P R O M T provider opportunity management tool USER GUIDE
About PROMT... 2 Installing PROMT 5... 2 Access to PROMT... 2 Guidance with Updating... 2 PROMT Style Guide... 3 PROMT Checklist... 3 How Does PROMT Work?... 4 Using PROMT... 4 Logging In... 4 The Providers Tab... 5 The Courses Tab... 5 The Toolbar... 5 Advanced Search... 6 Adding a New Course - Details Tab... 6 Qualifications... 7 Course Status Options... 9 The Opportunities Tab... 9 Selecting a Mode of Attendance... 9 Entering Opportunity Dates... 10 Flexible Start Date Courses... 10 Adding a New Opportunity Extras Tab... 10 Assigning a Venue to an Opportunity... 11 Opportunity Status Options... 11 Editing Existing Courses and Opportunities... 11 Editing Multiple Courses or Opportunities... 12 Cloning a Course or Opportunity... 12 Publishing Updated Information... 12 Courses and Opportunities on the Website... 13 SDS Secure Area... 13 Contact Us... 14 1
About PROMT The provider opportunity management tool (PROMT) is free software which was created to allow providers to manage their own course and opportunity information held on the national learning opportunities database (NLOD). The application allows users to send updates through an internet connection using the web services of Skills Development Scotland. Information held on the NLOD feeds through the Skills Development Scotland web service, My World of Work (www.myworldofwork.co.uk) and provides the information used by our helpline advisers, as well as being used by a number of our intermediaries and stakeholders. To access PROMT you will be issued with a login and password by the Information Services Team. Once you have this, you will be able to download and install the software on your local PC. Installing PROMT 5 To install PROMT version 5 follow these easy steps: 1. Ensure you are logged on with admin rights for your PC. If you do not have admin rights please contact a member of your own IT support team. 2. Go to https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/for-training-providers/promt/ 3. Follow the on-screen instructions. If you have any problems, contact the Information Services Team on 0141 285 6100 or email info.services@sds.co.uk Once you have installed PROMT, a shortcut will be created on your desktop and you can log in using your username and password. This user guide will assist you with getting started and the Information Services Team is available via telephone or email to support you. Access to PROMT To use PROMT, your organisation must first be registered on the NLOD. When you submit your registration form to the Information Services Team you will nominate a contact to be set up with access to the software. Logins should not be shared within an organisation. If you require access for additional users simply contact the Information Services Team who will arrange this for you. This will allow you to split the workload and manage updates more effectively. Guidance with Updating There are certain guidelines we ask providers to follow when working in PROMT. These help to standardise the information listed and make it more accessible and relevant to potential learners. The following information gives you pointers on style guidelines and a checklist to make sure you are on the right track. 2
PROMT Style Guide The courses will appear on the My World of Work website, so please always consider how your text will look to prospective learners. What will they look for from the information? Complete all mandatory fields. Present course data as accurately and comprehensively as possible. Include everything that would be essential for the learner to know. At the same time be as succinct as possible. Please use proper sentences when describing courses or relating to any other information in PROMT. Please use correct punctuation e.g. capital letters at the beginning of sentences and full stops at the end of them etc. Avoid using jargon. When including acronyms it is best to enter the full phrase in the first instance unless universally understood e.g. ECDL. When including acronyms do not include punctuations e.g. NVQ s not N.V.Q. s. Numbers should be entered numerically and not as full words e.g. 2 not two. When including quotation marks use one mark not two. All course titles should be entered into PROMT in title case. The Change Case icon in PROMT can be a useful time-saving device. Use the 24 hour clock when outlining times. When copying text from another source e.g. website, please ensure that the text is formatted correctly in PROMT. PROMT Checklist Enter a full course description such as subjects covered, any vocational elements or study progression routes etc. Enter the course name in title case only use capitals when appropriate e.g. ECDL etc. Please use full sentences. Add details of entry requirements and if there are none, then please state this. Check you have selected the correct qualification from the listing in PROMT and remember you should only add one qualification per course. Give qualification details e.g. who is the awarding body and/or what is the qualification level. Add an opportunity to your course. You should create one opportunity for each delivery mode available. You may end up with multiple opportunities per course or just one. 3
