Mid-October 2026 - Product News

This roundup covers what changed since the October 2026 Product News, module by module. Each line links the help guide that explains the change in full. Screens use Backed's default words; if your organisation has renamed any of them under Settings > Organisation > Terminology, you see your own words instead.

Assessments

• Blind review. An assessment round can conceal chosen fields from its Assessors and turn on Anonymise attachments, so uploaded files reach them as Attachment 1, Attachment 2 and so on, in the form, the PDF and the bulk download alike. The round's Concealed information panel shows what is hidden, previews the Assessor's view, and lifts concealment with a reason. See Assessment rounds.
• Review panels. A round's Panels tab groups Assessors into panels with a convenor view. Panel members see each other's scores and comments on the panel tab of My Assessments once their own is submitted, and the panel lead records the panel's outcome. Only members assessing the application are offered as deputy lead. See Assessment rounds and Review panels.
• Leaderboard and shortlist. The round's Leaderboard tab ranks applications, draws a cut line and saves a shortlist; the application pickers gain a tag filter. See Assessment rounds.
• Equal-merit draw. Where applications tie at the cut line, mark the equal-merit band and Draw a partial lottery across it, or Void draw; the draw's result can be exported. See Assessment rounds.
• Assign by rule. Assign by rule assigns Assessors to applications by a rule you can save and Re-apply later; a pool too small for the rule says what to do instead. See Assignments.
• Accepting an assignment. A round can ask Assessors to accept or decline each assignment, with a reason when they decline, and can reassign declined work automatically. Administrators see each Assessor's counts and filter by acceptance. See Assignments and Deciding whether to assess.
• Download a whole round. Assessors can Download all for a round on My Assessments and are emailed when the bundle is ready; applications they are no longer assigned to are left out. See Assessor home.
• Criteria library. Keep reusable scoring criteria in the Criteria library, insert them into an assessment form and update them to a newer version. Assessors see each scored field's scale, anchors and guidance. See Assessment forms.

Funding rounds and grant management

• Start from a round starter. New grant asks how you want to start: blank, or from a round starter with its stages already set. See Create a grant round.
• Duplicate a round, with choices. The duplicate dialog can also copy the round's assessment rounds and, with Include letter choices, its Offer letter and Decline letter. See Duplicate a round.
• Late access. A closed round's Late access tab gives one applicant a personal deadline with a reason; their application carries a Late mark, and they see Late submission allowed until … on the Grants card, the Landing Page and the form. Late access also shows during the grace period. See Allow a late submission.
• Decision date and countdown. Set a decision date on a round. Applicants see a countdown to the closing date in days and hours, and Decision expected by … once they have submitted. See Create a grant round and Applicant home.
• A PDF with the confirmation. Attach PDF to submission confirmation (on by default) attaches the submitted application to the confirmation email, and the email log keeps the attached file's name. Applicants can also Download PDF of their application. See Create a grant round and After you submit.
• Form preview. Show form preview on the Landing Page lets people read the whole form, and download it blank, before they start. See Landing pages and Applying for a grant.
• Duplicate applications. A round's Duplicates tab finds applications that may be the same request made twice: keep one as the primary and archive the others, or dismiss the group. Assessors see a Possible duplicate badge only where one is flagged. See Duplicate applications.

Applications and forms

• Application numbering. Settings > Organisation gains an Application numbering group with a preview, and each round can set its own Number prefix. If you hide application numbers from applicants, the applicant screens and submission responses show none. See Organisation settings.
• Start from a previous application. A round can let applicants copy a previous application (and, optionally, its uploaded files) into a new one. Fields marked Do not copy in the builder stay blank, copied answers are marked, and Refresh from profile re-reads profile answers. See Create a grant round and Applying for a grant.
• Standard fields. The form builder's palette has a Standard fields group; these fields carry a badge and a read-only block, and the tags screen explains why they can't be changed. See Form builder.
• Reading level. The builder shows a grade chip on each question, a Readability panel and the reading level of File Uploads. Set your Reading level target under Forms in Settings > Organisation; publishing advises on anything above it. See Form builder.
• Translate a form or email. Edit a template's translations beside the form, or export and import them; unsaved translations ask before you leave. See Form builder and Organisation emails.
• File versions and the viewer. File controls show Version n of m, History and View, which opens a PDF or image in the app without downloading it; the builder's File Uploads list does the same. See An application and Form builder.
• Export one application. The applications list's row menu has Export Application. See Applications list and Exporting applications.
• Referee requests (first part). Backed can now email a referee a private link to a Referee Form, remind them, and expire the link; an application waiting on a reference says so when Submit is unavailable, and an Administrator can reopen a reference. The screens for asking a referee arrive in the next release; no help guide covers referee requests yet.

Registration management

• Check against your register. Choose a register identifier on a registration type and Backed checks each application against your register, with an eligibility banner and a status option on the lists. ABNs match with or without spaces and dashes. See Registration templates and types.
• Possible duplicate applicants. Set a possible-duplicate threshold under Registrations; mark a pair Not a duplicate, and groups re-form after a transfer. See Applicants.
• Email domains and requests to join. An Applicant record lists its email domains and requests to join. People signing up with a matching address are offered Join <organisation name>, and an applicant's members page shows the requests and domains. See Applicants and Your organisation's members.
• Funding history. The Applicant record's Applications tab lists every application the applicant has made, and a person drawer shows one person's standing. See Applicants.

Setting up your organisation

• Sandbox. Settings > Organisation > Sandbox creates a sandbox copy of your organisation's configuration (rounds, forms, registration, communications and contracts) to rehearse a round, train staff or test an integration. Open, refresh it from live, or delete it; a sandbox nobody opens for 90 days is deleted. A SANDBOX band sits above the top bar on every screen, and email a sandbox would send is captured and labelled in the email logs instead. See Your organisation's sandbox and Email logs.
• Onboarding. Settings > Onboarding shows your onboarding plan, sessions and recordings. See Onboarding sessions.
• Language and formats. Each person chooses their language, date format and clock under Language and formats on their profile, in the Administrator and Applicant portals and on the sign-in account pages; organisations set their defaults in a Localisation group. See Your account and Organisation settings.
• Password policy. Settings > Security states the password policy under Two-factor authentication. See Security settings; the guide does not describe the new line yet.

Administrator permissions and users

• Search from anywhere. The search button in the top bar (or /, Ctrl+K, Cmd+K) finds a record from any page, with your recent records before you type. Assessors search only the applications assigned to them. See Getting started as an administrator and Assessor home.
• Access expiry and access reviews. Give an administrator Access expires on a date, and export an access review or login history from Users > Admins. See Administrators and permissions.

Privacy

• Privacy requests. Settings > Privacy logs a person's request to see, correct, export or erase their information, finds what you hold about them, and tracks it to its due date. See Privacy requests.
• Erasure. Erase this person shows what an erasure changes, deletes and keeps, and what stops it, then replaces the person's name and contact details across your organisation's records. Everywhere a name appears (applications, assessments, decisions, contracts, communications, outcomes, API credentials and join requests) an erased person now shows by their replacement name. See Privacy requests.

Fixed

• An Assessor's uploaded files in a blind round reach them by Attachment n names, in the bulk download's PDFs too. See Assessment rounds.
• The Assign by rule drawer's scope labels read in the singular. See Assignments.
• The Assessor search marks concealed results; the template view no longer loses unsaved translations when you select Edit; the emails page has no empty actions area; and the page outline follows the sandbox band. See Form builder.