.

We have also developed Aptem Assess to provide additional learning support resources, accessible via the resource centre, that can be used to modify a learner’s learning plan.

Communications Connector with Microsoft Teams

To support the efficient management of one-to-ones and review meetings, we have built a Communications Connector with Teams. This will ensure a secure, familiar and consistent experience for learners and tutors.

Customers with the Communications Connector enabled can schedule reviews and meetings in Aptem and have these automatically appear in their Teams calendar, reducing the administrative burden of scheduling online activities. Customers can also choose to invite the learner and employer manager or mentor where appropriate, and the Connector will invite the attendees via email.

Rescheduling and cancelling of reviews and meetings can be done either within Aptem or the Teams calendar, meaning your calendars are always in sync with one another.

Tutors, learners and employers can access the Teams link for reviews, meetings, and placements and workshops from within the Aptem platform, creating a seamless user experience. Learn more:

Webinar: Aptem Communications Connector enhancements – updates to Microsoft Teams

Power BI funding dashboard updates

We have implemented several enhancements which simplify navigation and ease access to information, including:

• Merging the funding detail reporting tabs.
• Merging the pop-out errors into existing tabs.
• Merging the provider weighting tab with the funding headline reporting tabs.
• Merging the funding summary and learner funding tables.
• Extending the reporting period filters.

For more information, see: Planned updates to the Power BI funding dashboard.

Virtual assistant: general availability

By leveraging large language models and built-in knowledge of learner context, the assistant give learners the answers they need, regardless of tutor availability or bandwidth.

Unlike generic chatbots, our virtual assistant is purpose-built for each learner’s apprenticeship programme, so its accuracy in relation to the apprenticeship standard is far higher than that of a standard large language model.

Using this approach gives learners more ownership of their learning journey, maximise learning momentum, and reduce the administrative burden for tutors to respond to repetitive questions.

To help identify areas where learners may need additional support or stretch, tutors can now see the chat history between the virtual assistant and the learner. This has been developed in response to Early Adopter feedback. It can also be used for QA purposes.