EFA Funded Providers Help Guide v1.0 15 June 2015
DocConfi DocDraft DocTitle DocumentSubtitle DocDate DocClient Post EFA Funded 16 Course Providers Directory ~PreBodyHeader Footer/DocVersion 15 June 2015 Help Guide v1.0 ~ExecHeader ~DocHeader ~SecHeader ~AppHeader HeaderType DocCopyRight Post 16 Course DocReference ProtectionMarking Title Directory ~TitleFooterRefProtection ProductLogo No_Logo Contact Details DfE Course Directory Provider Portal Support Team for EFA-funded providers 0844 811 5028 dfe.support@coursedirectoryproviderportal.org.uk Contact Address St Mary s Court, 55 St Mary s Road, Sheffield S2 4AN T: 0114 281 6100 15 June 2015
Contents 1. Introduction 1 1.1. Aim of this document 1 1.2. What is the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal? 1 1.3. Where will my course information appear? 1 1.4. Do I need to read all this? 1 2. How your courses are updated 3 2.1. Overview of the update process 3 3. How to access the Provider Portal 5 3.1. How to access the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal via DfE Single Sign-on (Secure Access) 5 3.2. Learning providers 6 3.3. User accounts 6 3.4. Login Error Messages 7 4. Provider Portal Account Login (SFA or EFA-funded providers who do not have Secure Access accounts) 8 4.1. How to access the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal 8 4.1.1. Portal Account (SFA or Non DfE Single Sign-on) users 8 4.1.2. Secure Access users 8 4.2. Learning providers 9 4.3. User accounts 9 4.4. Trouble shooting 10 4.4.1. Emails not being received 10 4.4.2. Trouble logging in 10 5. The Home Page 11 5.1. Overview 11 5.2. Navigation bar 11 5.3. Where do I start? 13 6. How to amend information 15 6.1. Overview 15 6.2. Mandatory information 15 6.3. Context specific help 15 6.4. Viewing and editing information 15 6.5. Status 16 6.6. Saving your changes 17 6.7. Warning pop-up messages 17 7. Main Provider Details 18 7.1. Overview 18 7.2. Updating Main Details 19 15 June 2015
8. Venues 22 8.1. Overview 22 8.2. Entering venue information 22 8.3. Archiving a venue 24 9. Courses 25 9.1. Overview 25 9.2. Courses home page 25 9.3. Adding a new course 26 9.4. Entering course information 29 9.5. Entering Opportunity Information 31 10. Organisations 43 10.1. What is an Organisation? 43 10.2. Creating Organisations 43 10.3. How do Providers become members of an Organisation? 46 10.4. Organisation Superuser home page 46 10.5. Organisation Details, Manage Users, and Update My Login Details pages 47 10.6. Organisation Admin Reports 47 11. Bulk upload 48 11.1. Overview 48 11.2. Bulk Upload home page for Provider Superusers 48 11.2.1. Detailed Instructions 49 11.2.2. A warning when entering dates 52 11.2.3. Processing information 53 11.2.4. View previous upload status 53 11.2.5. Bulk uploading content you run as part of an Organisation 55 11.2.6. Organisation bulk uploading content for their member providers 55 12. Manage Users 57 12.1. Overview 57 13. Update my own login details 58 13.1. Overview 58 Appendices 60 15 June 2015
1. Introduction 1.1. Aim of this document This document is aimed at Education Funding Agency (EFA) and Skills Funding Agency (SFA)-funded providers wishing to upload information to the National Careers Service Course Directory via the Provider Portal (or via Secure Access). EFA-funded post-16 providers are expected to provide information on all the courses and opportunities they plan to offer to 16-19 year olds from academic year 2016/17 onwards Please note: This document will be updated regularly to reflect any new or modified functionality. 1.2. What is the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal? The National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal is an internet based application for adding and modifying post-16 course information. The National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal allows providers to update their post-16 course provision quickly and regularly. 1.3. Where will my course information appear? Your course information will appear on the National Careers Service website, and as we make the data open, it will also appear on data.gov.uk, and be freely available for third party portal providers to download and use. https://nationalcareersservice.direct.gov.uk/pages/home. aspx http://data.gov.uk/dataset/sfa-course-directory 1.4. Do I need to read all this? If you are new to the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal, we recommend reading this whole document. However, if you have already uploaded information and are refreshing your information via the bulk upload process then please look at section 11. 15 June 2015 1
I want to find out more about the Skills Funding Agency You can find out a lot more about the role of the Skills Funding Agency (the Agency) by visiting their website. http://skillsfundingagency.bis.gov.uk I want to find out more about the Department for Education and/or the Education Funding Agency You can find out a lot more about the role of the Department for Education by visiting their website. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department -for-education You can find out a lot more about the role of the Education Funding Agency by visiting their website. https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/educationfunding-agency I am having trouble and I really need to speak to someone Information Advisers are on hand to offer dedicated support and advice to providers submitting data to the Course Directory. To find out more, EFA funded providers support If you need help please call: Tel. 0844 811 5028 or Email: dfe.support@coursedirectoryproviderportal.org.uk SFA funded providers support If you need help please call: Tel. 0844 811 5073 or Email: support@coursedirectoryproviderportal.org.uk 15 June 2015 2
2. How your courses are updated 2.1. Overview of the update process Once you are logged in to the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal you can update your courses in one of two ways: Manually (course by course) or via Bulk Upload (uploading all of your courses in a single CSV file). All successfully changed data will be updated overnight. Updates appear on the National Careers Service website, weekly updates to the open data CSV downloads, and monthly updates to data.gov.uk. Learning Provider Provider Portal Manual Update Bulk Update Data updates Uncompressed Data Auto checking/validation Process Successful updates go live overnight NATIONAL CAREERS SERVICE COURSE DIRECTORY Weekly update to open data OPEN DATA CSV Downloads DATA.GOV.UK 15 June 2015 3
Please note: In general, same data input rules will apply for both updating methods. However in a few instances, when updating via bulk upload, you will need to use codes. Please refer to Appendix B for guidance. 15 June 2015 4
3. How to access the Provider Portal There are two ways to access the Provider Portal to provide your post-16 course data. If you already provide data to the Department for Education via Secure Access, you can continue to use this login. Please see section 3.1 below. Alternatively, if you are a SFA-funded provider and have a Portal Account, you should log-in using this information please see section 4 below. Please note: any EFA-funded providers who do not have Secure Access accounts will access the Provider Portal using a Portal account. Please see section 4. Any organisations or third parties uploading data on behalf of a provider will access the Provider Portal using a Portal account. Please see Section 10 (p.42) for more information. 3.1. How to access the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal via DfE Single Sign-on (Secure Access) You can access the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal by clicking the link in Secure Access after you have signed in. You can access the Secure Access site directly by going to the following address https://sa.education.gov.uk In Secure Access the Provider Portal will be called Post-16 Portal. Clicking on the link for the Post-16 Portal will take you to your Portal homepage. 15 June 2015 5
Figure 1 Secure Access link to Post 16 Course Portal 3.2. Learning providers To access this service using single sign on (Secure Access) you will need to be an EFA-funded provider with an active contract to deliver provision that is within scope for the Course Directory. 3.3. User accounts There are two types of user accounts for the DfE users of the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal: Superuser - the main National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal user for a given provider. There is only one Superuser per provider and they can perform all functions in data maintenance. They are responsible for the management of the data on the National Careers Service Course Directory. They have the ability to change the main provider details and create users for their Provider. The first user to access the portal from your organisation using DfE single sign-on will automatically inherit the Superuser role. Users - other users who have been given login details to the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal. They will be responsible for manual updates, but cannot change the main provider details or create other users. All subsequent users accessing the portal from your organisation using DfE single sign-on will automatically inherit the User role. Please note: The type of the account you have been assigned with will be displayed next to your name, top right 15 June 2015 6