There is no need to add address details as this information is already listed elsewhere. You should however include telephone and email details as appropriate. When entering course start/end dates the drop down calendars can be used. If you do not have fixed start/end dates and offer courses on a flexible, or by negotiation basis you should use the Flexible Start Date option. Check you have selected the correct attendance mode e.g. part-time day or self study. See the PROMT User Guide section for further information. Enter attendance details such as course duration and times. If self-study, indicate the approximate number of study hours expected of the learner. Make sure the cost details field matches the numerical cost box. You should also indicate whether there will be additional costs such as materials, tests etc. Check venue details are correct and if the course is delivered via distance learning or does not have a fixed venue then please select Non-Geo. Check all statuses are set to Active otherwise your course will not be visible on the website. Once you have finished updating the courses remember to click Publish. How Does PROMT Work? Step 1 : Install PROMT on your PC. Step 2 : Step 3 : The Information Services Team checks your submission and makes it available via our website and helpline. Learners access your course information via our website and helpline. Once your courses have been made available through our website, you can view them using the course search facility at www.myworldofwork.co.uk Using PROMT Once you have been issued with your unique login and password, and you have successfully installed PROMT onto your PC, you are ready to start using the software to add and amend your courses on the National Learning Opportunities Database (NLOD). Logging In Double click the PROMT icon on your desktop. You will be asked to enter your username and password. Once you have done this click Login. PROMT will then synchronise with the existing data held on the NLOD. 4
The Providers Tab Once PROMT has synchronised, the first screen you will see will be the first 3 tabs This screen details information currently held for your organisation. If any of the details are incorrect, please contact the Information Services Team to arrange for them to be amended. You may notice that on the provider tab the majority of the icons on the toolbar are not available to be used at this stage. These icons are for use on the Courses and Opportunities tabs. The welcome page will also have details of who you have listed as a PROMT user on the bottom left hand side of the screen. On the right hand side section of the screen will have the number of courses and opportunities you currently have listed in PROMT for your organisation. The Courses Tab To begin adding and amending your course information, you will need to move from the provider tab to the courses tab. When adding courses to PROMT, it is important to remember that each different course available to study should be listed individually. If one course is available at two different levels, then each level should be listed as a separate course. The Toolbar When on the courses tab, clicking the New icon brings up a new blank course form. When on the opportunities tab it brings up a new blank opportunity form. Once a course or opportunity has been highlighted in the data grid, clicking the Edit icon will open up the form to allow you to amend it. The Clone icon creates a copy of the highlighted course or opportunity. The Delete icon will permanently delete a highlighted course or opportunity from PROMT. Clicking the Save icon saves any changes to your information in PROMT to your pc it does not send the information through to Skills Development Scotland. Clicking the Search icon opens up the advanced search screen which will allow you to filter the courses or opportunities showing in the data grid. The Change Case icon allows you to easily change the case of a highlighted course title from upper case to title case, which is the recommended format for course titles in PROMT. The Preview icon allows you to view the way a selected course and its associated opportunities will appear on our website. You can then print out individual course details. The Password icon allows you to change your password for PROMT to something more memorable. The Publish icon allows you to send your updated information through to Skills Development Scotland. The Help icon allows you to access PROMT s online help facility. 5
Advanced Search The advanced search feature of PROMT allows you to filter the courses and opportunities showing on the datagrid. There are a number of different ways to access the search screen right click and select Search from the drop-down menu, click the advanced search icon on the toolbar. The advanced search box will appear. Step 1 : Step 2 : Step 3 : Step 4 : Step 5 : Select the field you want to filter on from the first drop-down menu Select the required expression from the second drop-down menu Specify the value you wish to search on in the third search field Once the required search has been defined click Add to confirm the filter in the grid Once the filter(s) have been specified in the search grid click Search to narrow the courses/opportunities visible in the datagrid Adding a New Course - Details Tab To add a new course in PROMT, click the New icon on the toolbar or right click and select New from the drop-down menu. A blank screen will open. There are two tabs on the course screen Details tab: The title field is mandatory and should be in title case. The description field is mandatory and