Allotment Intake
Epic summary
The Allotment Intake epic receives candidate results from a counselling authority and converts them into controlled MedCES allotment records.
The workspace supports structured import, authorised manual entry, revisions, cancellations, and validation. It never changes the meaning of the authority’s published result.
Actors and access
| Actor | Access |
|---|---|
| Counselling Coordinator | Imports, maps, validates, and corrects staged data |
| Admission Nodal Officer | Approves or rejects an import batch |
| Admission Clerk | Sees only accepted and actionable allotments |
| Admission Scrutiny Committee Member | Sees the accepted seat, quota, and declared category |
| Authorised Dean/Principal | Resolves material source or seat conflicts |
| Internal Auditor | Reviews source files, versions, errors, and approvals |
| Counselling Integration Service | May submit a staged batch but cannot approve it |
Screen structure and data captured
The workspace contains Batch Header, Column Mapping, Validation Summary, Candidate Rows, Exceptions, and Approval History.
Allotment-batch fields
| Field | Entry type | Required | Meaning and validation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Admission cycle | Selected | Yes | Parent intake context |
| Counselling process | Selected | Yes | Must belong to the selected cycle |
| Counselling round | Selected | Yes | Must belong to the selected process |
| Result type | Selected | Yes | Provisional, final, revised, cancelled, upgrade, or joined list |
| Authority reference | Entered/imported | Yes | Result number, publication date/time, and issuing authority |
| Supersedes batch | Selected | Conditional | Required for a revised or cancelled result |
| Source file | Uploaded/integration | Yes | Original source retained unchanged with checksum |
| Import mapping | Selected/configured | Yes | Versioned mapping from authority columns to MedCES fields |
| Imported by/at | System captured | Yes | Integration or user and timestamp |
| Batch status | System controlled | Yes | Uploaded, Mapping, Validating, Staged, Approved, Rejected, or Superseded |
Candidate-allotment fields
| Field group | Imported fields |
|---|---|
| Candidate identity | Authority candidate ID, application/roll number, examination ID, name, date of birth, gender, contact where supplied |
| Examination | Examination name/year, rank types and values, score/percentile where supplied |
| Seat | Institution code, programme/speciality code, seat-pool/quota code, allotted category, candidate category |
| Allotment | Allotment number, status, round, upgrade/retention flag, allotment date |
| Deadlines | Reporting location, reporting start/end, joining deadline where published |
| Source trace | Source row number and original unmapped values |
System-derived information
MedCES calculates accepted, warning, rejected, duplicate, changed, upgraded, and cancelled row counts. Each row receives mapping, identity, offering, seat-pool, matrix-availability, duplicate-person, and existing-case validation results. Manual mappings retain the original value, corrected value, reason, and user.
Use case 1: Import an allotment result
As a Counselling Coordinator
I want to import an authority’s published allotment file
So that allotted candidates become available for institutional processing.
Acceptance criteria
- The Counselling Coordinator selects the cycle, counselling process, round, and result type.
- The original source file is retained unchanged.
- The system maps candidate, examination, programme, seat pool, category, allotment, and deadline fields.
- The import produces a staged batch with accepted, warning, and rejected row counts.
- No staged record reaches the reporting desk before batch approval.
- Re-importing the same source is detected and does not duplicate candidates.
Negative cases and alternate flows
- Unknown columns: Allow an authorised mapping step and retain the mapping used.
- Wrong round: Stop the import when the source clearly belongs to another process or round.
- Unreadable file: Preserve the failed upload and provide a clear technical error.
- Partial validity: Accept valid rows into staging while keeping invalid rows in an exception list.
Use case 2: Validate candidate and seat data
As a Counselling Coordinator
I want to review import exceptions
So that no candidate is processed against the wrong seat.
Acceptance criteria
- The system checks duplicate candidate identifiers and allotment numbers.
- The allotted programme and speciality must match an active offering.
- The seat pool must belong to the selected counselling process.
- The allotment is checked against the applicable round matrix.
- Existing candidate cases are matched rather than duplicated.
- Every manual correction records the original value, corrected mapping, user, and reason.
Negative cases and alternate flows
- Allotment exceeds availability: Place the record in a blocking exception queue.
- Candidate already joined elsewhere in the cycle: Flag the conflict for review; do not silently reject or replace either history.
- Unknown category code: Require mapping or authority clarification.
- Name mismatch with the existing person: Require identity review before linking.
Use case 3: Approve the allotment batch
As an Admission Nodal Officer
I want to approve a validated batch
So that only reviewed allotments become operational.
Acceptance criteria
- The approving user sees the source, row totals, corrections, warnings, and blocking exceptions.
- A batch with unresolved blocking errors cannot be approved.
- The importer cannot approve their own batch where maker-checker control is active.
- Approval creates or updates admission cases and marks actionable allotments.
- Reporting Desk users can immediately find accepted candidates.
- Approval is recorded with the exact batch version.
Negative cases and alternate flows
- Batch rejected: Record the reason and return it to the importer without deleting evidence.
- Approval attempted after round closure: Require controlled reopening or reject the operation.
- Concurrent revision: Prevent approval of an older version after a newer source has been staged.
Use case 4: Process a revised or cancelled result
As a Counselling Coordinator
I want to import a revised result
So that candidate cases reflect the authority’s current decision while preserving history.
Acceptance criteria
- The revised batch references the earlier batch.
- The system identifies added, changed, upgraded, and cancelled allotments.
- Existing reporting or verification work is not erased.
- Affected cases receive a visible source-revision alert.
- A cancellation does not automatically delete a valid institutional decision; it starts the required review and movement process.
- The revised batch follows the same validation and approval controls.
Negative cases and alternate flows
- Revision lacks source authority: Keep it staged and non-operational.
- Candidate already enrolled: Escalate to the Authorised Dean/Principal and Student Section Officer.
- Earlier version imported twice: Detect the duplicate and make no change.
Success outcome
The institution can prove exactly which authority result it received, how it mapped the data, which exceptions were resolved, and which version became operational.