corner, once you log in to the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal. Once other users have logged in, the Superuser can pass the Superuser role to another user. 3.4. Login Error Messages If you are a DfE Single Sign on Secure Access user, and you experience any of the error codes listed below when attempting to log in, please contact the support team. Error code: 2181 Error code: 2327 Error code: 2386 Error code: 2493 Tel. 0844 811 5028 Email: dfe.support@coursedirectoryproviderportal.org.uk 15 June 2015 7
4. Provider Portal Account Login (SFA or EFA-funded providers who do not have Secure Access accounts) 4.1. How to access the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal You can access the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal by going to the following address. https://coursedirectoryproviderportal.org.uk You will see the following page: 4.1.1. Portal Account (SFA or Non DfE Single Sign-on) users If you are a SFA or an EFA provider not using Secure Access click on the button labelled Log in using a Portal Account. Enter your email address and password to be taken to your Portal homepage. Any EFA-funded providers who have not previously used the Course Directory Provider Portal should receive an email from Tribal support inviting them to register and set up an account. Please see Section 4.2 below. 4.1.2. Secure Access users If you are a Secure Access user please see section 3. 15 June 2015 8
4.2. Learning providers To access this service you will need to be a Skills Funding Agency accredited provider with an active contract to deliver provision that is within scope for the Course Directory, or an EFA-funded provider that is NOT using single sign-on Secure Access. If you do not have your login details please contact the Course Directory Provider Portal Support team EFA funded providers support If you need help please call: Tel. 0844 811 5028 or Email: dfe.support@coursedirectoryproviderportal.org.uk SFA funded providers support If you need help please call: Tel. 0844 811 5073 or Email: support@coursedirectoryproviderportal.org.uk Once your details are registered by the support team, you will receive an email that will contain an activation link. Simply click on the link and follow the instructions. Before you log in you will need to activate your account. To log in, simply go to the login page and enter your email address and the password you have created. 4.3. User accounts There are two types of user accounts for the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal: Superuser - the main National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal user for a given provider. There is only one Superuser per provider and they can perform all functions in data maintenance. They are responsible for the management of the data on the National Careers Service Course Directory. They have the ability to change the main provider details and create users for their Provider. Users - other users who have been given login details to the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal by the Superuser. They will be responsible for manual updates, but cannot change the main provider details or create other users. 15 June 2015 9
Please note: The type of the account you have been assigned with will be displayed next to your name, top right corner, once you log in to the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal. 4.4. Trouble shooting In the vast majority of cases, activation and password emails will be received within a few minutes, however if this is not the case and you are experiencing difficulty getting logged in the following tips and suggestions may help. 4.4.1. Emails not being received 1. Check that the email address assigned to your account is correct. 2. Check any spam/junk folders that the email may have been placed 3. Check with your IT department for any spam blockers that may have inadvertently caught the email prior to its arrival in your Inbox 4. Contact the support team to investigate further and have the email resent to you. 4.4.2. Trouble logging in 1. Passwords should be made up of 10 characters with at least 1 numeric and at least 1 character in lowercase. 2. Avoid copying and pasting your account details when logging in. Depending on where they are being copied from, extra spaces may be included, causing your login details to be rejected. 3. A simple mistake to make; check that caps lock has not been enabled when entering the username and password. 4. Contact the support team to investigate further Please note: Activation and password creation emails have a 24 hour expiry, after which new activation or password creation emails will have to be requested. 15 June 2015 10
5. The Home Page 5.1. Overview The home page is designed to enable easy navigation and access to all sections of the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal. 5.2. Navigation bar The navigation bar is present on every page and allows you access to all areas. Simply roll over the text and you will see various options relevant to that section appear. The screens you see will depend on the privileges you have been assigned with. Here is a quick summary of the options from left to right. More information about the areas themselves can be found in later sections of this document. Provider home page Once you log in to the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal at the top right-hand corner you can see your user name and the type of account you have been assigned with. Next to it will be the date you last updated your courses and/or opportunities and your current update status, presented in traffic light style. 15 June 2015 11
If you are an EFA funded providers, you are expected to update your provision every 12 months. For EFA funded providers: Any provider that has updated on or after May 1 will stay green for the next year. We assume that any provision updates in the first two thirds of the year pertain to that year and that any updates in the last third of the year pertain to the next year. EFA funded provider Traffic light status change All Green providers who have not updated will go Amber on 1 October. All Amber providers who have not updated will go Red on 1 November. If you are an SFA funded provider, you are contractually obliged to update your provision every 3 months. For SFA funded providers: Green means you updated your courses and/or opportunities during the last 2 months. Amber means you last updated your courses and/or opportunities between 2 and 3 months ago. Red means you have not updated your courses and/or opportunities for over 3 months. Finally in the header on the far right there is a Help link that will lead you to help files and data entry standards. Home by clicking on this tab you will always return to your main page. Provider Details by clicking on this tab you can view your Provider details. Please note: Only Provider Superusers and Organisation Superusers (see Section 9) can amend these details. Venues by clicking on this tab you can go to your Venues section. Here you have access to a list of all your venues with options to amend current venues and add new ones. 15 June 2015 12
Courses by clicking on this tab you can go to your courses section. You will see a list of your courses. Here you can amend courses or add new ones. Bulk Upload by clicking on this tab you will access the bulk upload facility. Here you can update your course information using a bulk file. (For help on this topic please refer to Section 9 of this document). Manage Users (Superusers only) by clicking on this tab you will access the users section. You can create new users, or amend the current user's login details. Reports by clicking on this tab you can see a handy overview of your courses, opportunities, venues and Dashboard report (this is the most used report). Organisations by clicking this tab you can see which Organisations you are a member of, and start new Organisations. Organisations are groups of providers who are associated with each other in some way, for example 3 rd parties and academy trusts. See Section 10 for more information. 5.3. Where do I start? First of all, you will need to decide if you want to upload/update your courses manually or via the bulk upload functionality. If you are an SFA funded provider and have previously uploaded data, when updating manually only the changes you have made will overwrite what is currently on the Directory. When using bulk upload all of the data you currently have on the National Careers Service Course Directory gets replaced with the new data. Once you know what method you prefer you can proceed with the update If you are an EFA funded provider, you may choose to initially upload your courses manually or via the bulk 15 June 2015 13
