Cohort Phase Planning

Epic summary

The Cohort Phase Planning workspace creates the dated operational instance of a curriculum phase for a cohort.

The curriculum defines a reusable phase such as Phase I. The cohort phase plan defines when one cohort will undertake that phase and provides the parent record for its academic planning.

Published curriculum phase
  -> Cohort phase plan
      -> Phase learners
      -> Learner groups
      -> Course offerings
      -> Clinical-posting plans
      -> Timetable allocations

For example:

Cohort: MBBS 2026
Curriculum phase: Phase I
Planned dates: 1 September 2026 to 31 August 2027
Phase Coordinator: Dr Sharma

The plan inherits the cohort’s institute programme and pinned curriculum version. It cannot replace or edit either one.

Before you start

The following must already exist:

an institute cohort that is not Cancelled;
the cohort’s pinned published curriculum version;
the curriculum phase being planned;
an applicable academic calendar and working pattern;
an active Academic Registrar role; and
an eligible Phase Coordinator assignment before approval.

The first phase plan may be prepared before admissions are complete. A later phase plan may be prepared before progression decisions are final by using a projected learner count. Actual learners are added only through authoritative enrolment and phase-assignment records.

Actors and access

Access source	Access in this epic
Tenant Admin	Views institute and phase-plan summaries across the tenant; sensitive learner details require additional access
Institute Admin	Views institute-wide planning readiness and assigns authorised functional roles; does not approve academic content automatically
Institute member with Academic Registrar role	Creates phase plans, coordinates readiness, submits them for approval, and manages authorised amendments and closure
Institute member with Phase Coordinator role	Prepares and operates the assigned phase plan and monitors its child academic plans
Institute member with Dean or Principal approval role	Approves the phase plan or a material amendment where institute policy requires it
Department Admin	Views the phase requirements, offerings, and postings involving the department
Faculty	Views phase information connected to current teaching or supervision assignments
Student	Views their own active phase and released academic information
Auditor role	Reads dates, learners, readiness checks, approvals, amendments, state events, and history

Organisational scope determines which institute and phase plans a user can reach. Functional roles determine whether the user can prepare, approve, activate, amend, or close a plan.

Phase-plan lifecycle

Draft
  -> Under Review
  -> Approved
  -> Ready for Detailed Planning
  -> Active
  -> Teaching Completed
  -> Closed

Draft allows the dates, calendar, ownership, and projected count to be prepared.
Approved confirms the academic plan but does not state that every detailed offering or posting is ready.
Ready for Detailed Planning allows learner groups, course offerings, posting plans, and timetable allocations to be prepared.
Active means academic delivery for the phase has formally started.
Teaching Completed means the planned delivery period has ended and delivery reconciliation can be completed.
Closed means operational delivery has been reconciled and every assigned learner has an accounted-for academic position.

A Draft may be Cancelled before operational records depend on it. Dates alone never activate, complete, or close a plan.

Workspace structure

The workspace contains:

Phase Plan List
Create Phase Plan
Dates and Academic Ownership
Projected and Assigned Learners
Readiness Review
Phase Dashboard
Approval and Activation
Amendments, Completion, and History

Screen 1: Phase Plan List

The list follows organisational scope:

a Tenant Admin sees institutes and their phase-plan summaries;
an Institute Admin or Academic Registrar sees all phase plans in the institute;
a Phase Coordinator sees assigned plans; and
a Department Admin sees plans containing work for that department.

Each row shows:

institute and cohort;
programme and curriculum version;
curriculum phase;
planned and actual dates;
projected and assigned learner counts;
Phase Coordinator;
readiness state;
course, posting, and timetable summaries;
lifecycle state; and
next required action.

Screen 2: Create Phase Plan

The user begins by selecting the cohort. The programme, curriculum version, and eligible curriculum phases are then resolved automatically.

Field	Required	What the user defines
Cohort	Yes	Primary institute cohort for which the phase is being planned
Curriculum version	Inherited	Exact published version pinned to the cohort
Curriculum phase	Yes	Applicable phase from that version
Plan code and name	Yes	Institute-unique identity and clear display name
Plan sequence	Yes	Position in the cohort’s academic journey
Projected learner count	Yes	Planning estimate until actual phase assignments are available
Planning source	Yes	Initial cohort intake, earlier phase plan, or another authorised source
Creation note	Conditional	Required when the plan is created outside the expected sequence

The system prevents two overlapping active plans for the same primary cohort and curriculum phase unless an expressly supported repeat arrangement is being created.

