Recent improvements and what comes next
Explore recent improvements to teaching, administration and learner support, along with the priorities shaping what comes next.
101 items
Ahead
Now
In development or being configured for individual providers.
Guided applicationsIn development
A clear online journey from enquiry through application, documents, interviews and offer acceptance. Students can reuse documents they have already supplied.
Flexible admissionsIn development
Support different application requirements and review processes for domestic and international students.
Offer and arrival preparationIn development
Keep students informed about their next steps, outstanding requirements, accommodation and arrival arrangements, with an induction course from the moment they accept.
Agent PortalIn development
Give education partners a dedicated place to manage applications, help applicants with their forms, complete training and access resources the institution publishes.
Student portal and mobile appIn development
Help students continue their journey across web and mobile, from preparation through study.
Institution-branded experienceIn development
Provide institution branding and content across the student experience.
Ongoing security and reliability workIn development
Continued improvements to access controls, automated security checks, backup and recovery, and monitoring. See the Security page for the current position.
Learner-first course designIn development
Published course versions, an authoring workspace and learner preview are available. Further teaching-quality guidance and reviewable AI suggestions are in development.
Direct SDR submissionRequires setup
Connect using your institution’s Education Sector Logon machine account, with provider setup and validation required.
Live National Student Index accessRequires setup
Connect for NSI lookup, verification and creation using your institution’s Ministry account. A batch-file option remains available.
StudyLink Verification of StudyAgency validation
Provider conformance testing with StudyLink is required for the generated response files.
E-signature rolloutIn development
Complete setup and end-to-end validation using your institution’s DocuSeal account and document templates.
SMS and WhatsApp rolloutProvider approval
Enable production messaging with approved senders and content through your institution’s Twilio account.
Nothing in this column for that area.
Next
Near-term priorities shaped by provider needs.
Reviewable AI suggestions in the authoring workspace
Suggestions that improve a course design, shown as drafts a person accepts — never applied on their own.
Employer portal, second stageDeciding
From learner registration to progress visibility for the employer — what an employer may see is decided with providers first.
Learner app store release
Prepare the native learner app, including institution-branded versions, for release through the App Store and Google Play.
Branded reply addresses
Use your institution’s inbound email domain for learner correspondence.
More integration actionsWith providers
Expand the events and actions available to connected systems, guided by provider needs.
More efficient data exports
Send changes since the previous export to support more frequent reporting updates.
Additional export formats
Add Parquet exports for institutions whose reporting systems use this format.
Nothing in this column for that area.
Later
Longer-term ideas and work needing provider or agency input.
Direct work-based reportingExploring
Explore direct TEC submission alongside the existing file-based reporting workflow.
Single sign-on provider validationProvider validation
Validate Microsoft Entra ID or Google sign-in with a provider’s own directory before rollout.
Stripe Connect onboardingExploring
Per-provider Stripe accounts are live; Connect would add platform-side onboarding as an additive step.
Parent or guardian portalDeciding
Intended audience and value are written up; the decisions about what a guardian may see come first.
Expanded NZQA reporting optionsAgency confirmation
Confirm support for credit transfers and unit-standard versions with NZQA.
Additional learning-tool connectionsExploring
Explore LTI and xAPI connections where institutions need them for their teaching tools.
More reporting destinationsExploring
Explore direct exports to additional reporting platforms, alongside the existing compatible-storage exports.
Richer external AI experiencesExploring
Explore additional ways to present approved Pallara information within compatible AI assistants.
Actions from external AI assistantsDeciding
Explore carefully scoped actions for external assistants. The current connection remains read-only.
Aggregate teaching-quality evidenceExploring
Close the loop: what learners did with a course, fed back to the people who designed it.
Nothing in this column for that area.
Recent updates
September 2026
Clearer AI usage and costs
Review recorded AI usage by provider and model, with missing measurements clearly identified.
Operational performance measures
Track measures such as case resolution, review decisions, search success and learning continuity over a chosen period.
Resume lessons and videos
Learners can return to their saved position in a lesson or video when they continue studying.
Easier navigation across both portals
Find the right workspace through grouped menus, search and keyboard shortcuts.