upload to suit your preferences. Please note: You can use both methods to update data, however, every time you bulk upload a file, the existing data including the changes done manually will be erased and replaced with the new information. (One exception to this is if you only upload provision you run for an Organisation - see Section 10 for more information). Please make sure no one in your organisation is bulk uploading at the same time as someone else is making changes using the National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal. If you're at all uncertain, you can download all your provision from the National Careers Service Course Directory through a CSV download facility to back it up. 15 June 2015 14
6. How to amend information 6.1. Overview Each section will have a data table that will contain a brief summary for each record. Each record will have a clickable link that will allow you to amend/view information. Although there are differences depending on the type of information you are amending the following principles always apply: 6.2. Mandatory information In order to save a change successfully you will need to fill in all mandatory fields. All mandatory fields have a red asterisk next to them. Although there are only a set number of mandatory fields, you need to complete in order to have your information published; it is recommended that you fill in as many other fields as possible. If you click on the 'Add further information', you will see additional fields where you can provide more information. By supplying further data you will greatly increase the information available to learners using the National Careers Service Course Directory, allowing them to make a more informed choice. 6.3. Context specific help All of the fields have a help option that will assist you with entering the information. Clicking on this icon will give you information about how best to complete a field. 6.4. Viewing and editing information At venue and course level, your information will be shown in a summary table. The summary table has the following columns: Status, Course details, Last update and Edit 15 June 2015 15
option. To edit information, simply click on the Edit link. 6.5. Status The status appears to the left of each row in the summary table. Live - this status indicates that this course, opportunity or venue is live and searchable for users on the public facing website. Archived - when you archive a course, opportunity or venue, this status will be displayed next to it. This is particularly useful if you have decided to withdraw a course for a short period only as it may be re-run in the future. Pending - if you save your changes, and there is a mandatory field that has not been completed or you have entered contradictory information, then you will get this 15 June 2015 16
status next to the record in question. This also applies where Courses do not have any Live Opportunities. Please note: Records with pending data will not be copied over to the live website and will be removed in the event of a published Bulk Load file. 6.6. Saving your changes As you fill out a form your changes will not be saved automatically. You will need to press the Create button OR the 'Save' button found at the bottom of the page. 6.7. Warning pop-up messages When updating manually, you will receive pop-up messages warning you about certain rules. To view these messages please disable your pop up blocker. Please note: Each warning will require you to select different options. Please make sure you read the warning message before you select an option. Inappropriate selection may result in losing data or taking unwanted actions. 15 June 2015 17
7. Main Provider Details 7.1. Overview In this section the Superusers can amend the provider name and contact details. The National Careers Service Course Directory will use the United Kingdom Register of Learning Providers (UKRLP) details to populate main provider information if the Provider details are blank. If you prefer to use different information to that held on UKRLP, please fill in all contact details. The information you input will have precedence over the data referred from the UKRLP. Please Note: When updating via bulk upload, if you leave your provider details fields blank in your.csv file, your main details on the National Careers Service Course Directory will be erased and populated from UKRLP. Keep your main details in your CSV file if they are different from UKRLP. 15 June 2015 18
7.2. Updating Main Details Click on Provider Details UK Provider Reference Number (UKPRN) - this is a read only field. It displays your UKPRN. If you feel this is incorrect or you need to change any of the UKRLP details please contact UKRLP service desk helpdesk@ukrlp.co.uk. Provider name This should be the name by which your Provider is best known. The provider name does not have to be same as the legal or trading name on the UKRLP. Provider alias If your Provider has an alternative name you which a user may search for please fill in this field. Please note: The alias field is searchable but will not be visible in the search results. The next 7 fields should not be amended by anyone other than the support teams. Provider Type This field shows the type of Provider you are. Should you be a SFA funded Provider you will be set to either: Schools, Further Education (FE), Higher Education (HE) Provider, Private class based, Private self-study, Public sector community education, Public sector other, Voluntary sector education or Private work based. Should you be solely DfE EFA funded this should be set as DfE 16-19 If you believe this to be set incorrectly or you require further information please contact the relevant support team SFA: Tel. 0844 811 5073, Email support@coursedirectoryproviderportal.org.uk EFA: Tel. 0844 811 5028, Email dfe.support@coursedirectoryproviderportal.org.uk 15 June 2015 19
Secure Access ID* Should you be set up on the DfE Secure Access site this field will display your Secure Access ID DfE Provider Type* This field is similar to Provider Type but will only be available should the DfE EFA funded checkbox be ticked. DfE Provider Status* This field displays is only be available should the DfE EFA funded checkbox be ticked. Your Providers status as determined by the DfE will be shown here. DfE Local Authority* This field displays is only be available should the DfE EFA funded checkbox be ticked. The Local Authority that your Provider is part of will be shown. DfE Region* This field displays is only be available should the DfE EFA funded checkbox be ticked. The DfE Region that your Provider is part of will be shown. DfE Establishment Type* This field displays is only be available should the DfE EFA funded checkbox be ticked. Your Establishment Type as determined by the DfE will be shown * should you believe these fields to be incorrect or you require further information on these, please contact the support team EFA: Tel. 0844 811 5028, Email dfe.support@coursedirectoryproviderportal.org.uk 15 June 2015 20
UPIN This is your unique contract number with the Skills Funding Agency or Education Funding Agency. Most providers will have this unless they subcontracting provision under an Organisation which has the contract with the Skills Funding Agency. See Section 10 for more information. Address Address contains six fields; Address 1, Address 2, Town, County, Post Code, Country. We use Royal Mail, Postal Address File (PAF) data. You can enter a postcode and perform a search, which will populate your address. Email Please enter an email address for administrative enquiries. Website Please enter the URL of your main website. Phone Please enter a phone number for administrative enquiries. Fax Please enter a fax number for administrative enquiries. Please note: Only a Superuser can amend main provider details. 15 June 2015 21
8. Venues 8.1. Overview The National Careers Service Course Directory Provider Portal was created to make the updating an efficient process. Many rules have been incorporated in the design of the application to ensure consistent and coherent data. Use 'venues' to amend the information about where your course opportunities are held. If you have more than one venue in which opportunities are offered, it is easier to enter all the venues first. If you do forget to do this, there is an option to add a new venue when adding/amending course opportunities. To add a venue, simply click on 'Add a new venue' button. 8.2. Entering venue information There are twelve fields where you can enter details; four of them are mandatory and have are marked with a red asterisk next to them. 15 June 2015 22