should contain as much information as possible about the content of the course The entry requirements field is not mandatory. However, it is recommended that some information is included about any prerequisites or target audience for the course The other requirements field is not mandatory. Information about any equipment the learner may require to participate in this course should be included here. Provider ID is not mandatory. Providers can include any references they wish to identify particular courses. Click Save to exit the course screen to retain the changes made. Click Cancel to exit the course screen which will discard any changes that had been made. More tab: Once the fields on the Details tab have been completed, click on the More tab to finish updating the information held at course level. The qualifications field is mandatory. To populate the qualifications field, click on the ellipsis button to open the qualifications selection screen Once the qualifications selection screen has been opened only 1 qualification should be assigned to the course To assign a qualification to a course highlight the required qualification from the selection available and click the arrow pointing to the assigned box on the right 6
If relevant select the appropriate SCQF level from the drop-down list If an SCQF level has been specified, details regarding the number of credits associated, the accrediting body of the SCQF level and the expiry date of the SCQF accreditation should be Input here To remove the qualification assigned to the course, highlight it and click the arrow pointing to the available box on the left Click Save to close the Select Qualifications window, your changes will be retained If you do not wish to retain your changes, please select Cancel Qualifications When selecting a qualification from the Available list, please bear in mind the following guidelines: Access Course: This should be selected for courses which allow access, upon completion of a variety of further and higher education level courses in the absence of conventional entry requirements. For example, Access to Nursing, Access to Administration and Information Technology. Please remember, if the Access course leads to the achievement of specific formal qualifications, such as national courses at Intermediate 2 level, this should be given priority when selecting the qualification and as such Access Course would not be suitable. Certificate/Diploma HE: This should be selected for courses which comprise a specified amount of higher education credits. The CertHE is generally equivalent to the first year of a degree course and the DipHE is generally the equivalent of the first 2 years of a degree course. Company or Course Certificate/Diploma: This should be selected for courses which result in an inhouse completion certificate. Customised Training: This should be selected for courses where the content is tailored to client requirements. There may be no formal outcome. Doctorate: This should be selected for any form of postgraduate Doctorate. First Degree: This should be selected for all Higher Education undergraduate degree courses. GCE A / AS Level: This should be selected for both full A Levels (2 years of study) and also for AS Levels which form the first year of a full A Level courses and are qualifications in their own right. Please specify in the qualification details free text field whether the course results in an A or an AS Level qualification. General Interest: This should be selected for non-certificated, non-vocational leisure courses. GSVQ/GNVQ: This should be selected for General Scottish/National Vocational Qualifications. HN Unit: This should be selected for individual, or a small number of Higher National Units which contribute towards HNCs/HNDs as well as being qualifications in their own right. Please specify in the qualification details free text field the name(s) of the particular unit(s). HNC/HND: This should be selected for any HNC or HND. The exact level should be specified in the qualifications details free text field. 7
Masters Degree: This should be selected for any form of postgraduate Masters course. National Course (Access/Intermediate/Standard Grade): This should be selected for SQA National Courses at Access level 1,2 or 3 and Intermediate level 1 or 2 as well as for Standard Grades. The exact level should be specified in the qualification details free text field. National Course (Higher/Advanced Higher): This should be selected for SQA National Courses at Higher or Advanced Higher level. The exact level should be specified in the qualification details free text field. National Unit: This should be selected for individual, or a small number, of National Units which contribute towards National Qualifications as well as being qualifications in their own right. Please specify in the qualification details free text field the name(s) and level(s) (e.g. Intermediate 1, Higher etc) of the particular unit(s). Non-Certificated: This should be selected from the non-certificated, non-leisure courses which are perhaps of a vocational or academic nature. Other Award Body: This should be selected for courses accredited by external awarding bodies not covered by the other options available for selection. Please specify in the qualification details free text field the qualification and the awarding body name. Postgraduate Certificate/Diploma: This should be selected for postgraduate