Screen 3: Dates and Academic Ownership

Field	Required	What the user defines
Academic calendar	Yes	Applicable published calendar from Setup
Planned start date	Yes	Intended beginning of the phase
Planned end date	Yes	Intended end of the phase
Actual start date	At activation	Date academic delivery formally started
Teaching-completion date	At completion	Date planned teaching was declared complete
Closure date	At closure	Date final operational reconciliation was completed
Phase Coordinator	Yes before approval	Eligible current academic assignment
Responsible Academic Registrar	Yes	Functional role responsible for institute coordination
Approving role	Yes	Role required by the applicable institute policy
Operational notes	No	Plain planning information that does not alter curriculum requirements

The planned interval must fit the curriculum’s duration rules or follow an authorised exception. The calendar supplies working days, holidays, closures, and period templates; it does not activate the phase automatically.

Screen 4: Projected and Assigned Learners

The phase plan distinguishes a planning estimate from its actual roster.

Projected position

The screen shows:

expected learners from the primary cohort;
learners awaiting progression decisions;
anticipated hold-backs or returns where an authorised source exists;
projected additions from another compatible cohort; and
capacity warnings based on the projected total.

Projection does not enrol, progress, move, or assign a student.

Actual phase roster

The actual roster is built from programme enrolments, cohort memberships, student phase assignments, and approved cohort movements owned by Student and Cohort Management.

Each learner row shows:

student number and name;
programme enrolment;
original cohort;
current cohort membership;
pinned curriculum version;
student phase assignment;
source decision or admission handoff;
effective participation dates;
current participation state; and
any planning restriction relevant to this phase.

Learners from another cohort

A plan has one primary cohort, but it may accept an individually approved learner from another cohort when:

the learner belongs to the same institute programme;
the curriculum version and phase are compatible;
the learner has an authoritative phase assignment;
any required cohort movement has been approved; and
the plan can support the learner without breaking capacity rules.

The learner keeps their original programme-enrolment and curriculum history. The phase plan records operational participation; it does not rewrite the student’s admission batch.

Screen 5: Readiness Review

Readiness is shown as named checks rather than one unexplained percentage.

Readiness area	What MedCES checks
Cohort and curriculum	Cohort is valid, curriculum version is published and pinned, and the phase belongs to that version
Dates and calendar	Planned dates, duration, working pattern, holidays, and exceptions are valid
Academic ownership	Academic Registrar, Phase Coordinator, and required approval roles are effective
Learner capacity	Projected or assigned learners can be supported by the known delivery capacity
Course delivery	Required course placements have responsible departments, delivery components, and resource mappings
Clinical postings	Posting requirements have responsible departments, eligible sites, units where applicable, and capacity rules
Facilities	Required capabilities have valid institute locations or approved external sites
Unresolved exceptions	Every permitted exception has an owner, authority, validity period, and approval state

Each failed check identifies the exact record, reason, owning role, and safe next action. A readiness result never silently changes curriculum or Setup data.

Screen 6: Phase Dashboard

The dashboard brings together summaries without copying the source records.

It shows:

projected and assigned learners;
learner groups and ungrouped learners;
course-offering readiness and coverage;
clinical-posting readiness and rotation coverage;
timetable conflicts and publication state;
planned and delivered teaching;
attendance position;
learners awaiting an academic decision;
open amendments and exceptions; and
work requiring action from a department or coordinator.

Selecting a summary opens the owning record only when the viewer has access to it.

Screen 7: Approval and Activation

The review screen shows the complete plan, readiness results, source curriculum, projected capacity, unresolved warnings, preparer, and required approver.

Action	Required checks
Submit for review	Mandatory identity, date, calendar, and ownership fields are complete
Approve	Required readiness checks pass or an authorised exception is approved
Mark Ready for Detailed Planning	Planning dependencies needed by learner groups, offerings, and postings are available
Activate	Actual start date is recorded, learner participation is known, and the required operational plans are ready

The preparer cannot approve their own material plan where separation of duty is required.

Screen 8: Amendments, Completion, and History

A controlled amendment may change:

planned dates;
academic calendar;
Phase Coordinator;
projected capacity assumptions; or
operational notes.

The impact preview shows affected learner groups, offerings, sessions, posting blocks, facilities, faculty allocations, and published timetable records. A phase-plan amendment cannot change the pinned curriculum version or its requirements.

Teaching Completed requires delivery reconciliation to begin. Closure requires:

child plans are completed, cancelled, or carried forward through an authorised action;
planned and actual delivery differences are explained;
open timetable and attendance corrections are resolved or formally assigned;
every phase participant has an accounted-for progression, hold, repeat, break, withdrawal, or pending-decision position; and
required reporting and approval work is complete.

History shows every plan state, date, learner change, readiness result, approval, amendment, exception, completion action, and reversal.

Use case 1: Create a cohort phase plan

As an Academic Registrar
I want to create the dated plan for a cohort’s curriculum phase
So that detailed academic planning has one controlled parent record.

Acceptance criteria

The selected curriculum phase comes from the cohort’s pinned curriculum version.
The programme and curriculum cannot be changed from this screen.
Planned dates are checked against the curriculum duration and academic calendar.
Duplicate or conflicting plans are prevented.
The projected learner count is clearly distinguished from actual assignments.
Creation records the source, actor, and time.