A clearer view of learner progress
My Progress brings together released results, qualification requirements and the next place to continue learning.
Personal learning plans
Help learners prioritise overdue work, upcoming deadlines and their next lesson, using their own study records.
My Week and course discussions
See classes, deadlines and appointments in one weekly view, and reach discussions from the relevant course.
Course references in tutor answers
Course-based answers link to supporting lessons. General explanations are identified separately, and published course changes refresh the material available to the tutor.
Clearer AI actions and information use
See the kind of help an AI feature provides and whether it uses selected records, so staff can choose the appropriate tool.
More useful learner-support indicators
Review the factors behind a risk indicator, the information available and any existing support case.
Provider setup overview
See which modules and connections are enabled, configured, checked and in use, with next steps for setup.
One place to see what needs attention
Bring together open cases, tasks, compliance items and approvals, with links to the records your role can access.
Clearer guidance when getting started
Helpful page messages explain whether setup, access or new records are needed, and identify unavailable features.
Keyboard navigation and reduced motion
Both portals support skipping to the main content and follow the device preference for reduced motion.
Security and reliability improvements
Further improvements to account protection, staff sign-in and privacy within learning spaces, supported by expanded automated security checks and verification on the hosted platform.
How it works →Scheduled data exports
Send selected datasets to Pallara-managed storage or your own compatible storage for reporting and analysis.
How it works →Expanded AI assistant compatibility
Connect supported external AI assistants through the updated read-only connection.
How it works →Consistent access for connected tools
Approved data access is shared across the API, AI assistant connection and warehouse exports, with confidential records excluded.
How it works →Help centre with flowcharts and walkthroughs
Find step-by-step guides, screenshots, walkthroughs and decision trees for common tasks.
How it works →Preview reporting files before submission
Review generated SDR, NZQA and NSI files and their validation results before submitting them.
How it works →Education agent portal
Give education agents access to their enquiries, permitted learner progress, approved resources and training.
How it works →Practice with test learner records
Use designated test learners to explore workflows, with exclusions from supported reporting and funding calculations.
How it works →Branded offer documents
Generate offer letters and pro-forma invoices with your branding and support for macrons in learner names.
How it works →Teaching suggestions while you build
Get practical suggestions about course structure, activities and assessment timing as you create content.
How it works →International onboarding on arrival
An international enrolment is assigned the provider's onboarding course automatically, unlocked on day one.
How it works →Consistent attendance reporting
Use a shared attendance calculation across dashboards, learner records, compliance reports and risk indicators.
How it works →Institution-managed signing and messaging
Configure your own DocuSeal and Twilio accounts. Availability depends on provider setup and the rollout status shown above.
How it works →Live evaluation support
Follow evaluation visits and reported problems to help your team support a product walkthrough.
How it works →Time-based workflow reminders
Schedule follow-up for enquiries, expiring offers, overdue payments and unresolved cases.
How it works →August 2026
Data access for reporting and integrations
Connect your reporting tools to approved institution information through the documented API.
How it works →Connect your AI assistant
Give compatible external AI assistants read-only access to approved institution information.
How it works →Updates for connected systems
Notify connected systems when supported enrolment, payment, assessment or admissions events occur.
How it works →Capture enquiries from connected systems
Send enquiries from your website or CRM into the Pallara admissions pipeline.
How it works →Updated NZQA reporting exports
Prepare F23 and QE1 files in the supported NZQA formats for staff review and submission.
How it works →National Student Index connection
Support for NSI lookup, verification and assignment, with provider credentials and connection setup required. Batch files remain available.
How it works →Expanded TEC reporting support
Maintain TEC reporting information alongside the course details your team already manages.
How it works →Payments to your own Stripe account
Online learner payments go to your institution’s Stripe account, with payment records available in Pallara.
How it works →A shared provider mailbox
Keep learner replies alongside their records, with unmatched messages available for staff review.
How it works →Assisted entry from enrolment forms
Extract details from paper forms for staff review before saving, with a verification step for returning learners.
How it works →Address lookup on Google Places
Validated New Zealand addresses on public forms, with a way to type one the lookup cannot find.
