5.26 Maytas ESFA 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 FIS. After submission to the ESFA, 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.

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 Communities 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 Maytas Hub 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 5.26.8610.1. 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.

Data migration

Please note that it is important to ensure that all 2022/23 learners have been entered before the upgrades are applied. This is because the upgrade migrates 2022 data to the 2023 fields, and any 2022 learners entered after the upgrades will not be migrated. As such, if any 2022 learners do need to be entered after the upgrade, both the 2022 and 2023 tabs must be completed to ensure all data is present and correct.

Complete the Upgrade

Features Added in the Upgrade

These are the main updates in the upgrade:

Check the Contractor Details for the ESFA Export

  1. Open Maytas 5 and select Management | Contracts.
  2. Highlight the contractor name (company) you wish to edit.

  3. Right-click and select Edit.

  4. The Company screen will be displayed. The technical upgrade will have copied the UKPRN field to the new 23 box. If necessary, you should amend this value.
  5. Providers need to ensure that these instructions are completed for each company (contractor) used for the ESFA export.

Create the 2023/24 ESFA Formula-Funded Contract

A 2023/24 ESFA formula-funded contract should be set up for each ESFA contractor. Without this contract, Maytas is unable to determine the funding rules, schemes and lookup codes to use.

  1. In the Contracts module, left-click the contractor (company) to which you wish to add the new contract.
  2. Click Add Contract on the ribbon.

  3. Make sure that option 1. Existing company is selected then click Next.

  4. Enter a contact description (e.g. ESFA 2023/24).
  5. Enter a contract number if required.
  6. Select the SFA/EFA/ESFA Formula Funded Contract option.
  7. Select year 2023/2024.
  8. Click Next.
  9. Amend the schemes you wish to include in the contract and click Next.
  10. Click Finish.

Import Funding Information

The process for importing the required funding information into Maytas is as follows:

Import LARS

The LARS should be imported as follows:

  1. Download the latest LARS MDB file. At the time of this release, the latest version is the LARS MDB version 8, though version 9 is expected imminently. Both versions can be imported into Maytas, so the latest available version should be downloaded.
  2. In Maytas, go to Exports on the toolbar.
  3. On the ILR Tools panel of the ribbon, go to Uploads | Upload Funding Information | Upload LARS (Version 8 or 9).
  4. Browse to and select the downloaded LARS file and click Open.
  5. The file will now be imported. Click OK on the message which appears.

Progress on the import can be checked by going to Home | Server Tasks | Server Jobs. Typically it will take several minutes.

Import Postcode File

At the time of this release, the postcode uplift file for 2023/24 is not yet available to download. The instructions below should be performed once the 2023/24 file has been published.

  1. Obtain the postcode uplift factors file - Download the zip file under 2023 to 2024 uplift factors by postcode and LLSOA: CSV files.
  2. In Maytas, go to Exports on the toolbar.
  3. On the ILR Tools panel of the ribbon, go to Uploads | Upload Postcodes| Upload Post Code Data (2023/24).
  4. Browse to and select the postcode uplifts zip file and click Open.
  5. The file will now be imported. Click OK on the message which appears.

Progress on the import can be checked by going to Home | Server Tasks | Server Jobs. Typically this will take several minutes.

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 Version 5.26.8610.1 Release Notes

2023/24 Contract Year Updates

New Contract Year Tabs

New Maytas tabs for 2023/24 have been produced for the ILR and LLWR as per specifications from the Data Service and DfE. These will have been imported automatically in the upgrade. Please note that while both ILR and LLWR tabs are imported, the relevant tabs will only show for the relevant learners – i.e. ILR tabs will only show to learners on English schemes and LLWR tabs will only show to learners on Welsh schemes. Details of the tabs can be found below.

Please note that user permissions will need to be set for the new tabs, as by default they are available to all users. Also please note that if you have changed the field type for any ILR fields (e.g. to or from a lookup), these will need to be changed from the default field type in the screen designer.