certificates and diplomas which are undertaken after completion of a first degree. For example, Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE). Professional Qualification: This should be selected for qualifications awarded by professional bodies and institutions. A professional body is an organisation with a membership drawn from a single progression or group of related professions which sets examinations or awards qualifications related to the profession. Examples of such organisations include: The Chartered Institute and Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. SCOTCAT/HE Module: This should be selected for individual modules or other credit-bearing courses offered by HE institutions where the credit can be accumulated towards a full Degree or other Higher Education award. The number of credits acquired upon completion of the course should be specified in the qualification details free text field. Scottish Group Award/NC/ND: This should be selected for Scottish Group Awards awarded by the SQA as well as similar grouped qualifications awarded by SQA such as Professional Development Awards and Scottish Progression Awards. The exact nature and level of the group award should be specified in the qualification details free text field. SVQ/NVQ Level 1/2/3: This should be selected for accredited Scottish Vocational Qualifications or National Vocational Qualifications at Level 1,2 or 3. For NVQs accredited by external awarding bodies such as City & Guilds, this category should take priority over the Other Award Body option. The level and any external awarding body information should be specified in the qualification details free text field. SVQ/NVQ Level 4/5: This should be selected for accredited Scottish Vocational Qualifications or National Vocational Qualifications at level 4 or 5. For NVQs accredited by external awarding bodies such as City & Guilds, this category should take priority over the Other Award Body option. The level and any external awarding body information should be specified in the qualification details free text field. VQ Units: This should be selected for individual, or a small number of Vocational Units which contribute towards SVQs/NVQs as well as being qualifications in their own right. 8
Course Status Options Once a qualification has been assigned to the course the last field to be completed at course level is the status field. There are three statuses available in this drop-down menu; active, edit and inactive. Active: Courses that have been fully updated should have a status of Active. Active courses will be available on Skills Development Scotland s website. Edit: This is the default status for new courses and the status of existing courses also reverts to Edit when changes are being made. This status is used to indicate that courses are in the process of being updated. Courses in edit will not be available on the Skills Development Scotland website. Inactive: This status is used for courses which have no current opportunities, but may be offered again in the future. Inactive courses will not be available on the Skills Development Scotland website. The Opportunities Tab Once the course details have been completed, a minimum of one opportunity must be attached to it. There should be an individual opportunity for each different start date, cost, venue or mode of attendance for the particular course. For example, a course which can be attended either in the afternoon or the evening would have two separate opportunities, each with a different mode of attendance. Having highlighted the necessary course and moved to the Opportunities tab, you will see the Opportunities datagrid screen. To add a new opportunity, click the New icon on the toolbar or select New from the drop-down menu. A blank opportunity will open. The contact fields are mandatory. They should contain information specific to the opportunity address information is not necessary as it is held elsewhere. The attendance drop-down menu is mandatory. The relevant mode of attendance should be selected. The notes field is not mandatory. It can be used to hold further information about the opportunity. Selecting a Mode of Attendance When selecting a mode of attendance from the Attendance drop-down list, please bear in mind the following guidelines: Full Time: This should be selected for courses where the learning takes place in a continuous block or period of study greater than one week. Short Full Time: This should be selected for courses where the learning takes place in a continuous block or period lasting one week or less. Part Time Day: This should be selected when learning is split into short blocks, e.g. two hours at a time, with each block taking place at set times during the day (before 17.30) over a period of weeks. Part Time Evening: This should be selected when learning is split into short blocks, e.g. two hours at a time, with each block taking place during the evening (after 17.30) over a period of weeks. Weekend: This should be selected when learning takes place over the weekend period Friday evening to Sunday evening. Self-Study: this should be selected for learning which takes place at a time and pace determined by the learner. Attendance is not necessarily required. 9
