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High-impact progress reviews in university apprenticeship provision

11 November 2025

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Today’s speakers

Chris Cherry

Strategic Associate

Sean Baker

New Business Sales Director

Katie Thwaites

Apprenticeships Academic Delivery Manager

Ben Clawson

Apprenticeships Academic Delivery Manager

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Grounding – why are progress reviews even important?

Funding and audit compliance ...

Employer engagement .…

Support for the apprentice ...

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Grounding – why are progress reviews even important?

Tick box and we’re done

Send it to me and I will sign it off .…

Never read the report, sorry ...

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Grounding – why are progress reviews even important?

Dynamic programme leadership

The critical touchpoint .…

Perfect performance progress planning...

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Progress reviews in 2025-6

You must have progress reviews regularly (say 8-12 weeks interval)
Must be shared by all parties/all parties to contribute
Signed as a minimum by training provider and apprentice
Must document the ‘what’

Compliance, the reality…

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This is a bit dull don’t you agree?

So how can we do it better?

Let’s learn from high performers who are just like you….

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Measuring progress – a summary of practice�Let’s change the language

Driver of Improvement

Driver of Compliance

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Measuring progress – a summary of practice

Driver of Improvement

Driver of Compliance

Progress Review Form

Review Objectives

Review Targets

Audit of Activity

Review of What

Analysis of How

Records of Impact

Setting of Targets

Progress Review Form

Positive Outcomes

Employer Feedback

Record of Achievement

Compliance with Requirements

Development of Wider Learning

Progress Review Form

Management of Risk

Alerting Employer

Planning Employer Intervention

Early Awareness

Changing Programme

Progress Review Form

Valued by the stakeholders

Active process

Dynamic leadership of learning

Evidence base for competence

Space for recording behavours

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A touchpoint review – high-impact reviews

Objectives for the Review

Learning Outcome

Progress Against Targets

Apprentice

Review:

Learning Objectives
Learning Targets
Intended Learning Outcomes

Learning Objective

Reframed Development Objective or Learning Target

Achieved Development Objective or Learning Target

Qualitative Review of Evidence

Professional Discussion

Trainer preparation

Apprentice preparation

Validation of evidence

Recorded professional discussion

Outcome

Employer preparation

Learning Outcome

Discussion Themes

Learning Objective

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The training provider perspective

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The ARU context

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Currently partnered with over 750 employers including 7 East of England + Met Police Forces, NHS Trusts, Local Authorities, Royal Mail, BT, Specsavers, Balfour Beatty, Aecom.
A large number of SMEs particularly in Construction, Surveying & Engineering, and Digital Marketing and Business Management.
Delivery takes place across 14 locations including 5 ARU campuses, and employer premises.
Last summer Ofsted recognised ARU as a ‘large and complex training provider’.

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ARU’s Aptem implementation journey

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Spring 2023		AMS procurement and tendering process began
January 2024		Aptem contracted
Throughout 2024		Consultation, design and build
September 2024		Pilot cohorts using Aptem
January 2025		In use as ILR for all
Sept 2025		Full end-to-end roll out

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Key drivers for a more fully integrated Apprenticeship Management System

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Enhanced learner experience.
Consistency out of independent evolution.
Compliance, reporting and audit functions.
Tracking apprenticeship quality and outcomes.
Accurate and prompt data for internal and external stakeholders.
Reduction in manual duplication of data processing.
Enhanced consistency and reduction in variety of competing platforms across the institution.

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Our progress reviews

Ahead of the meeting:

Self booking by apprentices after co-ordination with mentors (MS Bookings), full Office calendar integration for Study Coaches.
Advance tasks for apprentices to complete covering their learning experiences, challenges, module progress and outcomes, KSB evaluation, workplace development.
Advance tasks for Study Coaches – checking and approving OTJ submissions, gathering support resources indicated by apprentice input.

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A continuation in Aptem of our evolved best-practice in progress review design

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Our progress reviews

At the meeting:

Consistent checking of off-the-job hours records and other compliance matters.
Regular focus on wellbeing, safeguarding and support signposting, asking for the same in parallel from employer representatives.
Review of KSB self-assessment and evidence for their development – consistent referral to mentors.
Variable themes at different times in the year – support, systems and platforms, wellbeing, effective target setting for workplace development, acting on feedback.
Verbal and written feedback from workplace mentors.
Always workplace-based actions for development, academic/admin actions as required.

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A continuation in Aptem of our evolved best-practice in progress review design

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What does high impact look like?

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SMART targets for development.

Differentiated by design with varying focus points.

Both asynchronous and synchronous input from apprentices, mentors and coaches.

Signalling of risk factors for timely completion, marshalling of intervention and support.

Consistent coaching presence, knowledge of individuals and their contexts.

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Ongoing partnership for platform innovation

The importance of continuous improvement

Having a voice in Aptem’s future development

Taking part in beta trials like the current activity log feature development
Joining product development workshops at the Aptem aSpire customer conference

Future Aptem developments wish list

Further integration with other systems
Embedding of hyperlinks and images in progress review reports
Auto-save functionality
Attendance integration with OTJ

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Flexibility. Retain institutional personality and customise each review to its specific objectives.

Efficiency. Streamline processes for tutors and employers, with all review information in one place.

Transparent compliance. Provide clear, auditable records to meet regulatory needs.

Outcome focus. Drive learner progress and encourage meaningful, goal-orientated conversations.

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Reviews: what providers need from their systems

Aptem’s reviews functionality has long been a core part of our platform – described by some customers as a ‘virtual shelf’ where the Aptem system can be set up to record any engagement with a learner or employer. It works in the same way as having files of completed forms in an office. This includes tripartite progress reviews, IAG, additional learning support, Eligibility Reviews, compliance reviews, and more.