ILR Changes for 2023/24

These are the main ILR changes for 2023/24 which have been implemented in Maytas:

New Tabs for 2023/24

There are six new ILR tabs for 2023/24:

As in previous years, the tabs have been designed so that only the appropriate tabs appear for each scheme. However, we are aware that many providers have bespoke or non-standard scheme groups. In these cases, it is possible that the tabs may not appear on certain schemes. This can be rectified in the following way:

  1. Check the group type of the scheme (SCHEME.GROUPTYPE).
  2. In Maytas 5, go to Tools on the toolbar and click New / Load on the Screens panel.
  3. Select Trainee on the left.
  4. Double-click the ILR tab which is not appearing. The tabs for 2022/23 are:
    • ILR 2023 App Starter Info
    • ILR 2023 App Leaver Info
    • ILR 2023 16-19 Starter Info
    • ILR 2023 16-19 Leaver Info
    • ILR 2023 Other Starter Info
    • ILR 2023 Other Leaver Info

  5. Alter the Scheme group as required. Each group should be separated with a comma (no spaces). For example, if the App tab is not showing for scheme 3, and the group type for scheme 3 is called MY_GROUP, the tab should be set as in the screenshot.

  6. Click Apply to save the changes.
New fields

The following new fields have been added to the ILR Other tab for 2023/24 (in the main aim learning delivery FAM section):

Removed Fields

The following fields have been removed from the ILR tabs for 2023/24:

Community Learning provision type (ASL) is no longer valid for new starters, but the field remains on the ILR Other tab and the subaims tab for 2023 for continuing learners.

Notes on Continuing Learners and Migration

As part of the upgrade, data for continuing learners is migrated from the 2022/23 fields to the 2023/24 fields. Any changes to continuing learners and any late-notified learners entered after the upgrade should be completed on both the 2022/23 and 2023/24 tabs. This is because certain ILR fields are recorded in different fields in the database from year to year, and therefore it is important to ensure that all data is completed and correct on both tabs.

The following fields are NOT migrated from 2022/23 to 2023/24:

It is important to ensure these fields are completed on the 2023/24 tabs where required.

ILR Reports for 2023/24

The ILR reports have been created using the available ILR guidance for 2023/24. Providers should check with the ESFA that they are happy for the current reports to be used and that it is compliant for audit purposes. As this has been the case for the reports in previous years, we do not expect any issues in this regard.

There are reports available for apprenticeship, 16-19 (excluding apprenticeships) and non-16-19 learners.

The ILR reports are automatically imported in the upgrade and can be found in the ILR folder of the Reports Library.

There are two ways to run the reports:

ILR Export 2023/24

The ILR export for 2023/24 is now available in Maytas. To view the ILR export screen for 2023/24:

  1. Click Exports on the toolbar.
  2. Click ILR Export on the ribbon.

  3. Click the button.

  4. Choose 2023 from the Survey Year dropdown box.
  5. Choose the Notional Return period.
  6. Amend the UKPRN as required.
  7. Choose the required contractors, or tick Select all contractors.

  8. Once ready, click OK.

  9. Locate the submission by expanding the contract year and period using the arrows to the left. Click the submission to select it. The status will say Generate pending until the export data has been generated. It will then say File preparation finished. Please note that this may take a while, depending on the amount of data being exported.

    • Edit opens the export and allows you to view and edit the export settings. Please note that not all settings can be changed once an export has been created.
    • Generate processes the export and produces a text file showing any errors for each learner. This allows you to correct any errors and re-generate before the batch file is created. The generation progress is shown with the circular progress bar to the right.
    • View Log shows any errors in the export. These should be investigated and resolved and the data re-generated before outputting the XML.
    • Output XML creates the actual batch file. The file will be created at C:\Temp on the Maytas server.
    • Get File lets you download the batch file once it has been created.

The 2023/24 ILR export has been tested and validated against the latest version of the online ILR specification as of the time of this release, as well as other accompanying documents. As of this release, the 2023/24 FIS is still in a beta stage, and so we have not yet been able to test the ILR export with the FIS comprehensively. Further testing will be done as new versions of the FIS become available.

While we have tested the ILR export to the best of our ability with the available specifications, there may be further issues which have not yet been identified. It is also possible that future versions of the FIS and the ILR specification may require the export and/or FIS import to be changed to meet any new criteria. Any changes that are required will be implemented in a follow-up release of Maytas.

Migration of ILR export override flags

The following details whether ILR export flags are migrated from 2022/23 to 2023/24. For information on setting these flags, please contact Maytas support.

Force Export Flag

The 2022/23 force export flag is not copied to the 2023/24 force export flag. To override the ILR export and include a POT that does not meet the 2023/24 ILR export criteria, the 2023/24 export flag must be set.