VENUE_ID (bulk upload only) This is a unique identifier to allow us to process your file successfully. This may be any identifier you choose but must be numeric. Provider venue ID If you have your own venue ID or unique identifier, you can enter this information here. Venue Name Venue name contains the name of the venue. There are instances where an opportunity may not have a fixed venue, for example, training is offered on a client site. You will not need to create these instances, but at opportunity level you will need to select the correct attendance mode. Address Address consists of six fields; Address 1, Address 2, Town, County, Post Code, Country. We use Royal Mail PAF data. You can enter a postcode and perform a search, which will populate your address. Phone Enter a phone number for that particular venue. This is not a mandatory field, but we recommend that you complete the information, as it is valuable for learners. Email Enter an email address for that particular venue. This is not a mandatory field, but we recommend that you complete the information, as it is valuable for students. Website Enter a URL address, if applicable for that particular venue. This is not a mandatory field, but we recommend that you complete the information, as it is valuable for learners. Fax Enter a fax number for that particular venue. This is not a mandatory field, but we recommend that you complete the information, as it is valuable for learners 15 June 2015 23
Facilities This should be a description of the main features or facilities that may be relevant to the opportunity at that site. For example, overnight accommodation and meals available, full chemical and physics laboratory facilities, 5 conference rooms holding up to 50 persons each, video conferencing available in 3 rooms. This is not a mandatory field, but we recommend that you complete the information, as it is valuable for learners. 8.3. Archiving a venue To archive a venue, simply click on the edit link to the right of your venue, and then press the 'Archive' button. The status of the venue will change to 'archived'. Be aware that if there are opportunities attached to that venue, they will be archived too. You will receive a warning message, where you will have an option to re-attach those opportunities to another venue or to proceed and archive them. To retract an archived venue please click on view/amend link and press the 'un- archive' button. Please note: If the archived venue had opportunities attached to it before it was archived these opportunities will not be automatically 'un-archived'. You will need to unarchive these opportunities at opportunity level. 15 June 2015 24
9. Courses 9.1. Overview The National Careers Service Course Directory receives referred data from the UKRLP, the Learning Aims Reference Service (LARS), the National Database of Accredited Qualifications (NDAQ) as well as other relevant sources where applicable. A QAN ID may be entered in place of a Learning Aim Reference. Based on the information available there are currently three types of courses which can be uploaded: 1. Courses with a Learning Aim Reference/QAN ID and qualification information available from a referred source 2. Courses with a Learning Aim Reference/QAN ID and qualification information not available from a referred source 3. Courses without a Learning Aim Reference/QAN ID 9.2. Courses home page The home page gives you a list of courses you currently have. (If you are an EFA funded provider who has not previously accessed the Course Directory, this will show no entries.) On the left hand side you will find a Course/ Opportunity finder that will allow you to search on your own data using a number of filters. 15 June 2015 25
To amend a current course you need to click on the edit link next to the relevant course. Pagination The course data table shows 10 courses per page. If your Provider has more than 10 courses, the pagination buttons will appear. 9.3. Adding a new course To add a new course click on 'Add a new course' option from the navigation panel. You will be asked if your course has a Learning Aim Reference, if your answer is yes you will need to provide the reference number. The information you will need to complete further will depend on the Learning Aim reference number. Type 1 Courses Once you provide a Learning Aim Reference, if the number is recognised and qualification information is available, you will be entering what is known as a Type 1 course. As most of the mandatory details will be populated, you will only need to fill in the course title as a mandatory field. To provide a reliable source of data for learners, we strongly recommend you fill in the rest of the form. 15 June 2015 26
Once you have filled in all data and clicked on 'Create and Add Opportunity' button, you will be taken to the opportunity page. Please note: When updating via bulk upload, if you provide a Learning Aim Reference number that is recognised and the qualification information is available, you will need to supply only provider course title as minimum information. The other details will be populated from the referred data source once the file is uploaded successfully. Type 2 Courses If you provide a Learning Aim reference and the reference is recognised but the qualification information is NOT available, you will be entering what is known as Type 2 course. Here you will need to provide the course title and the qualification type as minimum information. But by filling in the rest of the form you will increase your chances to appeal to potential learners. Once you have filled in all data and clicked on 'Create and Add Opportunity' button, you will be taken to the opportunity page. 15 June 2015 27
Please note: When updating via bulk upload, if you provide a Learning Aim Reference number that is recognised and the qualification information is not available, you will need to supply provider course title and qualification type as minimum information (for help on qualification type codes please refer to Appendix B of this document). The other details will be populated from the referred data source once the file is uploaded successfully. Type 3 courses If your course does not have a Learning Aim reference, you will be entering what is known as Type 3 course. Here you will need to provide the course title and qualification type as minimum information. But by filling in the rest of the form you will increase your chances to appeal to potential students. Once you have filled in all data and clicked on 'Create and Add Opportunity' button, you will be taken to the opportunity page. 15 June 2015 28
Please note: When updating via bulk upload, if you don't provide a Learning Aim Reference, you will need to supply provider course title, and qualification type as minimum information (for help on qualification type codes please refer to Appendix B of this document). Although the information is separated to mandatory and desirable we strongly recommend you fill in as much information as possible regardless of the method you are using. 9.4. Entering course information There are about fifteen fields that need to be filled in within the course section. The actual number will depend on the type of course you are entering. Fields can be categorised as: Mandatory: The field must be completed or the entry cannot be submitted Desirable: The field is not mandatory, but should be completed if the information is available Optional: The field is not mandatory, but can be completed if the provider chooses to. COURSE_ID (bulk upload only) This is a unique identifier to allow us to process your file successfully. This may be any identifier you choose. Learning Aim Reference/QAN ID (Desirable) If your course is Skills Funding Agency funded, please enter the Learning Aim Reference. A QAN ID may be entered for Education Funding Agency funded Providers. Provider course title (Mandatory) Please enter your course title. Provider course ID (Mandatory) Please enter any unique identifier that your institution has for this course. This may be a code/id or even a URL unique to this course. 15 June 2015 29
