5.16 SP1 Maytas Release Notes

Note regarding submissions

We would like to remind providers to create a submission early and check for any errors using reports from the appropriate software (i.e. the FIS or LLWR-Inform). Welsh providers should also remember to download their ULI file. After submission to the ESFA or DfES, providers should check that data has submitted correctly using the available reports. Providers should check that all their expected starts and completions are submitted correctly, and that start and outcome payments correctly match the PFR or ACE funding reports.

Our support desk gets extremely busy in the days prior to the submission deadlines, and although we try and prioritise submission-related queries, we cannot guarantee assistance if queries are sent late. If you do encounter any issues, please ensure that you contact Maytas Support as soon as possible, as we can only rectify issues of which we are aware. We also recommend checking Maytas.net regularly for information on any known issues and solutions. Tribal cannot be held responsible for any issues caused by your failure to comply with this advice.

Technical specification

The latest Maytas and e-track technical specification can be found here.

Once the upgrade has been completed, the version number should be checked to ensure it has been successful.

  1. Start Maytas and go to Support on the toolbar.
  2. Click About.
  3. The version numbers should read 181.20 / 5.16.6850.1. If you have any other version, please ensure you have followed the upgrade instructions correctly. If you require assistance, please contact Maytas Support.

It is the responsibility of customers to ensure that users carry out any required user acceptance testing and sign off on the upgrade.

Complete the Upgrade

Features Added in the Upgrade

These are the main updates in the upgrade:

Reports Library 1.0.3.0 is also included in the upgrade but must be installed separately. Please contact the service desk to request this to be installed.

Re-Import the FIS Data Sets

The FIS data sets must be re-imported for this upgrade, even if they were imported in a previous upgrade.

It is essential that the latest aim information is imported into Maytas for use by the ILR export. This should be done by importing the relevant information directly from the Data Service’s Funding Information System (FIS). To do this, you must have the FIS installed and correctly configured (please refer to the Data Service’s instructions for setting up the FIS).

Please ensure you have the latest version of the FIS with the 2018/19 components installed.

Once the FIS is installed and configured, the information can be imported as follows:

  1. Perform a sync in Maytas 5, then restart Maytas 5.

  2. Go to Exports | Uploads | Upload FIS Data Sets.

  3. There are three items to configure:
    • Database Machine Name – If the FIS is installed on the same machine that you are using for Maytas 5, this can be left as (local). Otherwise, enter the machine name of the SQL server where the FIS database is held.

    • Database Instance – If the SQL server holding the FIS database has a named instance (e.g. MACHINENAME\INSTANCENAME), select Named Instance and enter the instance name. Otherwise leave this as Default Instance.

      If you have no named instance and Default Instance does not work, you may need to select Named Instance and leave the instance name blank.

    • Connection Type – This is the login for the SQL server holding the FIS database. Trusted Connection will use Windows authentication. If you wish to specify the login details, select Specific Connection and enter the credentials.
  4. Click OK. The FIS data will now be imported.
  5. If you have an Adult Skills budget contract and a transition factor, this must be entered on the contract:
    1. Go to Management on the toolbar and click Contracts on the ribbon.
    2. Select the relevant contractor, then select the Adult Skills contract on the right.
    3. Click the button.
    4. Go to the Uplifts tab.
    5. Enter the ASB Transition Factor and click OK.
    6. Click Apply to save the change.

Import PFR Reports

The PFR reports for 2018/19 should be imported as follows:

  1. In Maytas, go to Home on the toolbar and click Import on the Reports panel of the ribbon.
  2. Click Add Files.
  3. Browse to the Maytas 5\Extras\Module Reports folder of the upgrade.
  4. Select PFR Reconcilers – 1819.m5rep and click Open.
  5. Click Finish.
  6. Once the reports have finished importing, click Finish.

Due to the size of the .rdl file for the FM36 PFR report, some report servers may produce the following error when importing: 

Error: There was an exception running the extensions specified in the config file. —>
Maximum request length exceeded.

This means that the report server's MaxRequestLength property is configured to only allow uploads up to a certain size, and the configuration must be changed to allow larger files to be uploaded. Please contact your system administrator to do this. Please note that Maytas Support cannot offer support on how to configure a SQL Server Report Server, as these are Microsoft products.

