v2.3: Supervisor-marked stages, answer guides and joining controls

Stages marked by a supervisor

Some competencies test knowledge through written answers that a supervisor needs to check, much like an exam paper. Compassly now supports stages where the supervisee answers the questions and submits them for marking, and their supervisor marks each answer as a pass or fail.

If some answers need more work, the supervisor returns the stage for corrections. Answers that have already passed are locked, so the supervisee only revisits the ones that need it. They see their marks once the stage comes back to them.

Answer guides for marking

Competency authors can add an answer guide to each written question, setting out what a good answer should cover. Only the Supervisor sees it, while marking, so every Supervisor marks against the same standard and the supervisee never sees the expected answer.

Multiple choice questions

Competency authors can now set each answer to a multiple choice question as a pass or a fail, and Compassly marks the question automatically. To pass, someone needs to select every passing answer and none of the failing ones.

This suits factual questions with clear right answers, and leaves Supervisors more time for the written answers that need their judgement.

Save stages as drafts

Clinical work is often interrupted, and some written answers take more than one sitting. People can now save a stage as a draft and pick it up again later.

A progress bar on each draft shows how many questions have been answered, which helps when several stages are on the go at once.

Control who can join

Organisations can now require people to join with an email address from an approved domain, such as nhs.net, and to have verified that address before they join. This gives each organisation local control over security, while people still keep one profile that moves with them between organisations.

Other improvements

Text boxes now grow as you type, rather than being fixed in size. Competency authors can set minimum and maximum character limits, with a count shown as people write. Limits can be enforced, so an answer can't be submitted outside them, or simply advisory. Competency authors can also mark questions as optional, for more flexibility in how a stage is completed, and Compassly reminds supervisees of any unanswered questions before they submit.

References can now be attached to a group of questions shown together on one page.

The report of a completed stage has been redesigned to match the submission screen and now shows the rule for failing a stage.