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Removing the ability for applications to be rejected automatically or offers to be declined automatically

Posted on: Tags: automatic rejections offers

Illustration showing a list of applications with the header 'Received – make a decision'. There are 5 applications in the list with each one showing the name of the candidate, the status each application is in, and how long ago the application was received.

Leading up to the 2023 to 2024 teacher training recruitment cycle, we decided to change the application process for candidates. Most of the changes we made were in Apply for teacher training (Apply). However, we also needed to reflect some of these changes in Manage teacher training applications (Manage).

Two of the biggest changes we made was to remove the functionality for:

  • applications to be rejected automatically 40 working days after a candidate had submitted

  • offers to be automatically declined if a candidate does not respond within 10 working days

The issue

Provider receives an application

When a provider receives an application, they have 40 working days to make a decision on it. If they do not take any action, the application is rejected automatically.

Our research has found that this is the most negative experience for candidates. It does not make them feel empowered to apply for teacher training again. Candidates value feedback from training providers so they can improve their next application.

Candidate receives an offer

When a candidate gets an offer, they have 10 working days to respond. This puts pressure on them because they like to wait for an outcome on all their applications before deciding - sometimes this can take more that 10 working days.

Policy design workshops

We held workshops with our policy design team to decide on solutions that will work for candidates and providers.

To stop applications being rejected automatically, we decided that applications would become ‘inactive’ after 30 working days. An inactive application would mean:

  • candidates would be able to submit a further application if an existing one became inactive
  • providers would still be able to respond to inactive applications, giving them more time to make decisions

To stop offers being automatically declined, we decided to remove the 10-day limit. This would mean candidates would have more time to make a decision based on their other applications.

After making this update, we needed to change some content in Manage to maintain consistency across the services.

What we changed

Viewing a list of applications

On the application list page, we show how many days a provider has left to make a decision on an application. The heading for ‘Received’ applications says, ‘Awaiting review’.

Screenshot showing a page with a list of applications. The header reads 'Awaiting review'. Each application has a purple status tag that says 'Received'. Underneath the tag it says '11 days to make a decision'.

We replaced this with the date when the provider received the application. We made the heading a stronger call to action by saying ‘Received - make a decision’.

Screenshot showing a page with a list of applications. The header reads 'Received - make a decision'. Each application has a purple status tag that says 'Received'. Underneath the tag it says how long ago the application was received.

Once a provider makes an offer, we show how many days a candidate has left to make a decision before the offer is automatically declined.

Screenshot showing a page with a list of applications. Each application has a green status tag that says 'Offered'. Underneath the tag it says the candidate has 10 days to respond to the offer.

We changed the content to show how long ago the provider made the offer.

Screenshot showing a page with a list of applications. Each application has a green status tag that says 'Offered'. Underneath the tag it says how long ago the offer was made, for example 'Offer made 53 days ago'.

The status for all applications where a decision had not been made is still, ‘Received’. If an application became inactive after 30 working days, we would keep the status as received because providers would still be able to make a decision on it after 30 working days.

We did not want to introduce a new status called ‘Inactive’ because this might be confusing for providers. We also thought that providers might ignore these even though they would still be able to make offers on them.

Making a decision on an application

When a provider looked at an application, we told them that they need to set up an interview or make a decision. Below this, the we explained that the application will be automatically rejected within a certain number of days.

Screenshot showing an application for 'Peter Essien'. Content below the candidate's name says 'Set up an interview or make a decision'. It then says the application will be automatically rejected if a decision has not been made within 11 days and states the exact date the application will be rejected automatically.

We changed this to show how long ago that application was received and encourage the provider to make a decision within 30 working days.

Screenshot showing an application for 'Freida Jackson'. Content below the candidate's name says 'Set up an interview or make a decision'. It then says the application was received 36 days ago and that the provider should try and make a decision within 30 days.

When an offer was made on an application we showed how many days are left before the offer is automatically declined if a candidate does not respond. We also show the date the offer will be automatically declined.

Screenshot showing an application for 'Peter Essien' with an offer. Content below the candidate's name says that the offer will be automatically declined in 10 days with the exact date that the application will be declined if the candidate does not respond.

We now show content explaining how long ago the provider had made an offer. We also give an indication that most candidates accept an offer within 15 working days. This was from our analysis in how long it takes candidate to respond to offers. We did this to encourage providers to give candidates some time before they start contacting them to respond to their offer.

Screenshot showing an application for 'Wanda van Dyne' with an offer. Content below the candidate's name says the offer was made 53 days ago. It explains candidates mostly take 15 days to respond to offers and that they'll receive reminder to respond to the offer.

Interview details

When a provider sets up an interview in Manage, we do not allow them to set a date for an interview that would be after the date an application would be rejected by default.

Screenshot showing a page with the header 'Interview details'. There is an area to add the date for the interview. There is hint text that explains the date of the interview cannot be after the date the application will be automatically rejected.

We removed hint text from the interview date question because it’s no longer needed.

Screenshot showing a page with the header 'Interview details'. There is an area to add the date for the interview. There is hint text that shows the format the date should be entered.

Once a provider has set up an interview, we show how long is left before the application would be rejected automatically.

Screenshot showing an application for 'Freida Jackson'. The header above the application says 'Interviewing'. The application has a yellow status tag next to it that says 'Interviewing'. Below the status tag it says '17 days to make a decision'

We replaced this with content to show how long ago the application was received.

Screenshot showing an application for 'Freida Jackson'. The header above the application says 'Interviewing'. The application has a yellow status tag next to it that says 'Interviewing'. Below the status tag it says 'Received 36 days ago'.

Further considerations

We might need to give providers more guidance on what happens if candidates do not respond to offers. We plan to send emails to candidates to encourage them to log in and respond to their offers after a certain number of days.

We’ll need to analyse what happens as there is a risk candidates will hold on to offers which will frustrate providers. But we believe that giving candidates more time is a better solution than having their applications automatically reject.