Note on Postcode File

The ESFA have not released a postcode file for 2018/19. However, this file would not be required as the relevant data is now imported into Maytas via the FIS import.

Note on the Funding Cache

By default, the funding cache will update overnight so that funding information in Maytas uses the newly-imported FIS and postcode information. Please check with your system administrator if you are unsure if or when the funding cache is updated on your system. You can also manually set the funding cache to update by going to Management | Profiles and clicking the Funding Cache button, though please be aware that this may take a long time and may use a large amount of system resources, which could affect performance for other users on the system.

Maytas 5 Release Notes – Version 5.16.6850.1

2018/19 PFR Reconciler

New PFR reconciler reports are now available to work with the 2018/19 PFR files. This year there are separate reports for funding models 35, 36 and 81 to reflect the substantially different formats of each PFR. While the FM35 and FM81 reports are largely similar to how the PFR reconciler has worked in previous years, the FM36 reports have several key differences which are detailed below.

There are separate import options for each PFR file:

  1. Go to Management on the toolbar.

  2. On the PFR section of the ribbon, click Upload and select the required 2018/19 PFR import option:

    For FM35, go to PFR | Upload PFR (2018/19).

    For FM81, go to PFR | Upload Trailblazer PFR (2018/19).

    For FM36, go to FM36 Funding Reports and choose the file type to upload.

  3. Browse to and select the PFR file and click Open.

The file will now be imported. Click OK on the confirmation message which appears.

Funding Model 35 PFR Reconciler Reports

The FM35 PFR reconciler reports can be accessed as follows:

  1. On the Home tab, click Reports Library.
  2. Go to the Finance folder and select one of the new reports:
    1. PFR Reconciler FM35 – 1819 – This shows a summary of funding differences, as well as tables showing matched rows with funding differences, rows in Maytas but not the PFR and rows in the PFR but not in Maytas.
    2. PFR Reconciler FM35 – Non-Funding Differences – 1819 – This shows matched rows which have differences in the non-funding columns (i.e. all columns which are not the month-by-month funding columns).

  3. The parameters window will appear:

    PFR – Select the PFR file from the list.

    ILR file – Select the corresponding ILR file from the list.

    Measure up to end of – This tells the report to only reconcile funding differences up to the end of a specific month. This is because Maytas data is highly likely to be updated in the time between the PFR being produced and the report being run – for example, leavers may be entered in Maytas who were live when the PFR was produced. This can result in inaccurate comparisons. Comparing Maytas funding data up to the period in which the PFR was produced should give a more accurate comparison than comparing current Maytas data.

    Note that the following two parameters do not appear on the Non-Funding Differences report.

    Show Differences Threshold (pence) – This determines the threshold in pence for the funding differences to be shown in the report. For example, the default of 10 will only include rows where there is more than a 10p total difference between Maytas and the PFR.

    Show missing rows with zero values – For the section at the end of the report showing rows in the PFR but not in the Maytas ILR export (and vice-versa), this allows you to hide rows which have no funding against them. By default, these rows are included.

  4. Click View to run the report.

The FM35 PFR reconciler is almost identical to the 2017/18 PFR reconciler, with the addition of the Campus Identifier column.

Funding Model 81 PFR Reconciler Reports

The FM81 PFR reconciler reports can be accessed as follows:

  1. On the Home tab, click Reports Library.
  2. Go to the Finance folder and select one of the new reports:
    1. PFR Reconciler FM81 – 1819 – This shows a summary of funding differences, as well as tables showing matched rows with funding differences, rows in Maytas but not the PFR and rows in the PFR but not in Maytas.
    2. PFR Reconciler FM81 – Non-Funding Differences – 1819 – This shows matched rows which have differences in the non-funding columns (i.e. all columns which are not the month-by-month funding columns).
  3. The parameters window will appear:

    PFR – Select the PFR file from the list.

    ILR file – Select the corresponding ILR file from the list.

    Measure up to end of – This tells the report to only reconcile funding differences up to the end of a specific month. This is because Maytas data is highly likely to be updated in the time between the PFR being produced and the report being run – for example, leavers may be entered in Maytas who were live when the PFR was produced. This can result in inaccurate comparisons. Comparing Maytas funding data up to the period in which the PFR was produced should give a more accurate comparison than comparing current Maytas data.