By Negotiation: This should be selected when delivery of the learning is agreed between the provider and the learner to suit the learner s needs. On-Line Study: This should be selected when the learning takes place over the internet i.e. materials downloaded via the internet, online tutorials and assessments etc. Self Study with Mandatory Attendance: This should be selected for learning which takes place at a time and pace determined by the learner; however some attendance is required in order to complete the course. Entering Opportunity Dates There are four distinct date fields which need to be completed in PROMT: 1. Start Date 2. End Date 3. Visible From 4. Visible Until When entering dates, drop-down calendars can also be utilised, simply click on the arrow to the right hand side of the date field to access the calendar. Once the calendar has been opened, use the left and right arrows to navigate through the months and click on the required date, this will populate the date field for you. Enter start and end dates of the course. To change the date highlight the day/month/year and type as normal The Visible dates relate to how long the opportunity will show on the website. It is recommended that the Visible From date is today s date and the Visible Until date is the end date of the course, or 4 weeks after the start date of the course, whichever comes first. Flexible Start Date Courses There is also a flexible start date option available in PROMT for courses offered on a flexible or start anytime basis. In the instance of a flexible start date course the dates should be entered in the Available From and Available Until fields. The flexible date tick box should be ticked for courses which are available to start at any time between certain dates. Adding a New Opportunity Extras Tab Once the fields on the Details tab have been completed, click on the Extras tab to finish updating the information held at opportunity level. In the cost boxes, specify the VAT rate and specify the cost either including or excluding VAT. The remaining field will automatically be populated for you. The Status field should be set to Active (SDS ILA providers only) should select Requested from the ILA status field. Non SDS ILA providers should leave this field set at N/A The cost details field is not mandatory however it is recommended that further information is included here detailing what is included or excluded in the cost of the course, for example, exam fees, equipment etc. 10
Assigning a Venue to an Opportunity Open the Select Venue screen. A venue must be assigned to an opportunity. There are 3 options at the top of the Venue Selection screen My Venues This is a list of the venues you have previously attached to opportunities in PROMT. As you select new venues, they will be added to the list. Other Venues This is a list of the venues Skills Development Scotland currently holds information for. If the venue you require does not appear in My Venues this list can be searched and if the required venue is found, selected as normal. If you still cannot find the venue you need to contact the Information Services Team and they will add the venue on your behalf. You cannot add completely new venues via PROMT. No Venue If the course does not run at a specific location, No Venue should be selected. Wheelchair Access Wheelchair access can be identified by ticking the box. Notes Section Within the notes section of a selected venue you can add any relevant details. Assign Venue To assign a venue to an opportunity highlight the venue and click Save. Opportunity Status Options Once all information has been added to the opportunity, the last field that requires to be completed at Opportunity Level is the status field. There are three statuses available in this drop-down menu. Active: Opportunities that have been fully updated should have a status of Active. Active opportunities attached to active courses will be available on the Skills Development Scotland website Edit: This is the default status for new opportunities and the status of existing opportunities also reverts to Edit when changes are being made. This status is used to indicate that opportunities are in the process of being updated. Opportunities in Edit will not be available on the Skills Development Scotland website. Inactive: This status is used for opportunities which are no longer current but may be updated in the future. Inactive opportunities will not be available on the Skills Development Scotland website. Editing Existing Courses and Opportunities As well as allowing you to add new courses and opportunities, PROMT also allows you to amend and update existing courses and opportunities already listed. To do this, highlight the necessary course or opportunity on the data grid and click the Edit icon on the toolbar or alternatively, select Edit from the PROMT drop-down menu. The existing course or opportunity will open up displaying the information currently held. The fields can then be amended with updated details. Once the amendments have been made, change the status of the course or opportunity back to Active (it will have reverted to Edit during updating) and save. 11