Blocking Flags

The 2022/23 blocking flags are copied to the 2023/24 blocking flags. Aims blocked from the 2022/23 export will continue to be blocked in the 2023/24 export.

Funding Information

The funding information for 2023/24 in this upgrade is based on the funding rules for 2022/23, since full specifications were not available at the time of development. The 2023/24 funding information in this upgrade should be considered a beta version and is subject to change once future specifications have been published.

Completion Status and Outcome

Updated versions of the ILR 2022/23 tabs are included with this release which use new fields for outcome and completion status. These are referred to as the R14 fields. Data from the existing fields are migrated to them during the upgrade, and in most cases these values do not need to be altered. The R14 fields are what will be used for the 2022/23 ILR export and the existing fields will continue to be used from 2023/24 onwards.

The purpose of this change is to allow different values for 22/23 and 23/24 to be recorded, so that learners who completed in 22/23 who were on a break in learning or had an unknown outcome can be correctly included by the 23/24 ILR export. As with any other continuing learner, you should ensure that data is correct on the tabs for each contract year.

For late-notified leavers where the learner left in 22/23 but the data is entered during 23/24, it is important that you complete the above fields on both the 22/23 and 23/24 tabs, even though the learner has not continued into 23/24. This is to ensure the data is recorded in the existing / ongoing fields so that the correct data for these learners is included on reports.

AS Export Fields on Apprenticeship Financial Record Grid

Three new fields have been added to the Apprenticeship Financial Record grid on the ILR 2023 App Starter Info tab:

These fields are not part of the ILR specification but have been introduced in version 6 of the Apprenticeship Export specification.

DfE Integration - Training Status

When downloading NPQ participants in the DfE integration, the Training Status will now be included and updated in Maytas.

Reports Library 1.0.4.5

Upgrade the Reports Library

How to Upgrade the Reports Library

The Reports Library upgrade should be performed by an admin user, which will upgrade the reports for all users.

To enable to the Upgrade reports button for an admin user:

  1. Go to Tools | Edit Permissions.
  2. Select the user or group which requires permission.
  3. Go to the Commands tab.
  4. Expand the Support section.
  5. Set the Report SQL Upgrade permission to Visible.
  6. Click Apply and restart Maytas for the change to take effect.

For customers who manage their own systems on-premise, it is strongly advised to take a database backup before performing the upgrade. This is not necessary for hosted customers as backups are taken regularly.

To upgrade the Reports Library:

  1. Go to Support on the toolbar.

  2. Click Upgrade reports.

  3. You will asked to confirm that you wish to perform the reports upgrade SQL. Click OK to continue.
  4. A message will appear saying that a task has been created. Click OK.

  5. You can check that the upgrade was successful by going to Home on the toolbar and then selecting Server Tasks | View Jobs.

    If the Status indicates that the upgrade has failed, please do not continue with importing the reports package and raise an incident on theSelf Support Portalfor assistance.

  6. Next, the reports package must be imported. Go to Home on the toolbar and click Import on the Reports panel on the ribbon.
  7. This will display the Report Import wizard. Click +Add Files.
  8. Browse to the Maytas 5\Extras\Reports Library folder of the upgrade, select one of the following packages and click Open:
    • For all reports, select Reports Library 1.0.4.5 (all reports).
    • For ESFA and general reports only, select Reports Library 1.0.4.5 (ESFA and general reports).m5rep.
  9. Click Finish to import the reports. This process may take a long time (potentially upwards of 30 minutes) depending on the size of the reports package.

  10. When the reports have finished importing, click Finish.

    The import log may display various warning messages, which are generally a result of report formatting and other factors which do not impact how a report runs (e.g. The text box ‘textbox3’ extends beyond the bottom edge of its container.). Unless a message indicates that the import has failed, these warnings can safely be ignored.

Updates for 2023/24

The reports library has been updated to use fields from 2023/24 where appropriate and to include the 2023/24 report year on certain parameters.

New Report - Permission Comparison

The Permission Comparison report lets you choose two Maytas users or groups and compare their permissions for centres, system modules, tabs, processes and templates.

The report can be found in the Audit folder of the Reports Library.

Parameters

Details

The reports lists the permissions for the two accounts, with each permission area in a separate table.

For tabs, processes and templates, only set permissions are displayed - i.e. those where the Is Set column is ticked in the Permissions Editor.

For modules, the effective permission for every licensed module is shown, including default permissions.