Qualification Type (Mandatory) For manual updating, please select the type of Qualification awarded at the end of the course from the drop down menu. For bulk uploading, please enter the correct qualification type code. For help on bulk upload codes please refer to Appendix B. Qualification Title (Desirable) Please enter a detailed description of the type of Qualification awarded at the end of the course e.g. Advanced Apprenticeship at Level 3 in Plumbing; GCE A Level in Biology; BSc(Psych) - Bachelor of Science in Psychology; MA - Master of Arts. Qualification Level (Desirable) Please enter the National Qualification Frameworks recognised level for the course. For bulk uploading, please enter the correct qualification level code. For help on bulk upload codes please refer to Appendix B. Awarding/Accrediting Organisation (Desirable unless qualification type selected is: External Awarding Body Qualifications (Certificate/Diploma/Award), then mandatory) If the Qualification given at the end of the course is awarded or accredited by a particular body, please enter the name of the organisation. Subject Classification 1 (Mandatory) Subject classification helps us determine where your course appears in user facing websites. For manual updates please enter a subject keyword and this will bring up a list of potential subject classifications for you to choose from. Please select the most appropriate one to categorise your course. Please note: You will only need to enter subject classification code for Type 3 courses (courses without Learning Aim Reference). 15 June 2015 30
Summary (Mandatory) Please give a brief description of the course and any additional information you may wish to add. Summaries are very important for prospective learners to make an informed decision when selecting a course. URL (Mandatory) Please enter a URL that may contain more information about the course. Booking URL (Optional) Please enter the URL which directs the learners to a page where they can book this course. Entry Requirements (Mandatory) Please enter any requirements or skills the learner will need to undertake this course. Examples include: Experience; Academic level; Specific qualifications; any other requirements such as a driving licence. Assessment Method (Optional) Please enter the method of assessment used for the qualification awarded. Examples include: Exam; Assignment; and Continuous assessment. Equipment Required (Optional) Please enter any equipment needed to complete the course. For example: Computer, Musical Instrument, Calculator, footwear etc. Tariff Required (Desirable) This field will only appear for Higher Education courses. The UCAS Tariff is the system for allocating points to qualifications used for entry into higher education. Please enter the tariff for this course. Please note: Once you have filled in all information please remember to save your work. 9.5. Entering Opportunity Information Once you have saved your new course a light box will appear where you will need to fill in the course opportunity. Opportunities are the delivery methods for the course. One course can be delivered through different opportunities. 15 June 2015 31
COURSE_ID (bulk upload only) This is a unique identifier to allow us to process your file successfully and link Courses to Opportunities. This may be any identifier you choose and alphanumeric. Provider opportunity ID (Mandatory) If you have your own opportunity ID or unique identifier, you can enter that information here. (Bulk Load only: Should you not have a unique identifier or Opportunity ID, please enter any unique numeric value). Offered By (Optional) If you are a member of any Organisations (see Section 9), you will see this field. It allows you to choose if this particular opportunity is offered directly by you under a contract you have with the Skills Funding Agency, or subcontracted to you under a contract an Organisation has with the Agency. The default is always you. Display Name (Optional) If you are a member of any Organisations (see Section 9), 15 June 2015 32
you will see this field. It allows you to choose which name learners will see this opportunity attached to on the front end. The front end only supports a single name. It is possible for any combination of this and Offered By. For example, you may run opportunities for an Organisation formed in order to meet Minimum Contracting Levels, but wish the learner to see your institution's name instead of the Organisation name. To the learner, it will appear as if the course is entirely associated with you - they will not see the Organisation name. Make Both Names Searchable (Optional) This checkbox will appear if Offered By and Display Name are different. If checked, it means searches where the learner enters a provider name will pick up this opportunity for both the "Offered By" entity and the "Display Name" entity. It will still appear to the learner that the opportunity is run by the "Display Name" entity. This can be useful if you're a member of a partnership that delivers opportunities under a certain brand, but want learners to find these opportunities under the real name of your institution as well. Funding Code (Mandatory) By selecting the appropriate number you are identifying the source of any funding for this learning aim. EFA funded Providers should select funding code 25 for all courses in addition to any other funding codes that may apply. If funding doesn't apply to this opportunity please select N/A. For bulk uploading, please enter the correct code. For help on bulk upload codes please refer to Appendix B. Please Note: You can select more than one funding code per opportunity if applicable. When bulk uploading, please separate the different values by using the pipe symbol (for example 21 22 46). For SFA providers: Please also note that these codes have been recently updated. 15 June 2015 33
Study Mode (Mandatory) This field describes the focus that the learner has on the learning opportunity, including duration of attendance and private study. For manual updating, please select the appropriate mode of study from the drop down menu. For bulk updating, please enter the correct study mode code. For help on bulk upload codes please refer to Appendix B. Attendance Mode (Mandatory) This field describes how the learner will access the learning opportunity. For manual updating, please select the appropriate mode of attendance from the drop down menu. For bulk updating, please enter the correct attendance mode code. For help on bulk upload codes please refer to Appendix B. Attendance Pattern (Mandatory) This field describes how the learner's presence at a venue is structured. For manual updating, please select the appropriate pattern of attendance from the drop down menu. For bulk updating, please enter the correct attendance pattern code. For help on bulk upload codes please refer to Appendix B. Exact Duration This is made up of two parts: Duration value (Mandatory): Please enter the whole number of hours, days, weeks, months, terms, semesters or years it will take to complete this opportunity - e.g. if it takes 2 days, please enter 2. Duration unit: For manual updating, please select the appropriate unit your duration value is associated with. For bulk updating, please enter the correct duration unit 15 June 2015 34
code. For help on bulk upload codes please refer to Appendix B. Please note: An opportunity must include a duration element or start and end dates, or both. AND/OR Duration description If you do not know the exact duration, please enter a description of how long the course opportunity will take to complete e.g. different durations available. An opportunity must include a duration element or start and end dates, or both. Please note: When updating via bulk upload you can provider information for the duration value and unit or for the duration description. However, if applicable you can supply data for both cells. Start Date (Mandatory if description, start Month and/or exact duration is not completed) Please click on the calendar and select a start date for this course opportunity. If you have multiple opportunities with all the same details except start dates, you can select them all here. For bulk updating, please enter the correct date, month and year in 'Start Date' field. For help on bulk upload date formats please refer to section 9.2.2 of this document. Please note: If you have created an opportunity with multiple start dates and if you need to change a field for one of these start dates e.g. a change in duration, you will need to enter separate opportunity. Please remember to remove that date from the opportunity with multiple dates as this will create duplication. OR Start month Please click on the calendar and select a start month for this opportunity. If you have multiple opportunities with all the same details except start dates, you can select them all here. 15 June 2015 35
For bulk updating, please enter the correct month and year in 'Start Date' field. For help on bulk upload date formats please refer to section 9.2.2 of this document. Please note: If you have created an opportunity with multiple start dates and if you need to change a field for one of these start dates e.g. a change in price, you will need to enter a separate opportunity. Please remember to remove that date from the opportunity with multiple dates to avoid duplication. AND/OR Start date description For manual updating, please type in an appropriate phrase that describes the start date. If you have a specific start date, please fill in the Start date or Start month field instead. For bulk updating, please enter the appropriate phrase that describes the start date. Please note: When updating via bulk upload you only need to provide information for one of the three fields. End Date (Mandatory if exact duration not completed) For manual updating please click on the calendar and select an end date for this course opportunity. For bulk updating please enter an end date, month and year. For help on bulk upload date formats please refer to section 10.2.2 of this document. Please note: When you enter multiple start dates you cannot enter an end date. In these instances you will need to provide information in the duration field. Timetable (Optional) Please specify the day/s and start and end time/s for this opportunity. E.g. Thursdays 09.30-16.30; Wednesdays and Fridays from 10.30-15.00. 15 June 2015 36
