Prevent invalid withdrawal reason for early career teachers
We’ve introduced a new validation on the /api/v3/participants/{id}/withdraw endpoint to prevent early career teachers (ECTs) from being withdrawn using an invalid withdrawal reason.
What’s changed
Lead providers can no longer withdraw an ECT using the withdrawal reason:
mentor-no-longer-being-mentor
This reason is only valid for mentors and does not apply to ECTs.
If you attempt to withdraw an ECT using this reason via /api/v3/participants/{id}/withdraw, the API will return the following validation error:
You cannot withdraw an ECT for this reason. The ECT is not a mentor.
Why we’ve made this change
Previously, this withdrawal reason was available for ECTs despite not being applicable. This could lead to incorrect or confusing data being recorded.
This change improves data quality by:
- preventing invalid withdrawal reasons being used for ECTs
- making the API behaviour clearer and more consistent
- reducing follow‑up and correction work for lead providers
Who this applies to
This change only affects ECTs. Withdrawal behaviour for mentors is unchanged.
What you need to do
If your systems allow withdrawal reasons to be selected automatically or from a predefined list, ensure mentor-no-longer-being-mentor is not used when withdrawing ECTs.
You may also want to update any internal validation or user guidance that references ECT withdrawals.