diff --git a/competency/classes/invalid_persistent_exception.php b/competency/classes/invalid_persistent_exception.php
index 49d97e257bd..44975b8818e 100644
--- a/competency/classes/invalid_persistent_exception.php
+++ b/competency/classes/invalid_persistent_exception.php
@@ -36,11 +36,13 @@ defined('MOODLE_INTERNAL') || die();
 class invalid_persistent_exception extends \moodle_exception {
 
     public function __construct(array $errors = array()) {
+        $forhumans = array();
         $debuginfo = array();
         foreach ($errors as $key => $message) {
             $debuginfo[] = "$key: $message";
+            $forhumans[] = $message;
         }
-        parent::__construct('invalidpersistent', 'core_competency', null, null, implode(' - ', $debuginfo));
+        parent::__construct('invalidpersistent', 'core_competency', null, implode(', ', $forhumans), implode(' - ', $debuginfo));
     }
 
 }
diff --git a/lang/en/competency.php b/lang/en/competency.php
index 0ba502a6b4a..550538c8393 100644
--- a/lang/en/competency.php
+++ b/lang/en/competency.php
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ $string['evidence_manualoverrideincourse'] = 'The competency rating was manually
 $string['evidence_manualoverrideinplan'] = 'The competency rating was manually set in the learning plan \'{$a}\'.';
 $string['invalidevidencedesc'] = 'Invalid evidence description';
 $string['invalidgrade'] = 'Invalid rating';
-$string['invalidpersistent'] = 'Invalid persistent';
+$string['invalidpersistent'] = 'Error: {$a}';
 $string['invalidplan'] = 'Invalid learning plan';
 $string['invalidtaxonomy'] = 'Invalid taxonomy: {$a}';
 $string['invalidurl'] = 'The URL is not valid. Make sure it starts with \'http://\' or \'https://\'.';