Price (Mandatory) Please enter the full price as a number. Currency symbols like ' ' are not required. All concessionary information should appear in the 'price description' field and not be entered here. Only the standard price should be entered in the price field. AND/OR Price description (Mandatory) Please use this field to enter details of any financial support such as concessions and bursaries. If your institution receives an allocation for the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund you should provide information about the discretionary bursary such as the eligibility criteria you set. You should also mention the vulnerable students bursary to ensure prospective students are aware. You could include a link to a web page giving more details of the bursaries available at your institution and how students can apply. Further advice for institutions on administering the bursary fund can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/16-to- 19-bursary-fund-guide-for-2015-to-2016 Please note: When updating via bulk upload you only need to provide information for one of the two fields or both if required. Venue (Desirable) For manual updating, please select the venue where this opportunity is held from the drop down menu. If the venue is not present in the menu, please add it by clicking on 'Add a new venue'. For bulk updating please make sure you have attached the opportunity to a correct and existing venue id. Town/County/Region (Desirable) For opportunities where the learning can be delivered on different premises (non-campus based learning) instead of a venue, you may enter a town, county or region where 15 June 2015 37
this opportunity is offered. To enter the information, please start typing the name of the town, county or region and select the correct one from the list. If your town, county or region is not on the list, choose the best possible match. For bulk upload please enter the town/county/region name in the 'Venue ID/Region_Name' column. A list of acceptable towns, counties and regions is available from the provider portal help section under Valid Regions for Bulk Upload https://coursedirectoryproviderportal.org.uk/help Please note: You cannot enter a region AND a venue - you may only enter one OR the other. If you have an opportunity run at fixed venue and another anywhere in a region you will need to enter both. Language of Instruction (Optional) Please enter the language in which this opportunity will be taught. Language of Assessment (Optional) Please enter the language in which this opportunity will be assessed. Places Available (bulk upload only; Optional) Please enter the number of student places available for this opportunity. Apply From (Desirable) Please indicate a date from which applications will be accepted. Apply Until (Desirable) Please indicate an application closing 15 June 2015 38
date. Apply Until Description (Optional) Please enter a text description of the application deadline information supplied, if needed. Enquire To (Optional) Please enter a person's name, e-mail or URL to where enquiries should be sent. Apply To (Optional) Please enter a person's name, e-mail or URL to where applications should be sent. URL (Optional) Please enter a URL that may contain more information about the opportunity. Applications accepted throughout the year (Desirable) If applications for this opportunity are accepted any time throughout year, please tick this box or enter Y in your.csv file for bulk upload. Please note: Once you have filled in all information please remember to save your changes. Viewing/amending opportunities To amend an opportunity please click on the opportunity view/amend link. Once the light box opens please make all necessary changes and press on the 'Save' button. Duplicating opportunities Duplicating an opportunity is a handy short cut if you have several similar opportunities delivered at different venues or on different days. If for example you have a course attached to opportunities delivered at different venues and where all other information is same, simply click on the 15 June 2015 39
duplicate button. Archiving an opportunity Archiving an opportunity is the same as archiving a venue. Simply click on view/amend link and then click on the 'Archive' button. To Un-archive an archived course please click on the view/amend link next to the opportunity and then press on the 'Un-archive' button. Amending a course To amend a course please click on the course view/amend link. Once the courses form opens make all necessary changes and press on the 'Save' button. Please note: From time to time you will need to remove or change some Learning Aim References. Based on your action you may need to fill in additional fields. Archiving a course Archiving courses is the same as archiving a venue. Simply click on view/amend link and then click on the 'Archive' button. If you need to archive couple of courses at once, you can do that by clicking the checkbox next to the courses on the courses section home page and then by clicking the 'Archive' button. To Un-archive an archived courses please click on the view/amend link next to the courses and then press on the 'Un-archive' button. Please note: When you archive a course you will be archiving all opportunities attached to that course. The course/opportunity finder The course and opportunity finder allows you to search for your courses and opportunities. You can find your courses or opportunities using one or a combination of the following criteria: 15 June 2015 40
Provider Course ID Provider Course Title Learning Aim Reference Last updated date Course Status Provider opportunity ID Study Mode Attendance Mode Attendance Pattern Venue Start date If you have entered your own course ID or unique identifier, you can enter that in directly here and find the course or courses that match. Please type in a part or full course title and press search. You can search by the Learning Aim Reference. You can search by the last updated date for your courses. Please specify the date from the calendar. You can search by course status. If you have entered your own opportunity ID or unique identifier, you can enter that in directly here and find the opportunity or opportunities that match. Search on the study mode of the course. Search on the attendance mode of the course. Search on the attendance pattern of the course. Searches on opportunity at the specific venue you have chosen. This list will be automatically updated when you create a new venue. You can search on opportunities by selecting a start date before or after certain date. For example if you select Start date before 1 st January 2016, the results should 15 June 2015 41
display courses with opportunities that are starting before 1 st January 2016. Start date description Opportunity Status If you have entered a start date description, such as to be confirmed or ongoing, you can search by typing the exact phrase you have used You can search by the opportunity status. After pressing 'Search' your courses will appear in a data table to the right of the course finder. Your search criteria will remain in the course finder. To wipe this search from the course finder, click 'Clear'. 15 June 2015 42
10. Organisations 10.1. What is an Organisation? An Organisation is a group of providers. This may be: A consortium A partnership An organisation that has a contract with the Skills Funding Agency and sub-contracts A provision to multiple providers who do not have direct contracts A group of providers who have formed an organisation in order to meet Minimum Contracting Levels A group of providers who want to share their back office duties A group of providers A trusted third party who uploads provision on behalf of providers A multi-academy trust The Organisation functionality is flexible and supports all these arrangements. The only requirement is that any opportunity be offered under a current contract with the Skills Funding Agency or Education Funding Agency. If you need advice on how to best set up an Organisation for your needs, please contact the service desk. 10.2. Creating Organisations Organisations can be created by Providers or by the service desk. Providers can do it by selecting "Add a new Organisation" on the Organisations tab: 15 June 2015 43