    Note that the following two parameters do not appear on the Non-Funding Differences report.

    Show Differences Threshold (pence) – This determines the threshold in pence for the funding differences to be shown in the report. For example, the default of 10 will only include rows where there is more than a 10p total difference between Maytas and the PFR.

    Show missing rows with zero values – For the section at the end of the report showing rows in the PFR but not in the Maytas ILR export (and vice-versa), this allows you to hide rows which have no funding against them. By default, these rows are included.

  4. Click View to run the report.

The FM81 reports are similar to the FM35 reports in terms of how they work, with the main difference being the columns which are included.

Funding Model 36 PFR Reconciler Reports

The FM36 PFR reconciler reports can be accessed as follows:

  1. On the Home tab, click Reports Library.
  2. Go to the Finance folder and select one of the new reports:
    1. PFR Reconciler FM36 – 1819 – This shows a summary of funding differences, as well as tables showing matched rows with funding differences, rows in Maytas but not the PFR and rows in the PFR but not in Maytas.
    2. PFR Reconciler FM36 – Non-Funding Differences – 1819 – This shows matched rows which have differences in the non-funding columns (i.e. all columns which are not the month-by-month funding columns).

  3. The parameters window will appear:

    Report type – This lets you choose whether to reconcile the indicative earnings report, the monthly payments report or the co-investment payments report. Each of these will determine the available PFR files to select from and the content displayed when the report is run.

    PFR – Select the PFR file from the list.

    ILR file – Select the corresponding ILR file from the list.

    Measure up to end of – This tells the report to only reconcile funding differences up to the end of a specific month. This is because Maytas data is highly likely to be updated in the time between the PFR being produced and the report being run – for example, leavers may be entered in Maytas who were live when the PFR was produced. This can result in inaccurate comparisons. Comparing Maytas funding data up to the period in which the PFR was produced should give a more accurate comparison than comparing current Maytas data.

    Note that the following two parameters do not appear on the Non-Funding Differences report.

    Show Differences Threshold (pence) – This determines the threshold in pence for the funding differences to be shown in the report. For example, the default of 10 will only include rows where there is more than a 10p total difference between Maytas and the PFR.

    Show missing rows with zero values – For the section at the end of the report showing rows in the PFR but not in the Maytas ILR export (and vice-versa), this allows you to hide rows which have no funding against them. By default, these rows are included.

  4. Click View to run the report.

The greatest difference between the FM36 PFR reconciler and previous PFR reconcilers is that it can be run against three different PFR datasets for FM36: indicative earnings, monthly payments and co-investment payments. This can be chosen in the Report type parameter.

Of the three options, we expect the indicative earnings report to match the Maytas figures the closest, as this PFR data does not depend on certain factors which must be assumed in Maytas (these factors are not available and cannot be derived before the PFR data is produced). The monthly and co-investment payments reports do depend on these factors and so are likely to match the Maytas figures less closely. In very broad terms, the indicative earnings are the 'expected' figures and the payment reports are the actual figures.

QAR Reconciler

In response to the increased complexity of the QAR calculation, we have produced a QAR reconciler report to help identify why differences occur between the published QAR and the Maytas achievement rates. Understanding the causes of differences can lead to better data quality and accuracy so that differences are reduced in the future.

To use the QAR reconciler you must first upload a QAR file:

  1. Extract the contents of your QAR zip file. The file that needs to be imported is the 1718 QAR InYear (or full year) Apps (not APPS_Excluded).
  2. Go to Management on the toolbar.

  3. Go to Upload QAR | Upload QAR Apps file on the ribbon.

  4. Browse to and select the QAR file to be imported and click Open.
  5. The import will now take place.

Using the Report

The report is included in the 1.0.3.0 reports library. It is called QAR Reconciler and imports to the Quality folder of the reports library. Hosted customers should contact the Service Desk to request that reports library 1.0.3.0 is installed on their system. Customers who maintain their own database should follow the instructions in the Upgrade Guide for installing the reports library.

The report has two parameters:

The report consists of three levels. The top level (shown above) shows a summary of the figures from Maytas and the QAR and their differences. Each of these figures drills down into the second level, which shows a list of the relevant learners and their data from Maytas and the QAR (note that there are more columns than shown on the screenshot below). Differences are highlighted red:

Clicking a learner name will go to the third level, which shows all relevant Maytas and QAR details for that learner, including a history of ILR export data, change history for important fields and a list of the probable causes of differences.