Use case 2: Prepare the next phase before results are final

As a Phase Coordinator
I want to plan using projected learner numbers
So that departments, facilities, and schedules can be prepared before every progression decision is available.

Acceptance criteria

The projection identifies its source and calculation time.
Projected learners are not treated as actual phase participants.
Capacity warnings use the projected total.
Actual participants replace the projection only through authoritative student phase assignments.
A difference between projected and actual count is shown and does not disappear from history.

Use case 3: Establish the actual phase roster

As an Academic Registrar
I want to reconcile actual phase participants
So that groups, offerings, postings, and schedules use the correct learners.

Acceptance criteria

Every participant has an active programme enrolment and authoritative phase assignment.
Learners from another cohort retain their original curriculum and enrolment history.
Incompatible curriculum or phase assignments are blocked with a clear reason.
Effective dates are retained when a learner joins or leaves the plan late.
Removing a participant does not delete their earlier group, posting, attendance, or delivery history.

Use case 4: Review readiness and approve the plan

As an authorised academic approver
I want to review the plan and its exact readiness gaps
So that detailed planning begins from an approved and feasible foundation.

Acceptance criteria

Every failed check identifies its source record and responsible owner.
The approver sees unresolved warnings and approved exceptions.
Approval, readiness for planning, and activation remain separate actions.
Required separation of duty is enforced.
Approval records the decision, reason, actor, and time.

Use case 5: Amend an operational phase plan

As an Academic Registrar
I want to propose a controlled phase-plan amendment
So that a necessary operational change does not silently invalidate existing academic work.

Acceptance criteria

The user sees affected groups, offerings, postings, timetable entries, and learners before submission.
Controlled fields cannot be edited directly after approval.
A curriculum change is rejected and directed to curriculum versioning.
The applicable approval route is resolved from the amendment type and impact.
Earlier dates, ownership, and approvals remain visible in history.

Use case 6: Complete and close the phase plan

As a Phase Coordinator
I want to reconcile and close completed phase delivery
So that the institute has a reliable operational record of what occurred.

Acceptance criteria

Teaching completion and final closure remain separate states.
Outstanding delivery, attendance, learner, or reporting items are shown by owner.
Every assigned learner has an accounted-for position before closure.
Closure does not itself make or change a progression decision.
A later correction creates a controlled linked event rather than reopening history silently.

Important business rules

A phase plan belongs to one primary cohort and one curriculum phase from the cohort’s pinned version.
A phase plan never changes the curriculum or the student’s programme enrolment.
Projected count supports planning but never creates learner participation.
Actual participation requires an authoritative student phase assignment.
A compatible learner from another cohort may participate without losing their original history.
Detailed academic records remain children of the phase plan but are owned by their respective epics.
Dates do not cause lifecycle changes automatically.
Approval, readiness, activation, teaching completion, and closure are separate decisions.
Material amendments require impact review and permanent history.

Conceptual schema

Record	Important fields
`academic.cohort_phase_plan`	tenant, institute, primary cohort, curriculum version, curriculum phase, calendar, code/name, planned and actual dates, projected count, coordinator, status
`academic.phase_plan_participant`	phase plan, programme enrolment, student phase assignment, source cohort, participation dates, source decision, state
`academic.phase_plan_role_assignment`	phase plan, functional role, faculty academic association, validity, confirmation
`academic.phase_plan_readiness_result`	phase plan, check code, source record, result, reason, owner, checked at
`academic.phase_plan_approval`	phase plan or amendment, action, decision, approver role, actor, reason, decided at
`academic.phase_plan_amendment`	phase plan, change type, earlier/proposed values, reason, impact snapshot, status, approval
`academic.phase_plan_state_event`	phase plan, earlier/new state, effective time, recorded time, actor, reason

Process-layer responsibilities

The process layer:

resolves the phase only from the cohort’s pinned published curriculum version;
prevents conflicting phase plans for the same cohort and phase;
validates planned and actual dates against curriculum and calendar rules;
keeps projected learner numbers separate from actual participant records;
accepts actual participants only from authoritative enrolment, phase-assignment, and movement records;
validates cross-cohort curriculum and phase compatibility;
calculates scoped readiness from authoritative Setup and operational records;
gives every readiness failure a plain-language explanation and owner;
enforces approval, separation-of-duty, activation, completion, and closure rules;
performs impact analysis before an amendment becomes effective;
prevents amendments from changing curriculum-owned requirements;
derives dashboard summaries without making them the source of truth; and
retains immutable state, approval, amendment, and participation history.

Success outcome

The cohort has an approved, dated, and accountable phase plan with a reconciled learner roster and clear readiness, providing a safe parent for learner groups, course offerings, clinical postings, and timetable planning.