Like Providers, Organisations have some basic details to be entered: Further explanation on the fields: UKPRN: United Kingdom Provider Reference Number (UKPRN) is compulsory for an Organisation. Like for Providers, the Organisations UKRLP details will be used if no Course Directory details are entered. Contracting Body: This indicates that the Organisation has a contract with the Skills Funding Agency or Education Funding Agency. This field can only be set by the service desk who can verify the Organisation has a contract. You can create your Organisation and then have this field set later. To appear to learners on the front end website, an opportunity must be offered by a Provider that has a contract or by a Provider who is a member of an 15 June 2015 44
Organisation that has a contract. Organisation Type: This field is compulsory. The listed types cover common scenarios: Partnership - a legal partnership between entities Shared Back Office - an arrangement where providers want to share and/or centralise back office responsibilities. In this scenario, Organisation will likely not be a legal entity, not have a UKPRN and exist purely so a single Organisation Superuser can upload content on behalf of all member providers. MIS Vendor - MIS vendors who manage or hold provider data may want to do bulk uploads on behalf of their clients. Under this scenario a group of providers would agree to have a single vendor upload content for all them and create an Organisation for the purpose. The Organisation Superuser details would be provided to the MIS Vendor. Consortium - a different type of legal organisation structure, typically but not always with a Lead Provider. Note there is no concept of a Lead Provider in the Organisation system on the Course Directory. If a Lead Provider exists, it is suggested the Superuser be a staff member at the Lead Provider. Other - any other type of scenario Organisation Alias: if the Organisation is known by another name that you want to be searchable, enter it here UPIN: if the Provider has a contract with the Skills Funding Agency, enter the UPIN here If you're unsure, contact the service desk or select "Other". The Organisation type does not affect the operation of the Organisation in any way. Like Providers, Organisations require a Superuser. You will be prompted to create this user - this is exactly the same as creating a Superuser for a Provider: Once you've entered the Organisation Superuser, they will be emailed a link to complete setting up their account. As 15 June 2015 45
the provider who created the Organisation, you will be automatically invited to be part of it. You will not be able to accept the invitation until the Organisation Superuser has activated their account. 10.3. How do Providers become members of an Organisation? Providers are invited to join an Organisation by the Organisation Superuser. Providers can accept or reject an invitation. The invitation system is a formality and not intended to be a mechanism for initiating relationships - it is anticipated setting up an Organisation and inviting Providers to join it will be the last stage of setting up a relationship, and all the parties will be in direct contact with each other. When accepting an invitation, a provider can choose if they want to allow the Organisation Superuser access to their content. Should the need arise to change this; the Provider Super User can amend this setting via the Organistions menu item at any time. It is anticipated that in most cases they will allow access, and for Organisations which intend to take on back office duties for their member providers this is essential. 10.4. Organisation Superuser home page On the Organisation home page, the Organisation user can see what Providers are already members of their Organisation, invite other Providers to be members and see what invitations are outstanding. Clicking a Provider's name shows a summary of their details. Clicking Remove removes them from the Organisation. Clicking View allows you use the Provider Portal exactly as 15 June 2015 46
if you were that Provider's Superuser. You can view and edit all their provision. In the Invitations Pending table, you can remove an invitation, view basic Provider details for the Providers you have invited, and view reasons for rejection. 10.5. Organisation Details, Manage Users, and Update My Login Details pages These pages operate in exactly the same way as they do for Providers, except all the details are for the Organisation. See sections 12 and 13. 10.6. Organisation Admin Reports Organisation Superusers can view the traffic light status of all their member providers. 15 June 2015 47
11. Bulk upload 11.1. Overview Bulk upload allows you to update your entire provision in a single file. This includes your courses, opportunities, venues as well as your main provider information such as administration address. The bulk upload supports Comma Separated Values (CSV) files, arranged in the correct format. Any text with commas in it needs to be put in double quotes. The maximum file size you can upload is 3 megabytes. Templates and example Bulk Load files are available on the Help Page https://coursedirectoryproviderportal.org.uk/help Please note: A bulk upload overwrites your entire current provision, unless you are only uploading on behalf of an Organisation. It is important to make sure only one person bulk uploads at a time, and coordinates with any people making changes manually on the Portal. 11.2. Bulk Upload home page for Provider Superusers On the home page you have a summary of your current provision information, including any provision run for Organisations. Click the link in the first paragraph to view detailed instructions. From this page you can download your current course provision, upload a new file or view previous upload status. Please note that the following will NOT be included in the downloaded csv file: Any courses/venues/opportunities with a status of 'Archived' or 'Pending' Any invalid courses/opportunities which you uploaded Bulk Upload functionality which are not published on the site 15 June 2015 48
11.2.1. Detailed Instructions There are four steps you need to take before you upload a file. Step 1: Read both the Data Standards and this Help Guide It is very important you familiarise yourself with the standards before you start preparing for an update. The Data Standards list the name and format of every piece of data used in the National Careers Service Course Directory. Not all fields are mandatory, but the more data you supply, the more useful your information will be to learners. For fields such as Study Mode, you will need to supply a code rather than the value itself. For example, instead of 'Full Time', your file will need to contain"sm1". A complete list of fields requiring codes and the codes themselves can be found in Appendix B of this document. Please note: There are few fields marked as compulsory, but you do not need to supply any data for them if you have supplied a Learning Aim Reference - we will automatically determine these values. If you do not have a Learning Aim Reference for your course, please supply information for all mandatory fields. In three instances you will need to enter information in one or other mandatory field. 15 June 2015 49
2: Understand the file format and create your file Bulk upload files are in Comma Separated Values (CSV) format with a defined column and section order. To ensure compatibility please make sure you are using the latest CSV template available. The CSV template can be downloaded from the bulk upload section within the Provider Portal. Your file must have four sections in the expected order - Provider, then Venues, then Courses and then Opportunities. Headers for each section should read exactly as they are in the template, including the * where it is shown. Each section should have every item of that type: Venues section has ALL venues; Courses section has ALL courses, and so on. Each Venue and Course should have a unique identifier (VENUE_ID*, COURSE_ID*) to allow us to process your file successfully. This may be any identifier you choose. Please note: If you have used any commas to produce grammatically correct sentences in the free text fields, please put the entire value in double quotes; it can contain any number of commas (one or many). For example: "The aim of the course is for students to find their voice, learn how to use it and become confident singing. The course will be fun, interactive and non-intimidating." If you have used double quotes in the text please put these in double quotes too For example: "The aim of the course is for students to find their voice, learn how to use it and become confident singing. ""The course will be fun, interactive and non-intimidating"", said a former student." Step 3: Save and upload your file Bulk upload files can be prepared manually, using a spreadsheet program such as Excel, or automatically from your own course management system if it has a suitable facility to export data. Preparing your first bulk upload will take some work, but once you have arranged it, it should be a simple way to keep all your information up to date. For certain fields when using bulk upload, you will need to use the codes provided in Appendix B of this document. Values itself will not be recognised and your upload will be 15 June 2015 50