ILR Export History

The top-left table shows a selection of ILR export data that is relevant to the QAR calculation. This does not show ALL ILR export data for the learner – for example, if the completion status was changed from 1 to 2, the value of 2 may be included in 20 export files but the report may only show the earliest and latest exports with the completion status of 2. Essentially, the data in this table is what the Maytas achievement rates consider when calculating the results.

The export data can be used to show, for example, that a change of actual end date or completion status in the live data has never been exported, and therefore the ESFA cannot use it in their calculations meaning their results will be different.

It can also show that a change of value WAS exported but is different to the value in the QAR, which would mean either the export file was never submitted to the ESFA or it was submitted too late to be counted in the published QAR. There is now a flag on the ILR export screen to indicate an export has not been submitted, which the Maytas achievement rates will then take into account, meaning the results will match closer to the QAR. Details of this can be found in section 2.2.

Change History

This table shows the history of when values for completion status, actual end date and learner reference number were changed for the learner. This can be useful for checking whether a value was changed after the R14 deadline for a contract year, or for investigating values that have changed back and forth, resulting in unusual differences between live data and exported data.

Probable Causes of Discrepancies

This lists probable reasons for why there are differences between the Maytas achievement rates and the QAR. It is important to note that the listed causes are indicative only, and should be used as a guide for what to investigate. It is possible that there may be additional reasons for differences that cannot be directly derived from the available data.

These are the possible causes that can be derived, along with suggested ways to investigate:

While the above reasons cannot account for every possible scenario that could cause a difference, they are the most common reasons for discrepancies. Many of them can be addressed simply by flagging relevant ILR exports as not having been submitted, which removes those exports from consideration in the QAR calculation.

Reconciliation Data

The achievement rate reports offer two different views of data: expected future published QAR results (the default) and expected current published QAR results. The QAR reconciler uses the latter, as it is designed specifically to match the expected published results as closely as possible by using exported data rather than live data in certain circumstances.

Not Submitted Flag

The ILR export submission screen now has a Not submitted checkbox which can be ticked to indicate that an export was not sent to the ESFA. The achievement rates will then take this into account and ignore any data from that export. Making use of this can significantly improve accuracy when trying to reconcile the Maytas achievement rates with published QAR files.

FIPS

New FIPS features are available for providers with Scottish provision:

FIPS 2018 Tab

The FIPS 2018 tab includes the required fields for recording FIPS data, as per the appendix 12 Modern Apprenticeship Training Agreement document for 2018/19. This replaces the CTS tab.

The tab is imported as part of the upgrade but defaults to being unpublished. To publish the tab:

  1. Go to Tools on the toolbar and click New / Load on the Screens panel of the ribbon.
  2. Click Trainee on the left.
  3. On the right, double-click the screen FIPS 2018 to open it in the screen designer.
  4. Tick the Published box on the left and click Apply.
  5. Go to Home on the toolbar and click Sync.

FIPS Import

Spreadsheets for FIPS assignments and payment claims can be imported into Maytas using the standard import system. This works as follows:

Assignments

Field mappings between FIPS assignments and learner records are as follows (any fields not listed are not relevant to the learner record, but they are imported to FIPS_ASSIGNMENT_IMPORT):