How it works →Workflow monitoring and ownership
Assign an owner, activate or pause workflows, and notify the owner when a run needs attention.
How it works →Infrastructure performance improvements
Updated hosting and deployment arrangements improve database response times and support ongoing operation.
July 2026
Separate institution workspaces
Manage multiple institutions with separate records, branding and access controls.
Staff workspaces and ⌘K
The navigation reorganised around the work — Admissions, Teaching, Course design, Learner services, Compliance, AI, Administration — with a command palette that opens any page by name.
How it works →Readable, tamper-evident activity history
Review recorded changes in plain language, with protections that help detect alterations to the log.
How it works →Ask Your Data
Ask a plain-English question about your records, review the results and save or export the answer.
How it works →Explainable learner-support indicators
See attendance, assessment, engagement and wellbeing factors to help staff decide who may need support.
How it works →AI-assisted course authoring
Draft objectives, lessons and quizzes, then refine and review suggestions before using them.
How it works →Aria course-based study support
Help learners work through course material, with supporting lesson references and settings managed by staff.
How it works →Workflows drafted from a sentence
Describe the automation; get a draft with its trigger and steps; dry-run it; publish; activate. Seven templates ship for the common cases.
How it works →SpeedGrader for marking at scale
Keyboard navigation, an ungraded-only queue, a clickable rubric that sums itself, a comment bank, inline comments anchored to the learner's text, PDF annotation.
How it works →Gradebook, outcomes, completion, moderation, peer review, groups
Weighted groups and grading schemes, learning mastery against outcomes and unit standards, completion rules per programme, a moderation queue with a decision trail.
How it works →Programme and course builders
Organise years, terms and pathways, then develop courses with reusable templates and content blocks.
How it works →Timetable, scheduling and attendance from published classes
Intake-first timetable with facilitator and room views, clash detection, calendar feeds per learner, attendance registers generated from what was published.
How it works →Pastoral Care Code self-review and registers
Twelve outcomes with evidence, an AI-drafted report, attestation; complaints and critical-incident registers that feed the annual report.
How it works →SDR and StudyLink reporting workflows
Prepare SDR and Verification of Study outputs. Direct submission and conformance depend on provider setup and agency requirements.
How it works →Compliance Hub
One at-a-glance view over the Code, TEC returns, submission history and the registers.
How it works →Admissions pipelines, forms and consents
Kanban application pipelines with checklists, offer-to-invoice flow, agent attribution, public forms with conditional logic, excursion and van-travel consents, disclosure agreements.
How it works →Fourteen student-management modules
Two-way SMS with keyword automations, commission, work-based training and the employer portal, awards, homestay, Public Trust, LNAT, data-warehouse export, record confidentiality, duplicate merge, appointments, staff invitations.
How it works →Clearer payment records
Review learner invoices, payments and financial history in one place.
How it works →Learner portal and mobile development
The portal supports study progress, quizzes and digital student ID. Native app development is recorded here; App Store and Google Play release remains planned.
How it works →Institution sign-in and settings
Configure integration credentials, explore sign-in options and manage optional aggregate comparisons. Single sign-on requires provider connection validation.
How it works →June 2026
Updated data platform
A shared data foundation connects teaching, administration and reporting across Pallara.
Updated account protection
Updated learner sign-in and staff account controls, including staff multi-factor authentication.
Private document storage
Store uploaded documents, assessment files and generated PDFs with controlled access.
A new design system across both portals
Every staff and learner screen re-skinned to one system — shell, dashboards, deep pages, course player, grades.
Managed release process
A deployment process supports publishing updates to the hosted platform.
Shared AI teaching guidance
Store reusable teaching guidance to support future AI responses, with approval required for additions and changes.
How it works →Pallara
The product took its name and its mark.
May 2026
Staff AI insights over tutor conversations
The staff assistant can query the learner-tutor interaction log for patterns — what learners are asking, where they are stuck.
How it works →Connected demonstration scenarios
Explore connected learner, finance and reporting examples during a walkthrough.
Explore feature guides in the help centre where available. Month labels record product development milestones; rollout requirements are shown with the relevant feature.