Ideally we would ask users for their full name, rather than their first and last names. The Design System explains why:
"Not everyone’s name fits the first-name, last-name format. Using multiple name fields mean there’s more risk that a person’s name will not fit the format you’ve chosen and that it is entered incorrectly.
A single name field can accommodate the broadest range of name types, but means you cannot reliably extract parts of a name."
When we capture a user’s details, we need to look them up in the database of qualified teachers (DQT) to find their TRN, and DQT uses first name and last name.
How it works
If we had a record and were matching names against it, the problem would be simpler.
The names instead are used to search the database, reducing records (along with date of birth, National Insurance number and ITT provider) until we have a single match and a corresponding TRN.
If we are given an ambiguous name, for example one where it’s not clear if a name is a middle name or a first or last name with two parts, then we need to do more searches with more names – increasing the chances that we don’t match just a single record.
Can we use full name?
Maybe, but not initially. For launch we will stick with first and last names, and we will look at the data to see the effect on failure rates.
Possible name scenarios
Screenshots
First name, last name
Full name