FIPS_ASSIGNMENT_IMPORT Column Maytas Table Maytas Column Details
PREFERRED_METHOD_CONTACT TRAINEEFIPS PREFERREDCONTACT SMS = 1, Email = 2
NI_NUMBER TRAINEE NINUMBER  
INDIVIDUAL TRAINEE FIRSTNAME and LASTNAME Maytas will attempt to parse the full name in INDIVIDUAL into first and last names
EMAIL TRAINEE EMAIL  
HOME_PHONE TRAINEE TELEPHONE  
MOBILE_PHONE TRAINEE MOBILE  
AGE_GROUP TRAINEEPOT ILR13_AGEGROUP  
EXPECTED_END_DATE TRAINEEPOT EXPCOMPLETIONDATE  
OCCUPATIONAL_GROUP TRAINEEFIPS OCCUPATIONALGROUP  
EMPLOYER TRAINEEFIPS EMPLOYERNAME  
EMPLOYER_CONTACT_NAME TRAINEEFIPS EMPCONTACTNAME  
EMP_PRIORITY_SECTOR TRAINEEFIPS EMPPRIORITYSECTOR  
EMPLOYER_CONTACT_EMAIL TRAINEEFIPS EMPCONTACTEMAIL  
EMPLOYER_CONTACT_MOBILE TRAINEEFIPS EMPCONTACTMOBILE  
EMPLOYER_CONTACT_PHONE TRAINEEFIPS EMPCONTACTTELEPHONE  
EMPLOYER_POSTCODE TRAINEEFIPS EMPPOSTCODE  
LOCAL_AUTHORITY_CODE TRAINEEFIPS LOCALAUTHORITY  
TRAINING_VENUE TRAINEEFIPS TRAININGVENUE  
EXPENSES TRAINEEFIPS EXPENSES  
AREA_OF_SCOTLAND TRAINEEFIPS AREAOFSCOTLAND “Lowlands & Uplands” = 1, “Highlands & Islands” = 2
ESF_AREA TRAINEEFIPS ESFAREA  
ESF_DOSSIER_NUMBER_TEXT TRAINEEFIPS ESFDOSSIERNUMBER  
ESF_PROJECT TRAINEEFIPS ESFPROJECTTITLE  
PROVIDER_REF_1 TRAINEEFIPS PROVIDERREF1  
PROVIDER_REF_2 TRAINEEFIPS PROVIDERREF2  
PROVIDER_REF_3 TRAINEEFIPS PROVIDERREF3  
PROVIDER_REF_4 TRAINEEFIPS PROVIDERREF4  
PROVIDER_REF_5 TRAINEEFIPS PROVIDERREF5  
PROVIDER_REF_6 TRAINEEFIPS PROVIDERREF6  
PROVIDER_REF_7 TRAINEEFIPS PROVIDERREF7  
Payment Claims
Maytas field FIPS field
CLAIMDETAILS.TRAINEEID Trainee ID from existing or newly-created learner record
CLAIMDETAILS.EVENTCODE

Using claim type:

If Milestone then MILESTONE

If Outcome then OUTCOME

If Start Payment then START

If Sustained Outcome then OUTCOME

If Course Attendance then GENERAL

If SERI Optional Payment then GENERAL
CLAIMDETAILS.TARGETDATE Expected claim date
CLAIMDETAILS.ACTIVITYDATE Claimed on

Field mappings between FIPS payment claims and learner/claim records are as follows (any fields not listed are not relevant to the learner record, but they are imported to FIPS_FUNDING_IMPORT):

FIPS_FUNDING_IMPORT Column Maytas Table Maytas Column Details
INDIVIDUAL TRAINEE LASTNAME and FIRSTNAME Maytas will attempt to parse the full name in INDIVIDUAL into first and last names
PARTICIPANT_NI_NO TRAINEE NINUMBER  
AREA_OF_SCOTLAND TRAINEEFIPS AREAOFSCOTLAND “Lowlands & Uplands” = 1, “Highlands & Islands” = 2
OCCUPATIONAL_GROUP TRAINEEFIPS OCCUPATIONALGROUP  
STARTDATE TRAINEEPOT STARTDATE  
EXPECTED_END_DATE TRAINEEPOT EXPCOMPLETIONDATE  
ACTUAL_END_DATE TRAINEEPOT TERMINATIONDATE  
AGE_GROUP TRAINEEPOT ILR13_AGEGROUP  
CLAIM_TYPE CLAIMDETAILS EVENTCODE See claim type mapping in table above
AMOUNT CLAIMDETAILS UNITVALUE and TOTALVALUE  
EXPECTED_CLAIM_DATE CLAIMDETAILS TARGETDATE  
CLAIMED_ON CLAIMDETAILS ACTIVITYDATE  
EMPLOYER TRAINEEFIPS EMPLOYERNAME  
PROVIDER_REF_1 TRAINEEFIPS PROVIDERREF1  
PROVIDER_REF_2 TRAINEEFIPS PROVIDERREF2  
PROVIDER_REF_3 TRAINEEFIPS PROVIDERREF3  
PROVIDER_REF_4 TRAINEEFIPS PROVIDERREF4  
PROVIDER_REF_5 TRAINEEFIPS PROVIDERREF5  
PROVIDER_REF_6 TRAINEEFIPS PROVIDERREF6  
PROVIDER_REF_7 TRAINEEFIPS PROVIDERREF7  
Importing a FIPS Spreadsheet

