Every User must be assigned an LMS role which determines their level of access to Learn. There are six standard LMS roles that can be copied and modified, and new roles can be created from scratch.
Depending on a User's role, they may also be given additional responsibilities. This allows LMS Administrators to delegate responsibilities to Users without giving full admin access. For example to delegate event admin to a trainer, or to give an SME (subject matter expert) ownership of a specific Course(s) and associated activities.
In this article, we’ll explain the permissions associated with each of the standard roles, and outline the responsibilities that Users may be assigned based on their LMS role.
Summary of LMS roles in Learn LMS
LMS roles and access permissions
There are six LMS roles ranging from the basic Student role right through to the LMS Administrator role. The specific permissions associated with each role are determined by the ACL (Access Control List) permissions assigned to it.
A few things to know about LMS roles:
- Student and Manager roles are often assigned automatically via the People-data feed
- LMS administrators can manually assign an LMS role to a User
- Users cannot assign roles granting greater access than their own role
- LMS roles can be created from scratch or by copying and amending an existing role
- New features often require that a new ACL permission is added to your LMS role
Expand the role title below to view details of the system areas accessible to users with each LMS role.
Student
Users with the Student role do not have access to Learn admin – they see only the ‘student view’ of Learn LMS. The majority of employees within an organisation will be Students. If no role is specifically allocated to a User, they will automatically be assigned the Student role.
Tutor
Users with the Tutor LMS role get very restricted access to Learn admin. A User might be given this role if they are a subject matter expert and require ownership of a specific Course and associated activities.
If they are not made a tutor for any courses, a User with this role will see nothing when they access Learn admin.
The table below describes which areas of Learn admin a User with this role will see:
|
System area |
What the User will see |
|
Reports & Analysis |
Tutors do not see reports by default. Please speak to your customer Support representative for more information. |
| Course | Only Courses where a User is assigned as the Tutor are visible. As a Course Tutor, they have unrestricted access to the Course administration menu to assign Lessons and deploy the Course to Groups or Catalogues. However, they cannot create or delete Courses. |
| Lesson | Only Lessons assigned to a Course for which the User is a Tutor will be visible. As a Course Tutor, they have full access to the lesson administration menu for those Lessons but can only assign them within their designated Courses. Course Tutors cannot create or delete Lessons |
| Event | Only Events associated with Courses where the User is nominated as Tutor will be visible. Tutors have full access to options in the Event administration menu. |
The below sections are completely hidden from Users with the 'Tutor' LMS role:
- Users
- Groups
- Resource
- Evaluation Form
- Reflection Form
- Job Profile
- Accreditation
- CPD Programme
- System Configuration
Manager
Users with the ‘Manager’ role can be assigned as the Manager for a Primary Group. The automated People data feed often allocates the Manager role automatically.
By default, Managers get access to Learn admin. However, many customers customise the manager role to remove this access. The table below describes which areas of Learn admin a User with the standard 'Manager' role will see:
|
System area |
What the User will see |
| User |
The User list will include only members of the Manager's team (Users who are members of their Primary Group) |
| Group | A Manager can view (but cannot change) the properties of any Groups to which they are nominated as Group Manager or Group Administrator |
|
Reports & Analysis |
Reports will only include data for Users who are the manager’s team members |
| Course | A Manager can view details for all Courses, however is not able to view or edit any other properties. A Manager cannot create new Courses or delete Courses they are able to see |
| Lesson | A Manager can view details for all Lessons in Learn; however, a reduced list of properties is visible on the Lesson Administration menu. A Manager cannot create or delete Lessons or edit Lesson properties |
| Event | All Events are visible; however, only the ‘User’ option is available in the Event administration menu. A Manager can book any team member onto any Event through this option. A manager can view, but cannot edit, all other Event properties |
| CPD Programme | Can view all CPD Programmes but cannot make any changes |
The below sections are completely hidden from users with the 'Manager' LMS role:
- Resource
- Evaluation Form
- Reflection Form
- Job Profile
- Accreditation
- System Configuration
Manager / Tutor
As the name suggests, this role is a combination of the Manager/Tutor roles. The table below describes which areas of Learn admin a User with this role will see:
|
System area |
What the User will see |