When it comes to progress reviews, what really sets Aptem apart is the ability it gives you to retain your institution’s personality and customise every review to meet your specific objectives. No two providers are exactly alike, and we believe your reviews process should reflect your unique goals and values.

We know that efficiency is equally critical. By bringing all review information together in one place, we streamline processes for tutors and employers, making it easy to access and manage everything needed for reviews - all while reducing administrative overhead.

Transparent compliance is another key need. Aptem gives you clear, auditable records so you can meet regulatory needs with confidence. Every interaction is captured, making reporting and audits straightforward.

Finally, Aptem is designed with an outcome focus - helping you drive learner progress and encourage meaningful, goal-oriented conversations. Progress reviews aren’t just a compliance exercise; they’re an opportunity to support every learner on their unique journey.

Looking ahead, we’re enhancing this with powerful new AI-driven functionality. Our goal isn’t to replace the human touch, but to free up tutors from repetitive admin, so they have more time for what really matters: building connections and supporting progress.

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AI-supported progress reviews in Aptem

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The review module:

Shows previous review summaries.

Automatically documents key discussion points, themes, feedback, and action points.

Clearly tracks feedback and actions within the system.

Eliminates the trade-off between valuable discussion and accurate record-keeping.

The enhanced review suite of Al powered features is designed to reduce the administrative burden of reviews so that tutors can focus on productive conversations and one-to-one support for learner success. This means they can be more in the moment and present, rather than making notes to type up later. I know myself in my work internally within Aptem, I'm guilty of this in the past, writing my notes during calls rather than actively listening to the conversations taking place.

We can see a looping video demonstration on the screen behind me, providing a glimpse into how this looks and works within Aptem.

The review module allows tutors to view previous review summaries. Tutors can quickly review all previous review summaries to get a clear snapshot of a learner's progression and any key points, without having to dig back through previous paperwork.

For context, accurate documentation of reviews is critical, but it can take tutors a lot of time to complete. The review summarisation tool eliminates the trade-off between valuable discussion and accurate record-keeping by automatically documenting key discussion points, themes, feedback, and action points as each review conversation progresses.

To create the review summary, tutors just need to upload the transcript of their discussion with the learner. Users who have opted for the Microsoft Teams communications connector benefit from this being fully integrated. Once the transcript has been pulled into Aptem, a tutor can click on the summarise button for a well-structured, concise summary of the discussion.

Crucial feedback and action points are clearly documented, helping to improve engagement, boost accuracy, and shorten feedback loops. Action points can also be allocated deadlines and tracked within the system.

Learners can mark actions complete as they progress their learning. Tutors can review all closed actions showing the full journey. They can also review all actions open and closed. Tutors can edit, duplicate, and delete actions or mark them as not required.

Enhanced reviews is a suite of Al powered automation features designed to cut the administration burden of the review process in half.

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Technology that drives efficiency ... and quality

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How providers across the sector say they are benefitting

"These tools will enable me to keep the conversation flowing during reviews. I am most impressed!"

"Our coaches no longer need to focus on typing notes, making the process smoother and more impactful."

"Learners are engaging really well, as the format feels more like a conversation, giving them the confidence to speak more freely."

So, what is the benefit of all this? Well, just a few months since launching our enhanced reviews functionality, we’re hearing great things from our customers about how it’s having a transformational effect on their workload and quality of output.

Here are just a few comments:

Michelle O’Boyle, an Assessor from City St George’s, shared just this week:

“Having the ability to transcribe the review meeting accurately is not just a massive time-saver, it also captures the discussion and summarises it very well. This is very important to me as an assessor, as I always like to capture as much relevant information as possible, which can be quite challenging when fully engaged with your learner and their employer. The previous meeting summary is also of huge benefit. The two together will reduce my admin time down from an hour to about fifteen minutes, allowing for a much more effective use of my time and will enable me to keep the conversation flowing even more readily during reviews. I am most impressed!”

2) Josephine Moore, Digital Learning Manager at Leap, the training arm of employer provider, Travis Perkins, said:

“Feedback from our coaches has been overwhelmingly positive, especially noting valuable time savings of 15-30 minutes per review, and improved quality through the ability to have more meaningful conversations. As the feature automatically captures and tracks key discussion points, our coaches no longer need to focus on typing notes, making the process smoother and more impactful.”

3) Becki Lee, Director of Quality at Tend, formerly Impact Futures, shared feedback from one of their Development Coaches:

“The new reviews are fantastic – they’re clearly saving a significant amount of time, easily 15 minutes or more. Learners are engaging really well too, as the format feels more like a conversation, giving them the confidence to speak more freely.”

From all that we’ve heard today, we're proud to be partnering with higher education institutions and other providers to deliver real time-savings. But more importantly, while saving time is valuable, it's how that time is reinvested that truly matters - enabling more meaningful, high-quality review conversations and stronger evidence of learner progress. We hope that our platform continues to support your efforts to focus reviews on what really counts: positive learner outcomes.

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Download the case study from tend (formerly Impact futures)

Thank you for listening.

Any questions?

Thank you, Chris, Katie and Ben, for all your insightful contributions - plenty of valuable food for thought to start our day. If you’d like to continue the conversation, please do come over to our stand in the exhibition hall. We also invite you to download our latest case study from tend (formerly Impact Futures), one of the largest training providers, who couldn’t be here in person but were keen to share their story today. In it, they highlight the innovative work they’re doing with progress reviews and how they’re integrating new Aptem functionality to support their broader review initiatives.

If we have a minute or two to spare, we’re happy to take any questions (just checking with the UVAC team for the go-ahead …). If not, please stop by our stand later to chat further.

Thank you again to our speakers and to all of you for joining us. Enjoy the rest of the conference!