rejected. The Bulk Load file requires 2 fields to be populated in order to link Courses to Opportunities (COURSE_ID) and Opportunities to Venues (VENUE_ID). COURSE_ID This is entered against each Course and must be a unique value. Duplicated COURSE_ID are not permitted. The COURSE_ID entered in the Courses section should be entered against at least 1 Opportunity in order to link Courses and Opportunities together. The value entered does not have to have any relevance to the Course other than as a means to link Courses and Opportunities. Numbering your Courses from 1 onwards would suffice as long as each Course has a unique COURSE_ID and the value entered does not match a value used for VENUE_ID. VENUE_ID This is entered against each Venue and must be a unique value. Duplicated VENUE_ID are not permitted. The VENUE_ID entered in the Venues section should be entered against at least 1 Opportunity in order to link Venues and Opportunities together. The value entered does not have to have any relevance to the Venue other than as a means to link Venues and Opportunities. Numbering your Venues from 1 onwards would suffice as long as each Venue has a unique VENUE_ID and the value entered does not match a value used for COURSE_ID. Once you have arranged your data and saved the file in CSV, please follow the steps below: Click on the Browse/Choose file button Select the file you want to upload Click open (that will take the file you have just selected) Check the tick box that you agree for the new file information to replace the existing data Click on the 'Upload' button Your file may be named anything, but must have the extension.csv. Once saved, upload it on this page and it will begin processing immediately. The time to process the file will depend on the size of the file, complexity of the information 15 June 2015 51
and the time of day. Step 4: Review errors and re-upload if necessary The file goes through 4 validation stages, as outlined in Appendix C. If the file fails during Stage 1 to 3, the entire file will be rejected and no data will be published. The errors are reported on the Provider Portal. The error list is broken down into Provider, Venue, Course and Opportunity errors and where possible a line number is given. If the file passes Stage 3 and there is at least one valid opportunity, then all the valid courses and opportunities within the file will be published. If there are any invalid opportunities within the file, you will be asked to confirm that you are happy to publish only the valid opportunities, and discard the invalid opportunities. Without this confirmation, your data will not be published. Please note that any invalid courses and opportunities will not be published. You will be sent a summary email outlining the status of your file upload and the number of valid and invalid courses and opportunities where appropriate. You will also be sent an email if your new.csv file is uploading 90% less data than what we hold for you on our database. You will than need to confirm that you are happy for us to proceed with the upload. If you do not confirm your new file data will not get published. When your file has been uploaded successfully you will receive an email the following day confirming the information is searchable on the Next Step Course Directory and associated websites. Please note: You can view the uploading status at any time by clicking 'View previous uploaded statuses'. 11.2.2. A warning when entering dates The bulk upload accepts number of date formats: mon-yy; mon/yy; YYYY-MM; YYYY/MM; MM-YYYY; MM/YYYY; 15 June 2015 52
mon-yyyy ; mon/yyyy; dd-mon-yy; dd/mon/yy; dd-mm-yyyy; dd/mm/yyyy; yyyy-mm-dd; YYYY/MM/DD; dd/mon/yyyy; dd-mon-yyyy The affected columns are START_DATE, END_DATE, APPLY_FROM and APPLY_UNTIL, all part of Opportunity. 11.2.3. Processing information To ensure that the data entry standards are being followed and that we have coherent and usable data, your data is processed against a series of validation rules. Once your file is uploaded to the system, this validation process starts. If all necessary fields are not provided and if the data has errors you will receive an email informing you that there were errors on your file and that you will need to correct these errors before you upload the file again. The processing information happens in stages, meaning that if your file contains multiple errors, you may need to correct the errors that are found first before you can see other errors. This means you may need to upload your file several times before all errors are found. Please see Appendix C for the processing stages. Successfully loaded files are published overnight. On the day you will receive email confirming that your information is available on the Next Step Course Directory. 11.2.4. View previous upload status You can check the uploading status by selecting 'view 15 June 2015 53
previous upload status' link, when in bulk upload section. The status column indicates where your file has got to in the process. There are 6 possible statuses: Aborted - this will be reported if you uploaded another file before this one was published. System Error - an unexpected problem occurred, and our technical team will have been notified. Processing - your file is being checked for errors. Failed Validation - your file has finished processing, and errors were found. Passed Validation, Waiting To Publish - your file has no errors, and will be published. Published - your file's data is now live on the National Careers Service Course Directory, and will be published to the National Careers Service website as soon as possible. If you click on the file name you can see a summary of the errors. The areas where the system has found errors will be presented in buttons. You will see the section name and a count of issues found. By clicking on theses buttons you can open a report table that gives you further explanation. 15 June 2015 54
Please Note: This is a static table and it only informs you of the errors. Any amendments need to be done on your original.csv file. 11.2.5. Bulk uploading content you run as part of an Organisation This is managed by the opportunity fields OFFERED_BY and DISPLAY_NAME. If you run an opportunity under a contract an Organisation has with the Skills Funding Agency, put the Organisation ID in the "OFFERED_BY" column. If want the Organisation name to appear for learners instead of your provider name, put the Organisation ID in the DISPLAY_NAME column. Organisation IDs can be found on the Organisations tab in the Provider Portal. Any given opportunity can only appear under one name to learners, controlled by DISPLAY_NAME. However, you can put "y" in the column BOTH_SEARCHABLE if you'd like the opportunity to *searchable* under both names. Specify your Provider instead of an Organisation in either field OFFERED_BY and DISPLAY_NAME by simply leaving it blank. This is the default. 11.2.6. Organisation bulk uploading content for their member providers The Organisation Bulk Upload screen gives you a summary table of provision for all your Providers: 15 June 2015 55
From here you can view the results of previous bulk uploads, either the Organisation or the Provider directly. Organisations can bulk upload for more than one provider in a single file by simply repeating the format for each provider and including "ProviderId,xxxxxx" at the start of each provider section, where ProviderId is the Provider's Course Directory ID. You can see this ID on the Course Directory Home Page. An example file containing multiple providers is available for download in the detailed help page in the Bulk Upload section on the Portal. You can include one, some or all of the member providers in a single file. Any providers you do not include will not have their data erased. (Note if you include even one single opportunity run by that provider, however, all existing provision offered by that provider will be erased.) You can control which opportunities are run by your Organisation in the same way Providers do. 15 June 2015 56
12. Manage Users 12.1. Overview This is a privilege assigned to the Superuser only. Here you can add or amend user's details. If you are creating a new portal user, please enter a valid email address as the user will be sent an activation link to this address. The new user account will not be active until this link is used to access the portal. 15 June 2015 57