| User |
As with the Manager LMS role, the User list will include only members of the Manager's team (that is, Users who are members of their Primary Group) |
| Group | A manager/Tutor can view and make changes to any Groups to which have been assigned as Group Manager or Group Administrator |
|
Reports & Analysis |
Reports will include data only for Users who are the Manager’s team members. |
| Course | All Courses, and Course properties are visible. If assigned as Administrator or Tutor for a Course, a Manager/Tutor is able to edit the properties in the Course administration menu and can, therefore, assign Lessons and deploy the Course to any Group or Catalogue. A Manager/Tutor cannot create new Courses or delete existing Courses |
| Lesson | All Lessons, and all properties as listed in the Lesson administration menu are visible. If assigned as administrator or Tutor for a Course, a Manager/Tutor has full access to edit the properties for any Lesson assigned to a Course of which they are the Tutor (It is not possible for a Manager /Tutor to assign Lessons to a Course for which they are not the Tutor). A Manager/Tutor cannot create new Lessons or delete existing Lessons |
| Event | As with the Manager’s role, all Events and properties as listed in the Event administration menu are visible. However, only the ‘User’ option is available to edit. Through this option, a Manager can book any member of their team onto any Event |
| CPD Programme | Can view all CPD Programmes but cannot make any changes |
The below sections are completely hidden from users with the 'Manager/Tutor' LMS role:
- Resource
- Evaluation Form
- Reflection Form
- Job Profile
- Accreditation
- System Configuration
Training Coordinator
The Training Coordinator role is mostly the same as the LMS Administrator role, with access to every system area. However, there is one key difference – Training Coordinators do not have access to System Configuration. That privilege is reserved for LMS Administrators only.
LMS Administrators
LMS Administrators have unlimited access to all areas of the LMS. This is the only role which allows access to the global settings contained within System Configuration. This role is typically held by only a select few administrators.
We recommend that you periodically review which Users have access to Learn admin to minimise the risk of unauthorised access to Learn admin.
Additional Responsibilities
Depending on their LMS role, a User can be given additional responsibilities to manage specific Users, Groups, Courses, and Events in the LMS.
This enables an LMS Administrator to share admin duties with colleagues without the risks associated with full access to learn admin.
The table below details which LMS roles can be assigned each additional responsibility:
| LMS Role | Additional Responsibilities available | ||||
| Course Tutor | Course Administrator | Event Administrator | Group Administrator | Group Manager | |
| Student | |||||
| Manager | X | X | |||
| Tutor | X | X | X | ||
| Manager / Tutor | X | X | X | X | X |
| Training Coordinator | X | X | X | X | X |
| LMS Administrator | X | X | X | X | X |
Expand the menu below for more detail.
Course Tutor
A Course Tutor has restricted access to Learn admin in order that they can assume responsibility for a Course and its associated activities, such as assigning learning materials, overseeing Events, and generating reports.
LMS Administrators may appoint Users as Course Tutors or Administrators to delegate LMS administration duties to SMEs (subject matter experts) within their respective fields of expertise or to provide access to course reporting.
A Course Tutor can:
- Approve requests for course enrolment
- Sign off Competency Checks
- Manage Events for the Course of which they are a tutor (Book Users, mark attendance etc)
- Assign Lessons and deploy the Course to Users, Groups and Catalogues
- Run Reports on the Course
Course Administrator
A Course Administrator has very similar rights to view and edit a Course as the Course Tutor, with the following differences:
- Multiple Users can be Course administrators whereas a Course can have only one Tutor
- A Course Administrator cannot approve enrolment requests
- Course Administrators cannot sign off Competency Checks
Group Administrator
The main benefit of being a Group administrator is to view reports for all members of the Group, even if they are not direct reports.
Additionally, if a User with the LMS role of 'Manager' is assigned as Group Administrator for a Primary group, they will see Group members in their Manager dashboard alongside any team members of their own. This can help Managers cover for each other during absences such as holidays, meetings or periods of secondment.
Group Manager
The ‘Group Manager’ responsibility is used to define Line Management responsibility. This is usually managed and updated by an automated people-data feed.
An Event Administrator can manage every aspect of an Event for which they are an administrator, including receiving notifications relating to the Event and acting as an Event approver. For example, permission might not be needed to go on a course, but a User may need to request permission to book a specific Event date.
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