To import a FIPS assignments or payment claims spreadsheet:

  1. Ensure standard imports are enabled in permissions:
    1. Go to Tools | Edit Permissions.
    2. Select the user or group that requires permission.
    3. On the Modules tab, ensure that Standard Imports is set to Visible.
    4. On the Commands tab, expand the Standard Import section and ensure the permission Show Standard Import is set to Visible.
    5. Click Apply and restart Maytas for the changes to take effect.

  2. Go to Exports on the toolbar and click Standard Import on the ribbon.

  3. Click Browse next to Csv/Excel File.
  4. Select the FIPS spreadsheet to import and click Open.
  5. Click Browse next to Control File.

  6. Browse to the Maytas 5\Extras\FIPS folder of the upgrade.

    If you are importing assignments, select FIPS Assignment Import.CON.

    If you are importing payment claims, select FIPS Funding Import.CON.

  7. Click Open.
  8. Click Next.
  9. A preview of the data to be imported will be generated. Check that you are happy with the data to be imported and click Next.
  10. The data will now be imported. A successful import will display x records imported; 0 errors occurred. Click Finish.

MA Online Tab and Report

Tabs are available to enter MA Online learner and employer data into Maytas and then produce a report export which can be uploaded to MA Online.

The tab and report must be imported.

To import the tab:

  1. In Maytas go to Tools on the toolbar and click Import on the Screens panel of the ribbon.
  2. Click Browse.
  3. Browse to the Maytas 5\Extras\Tabs folder of the upgrade.
  4. Select MA Online 2018.m5tab and click Open.
  5. Click Next, then click Finish.
  6. Go to Home on the toolbar and click Sync.

To import the report:

  1. In Maytas, go to Home on the toolbar and click Import on the Reports panel of the ribbon.
  2. Click Add Files.
  3. Browse to the Maytas 5\Extras\Module Reports folder of the upgrade.
  4. Select MA Online.m5rep and click Open.
  5. Click Finish.

  6. Once the reports have finished importing, click Finish.

The learner tab is called MA Online 2018 and the employer tab is called MA Online Employer Info. The report is called MA Online and can be found in the Learner folder of the reports library. The report uses data from both tabs and is intended to be exported as an Excel file so that it can be uploaded to MA Online. Note that the report should be exported to Excel, not .csv, so that the correct column headers are produced.

The learners included in the report are those where the mandatory field Apprentice Publicity Funded (TRAINEEPOT.MAO_APP_FUNDING) has a value entered.

The employer record used for each learner in the report is the most recently started employer record of type E (employer) where the record is active at any point during the learner's POT.

Implementing more than 9 App Forms in the Screen Designer

We have received queries from providers who need to implement a large number of application forms published via the Maytas screen designer, as the app form ID appears to be limited to the numbers 1 to 9. However, the app form ID can take alphanumeric characters, not just numbers, and lowercase letters are counted separately from uppercase letters. Making use of letters for the ID therefore vastly increases the number of app forms which can be implemented in the system.

AS Export – Exclude POT Restarts

A configuration option can now be set to prevent POT restarts being included in the Apprenticeship Service (AS) export. To enable this:

  1. Click the M5 button at the top-left of the screen and select Options.
  2. Scroll down to the Maytas 5 section on the left and select Miscellaneous.
  3. On the right, locate the AS Export section and the config Show the “Exclude POT Restarts” option.
  4. Tick the box next to the config and ensure the toggle button is set to ON.
  5. Click OK.

The option to exclude POT restarts will now appear on the Apprenticeship Starts Export screen. When this option is ticked, an apprenticeship will be excluded if the POT on which the apprenticeship starts has the restart indicator entered on the programme aim.

If the POT has been restarted and there is an employment record showing a change to a different employer after the POT start date, the apprenticeship will not be excluded.

This means that with the option ticked, changes in pathway (which the export treats as separate apprenticeships) will be excluded.