Editing Multiple Courses or Opportunities An advanced feature of PROMT, referred to as multi course edit allows you to change the information held in certain fields on a number of courses or opportunities at one time. In order to utilise this function, you must first select all of the required courses or opportunities on the data grid that you wish to edit. To select multiple courses on the data grid click on the dark blue column on the left, next to the first course you wish to select, hold down ctrl and click next to the second course you wish to select, repeat as necessary. Alternatively, to select a block of courses on the datagrid hold down Shift and click on the dark blue column, next to the first and last courses of the block you wish to select. To select all courses on the datagrid click next to a course and hold down Ctrl+Shift+A. Once you have selected the courses or opportunities you wish to multi course edit click on the Edit icon on the toolbar. Alternatively, right click and select Edit from the PROMT drop-down menu. When you have completed the updates, click Save to update the selected courses with the new value or click Cancel to discard the changes. Cloning a Course or Opportunity Another advanced feature of PROMT allows you to clone a course. In other words, PROMT allows you to create an exact copy of an existing course or opportunity in order to speed up the process of adding information to the NLOD. This is particularly useful when adding course or opportunity details which are very similar and need only slight amendments. To clone a course or opportunity, highlight the existing course or opportunity on the datagrid: Highlight the course you wish to edit by clicking next to the title on the dark blue column to the left of the datagrid. Click the Clone icon to open a new course form which will already be populated with the details of the selected course. The new course that opens will be pre-populated with the details of the original course. Cloned courses are identifiable by the word Clone being included in the start of the title. This should be removed and the information in the fields amended as necessary before saving the course. Publishing Updated Information Once you have finished adding and amending your information in PROMT you must publish the information. In order to do this, click the Publish icon, the publish box will appear. To confirm the changes, click Ok. The information will be sent to the Information Services Team. Before publishing data, please ensure all courses and opportunities you wish to make available via the Skills Development Scotland website have a status of Active. 12
Courses and Opportunities on the Website When you publish your information in PROMT, the details do not automatically appear on the Skills Development Scotland website. Information must first be quality assured by the Information Services Team. Once the information has been checked, the team will either publish the information to our website, or will contact you with any queries they may have about the information you have submitted. Information you publish will be quality assured within 5 working days. SDS Secure Area Those of you with a PROMT login will automatically have full access to the SDS Secure Area within the Skills Development Scotland website, however, those yet to register with us or yet to be set up with a login will have limited access. Regardless of whether or not you have a login, everyone can access information about getting the best out your engagement with the team. As well as allowing you to register online, then helping you to get the most out of your involvement with the NLOD, the Secure Area gives you the chance to see what services Skills Development Scotland offers to learning providers. The address of the website is: www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/for-trainingproviders/secure-area/ National Training Programmes This section provides all the information on how Skills Development Scotland works with learning providers and colleges to deliver national training programmes (NTP s) across Scotland. Annual contracts are offered to those learning providers who wish to take part in delivering Modern Apprenticeships and the Employability Fund with responsibilities and requirements detailed here. Secure Area Within the Secure Area you can access the relevant NTP Self Assessment Forms and Actions Plans as well as the Marketing Guidance including SDS ILA and Modern Apprenticeship brand guidelines and toolkits. PROMT users can log in using their PROMT details. SDS Individual Learning Accounts Everything you need to know about becoming and SDS ILA Learning Provider and what the rules and guidelines are once you have become one. There are links to the Secure Booking Zone, information on Marketing guidelines and useful FAQ s on Individual Learning Accounts from a Learner Providers perspective. To apply to become an SDS ILA learning provider you must be registered on the National Learning Opportunities Database (NLOD). Registering on the NLOD The National Learning Opportunities Database (NLOD) is used for course searches on My World of Work and you can access the registration page here. Secure Booking Zone This area allows you access to the SAAS Secure Booking Zone, which enables you to book students onto courses and claim bookings (Only available to SDS ILA registered learning providers). 13
Contact Us Information Services Team For help with your course information, registering with us, or applying to become a SDS ILA learning provider, contact the team on 0141 285 6100 or email info.services@sds.co.uk Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS) For enquiries regarding SDS ILA payments and bookings please contact the team on 0845 111 0699 or email saas_ila@scotland.gsi.gov.uk (Only available to SDS ILA registered learning providers). 14