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Published 18 Apr 2024, 15:56 BST

Official UK procurement notice

23114 Adult Education Budget Re-Procurement

Official notice

Authority: Cambridgeshire County Council (Local council)

4 lotsServicesOpen procedure
Budget not disclosedValue not published
Submissions closed 31 Aug 2026
Lots 4see the lot list below

What is being bought4 lots · detail below

Published requirement description

Cambridgeshire County Council are inviting Adult Education providers to bid for a place on the Cambridgeshire Skills Approved Provider List' to deliver AEB. Successful bidders will have the chance to be granted funding for the academic year(s) 1 August 2024 – 31 July 2026, with the possibility to extend the Approved Provider List for two further years. There is total funding of £638,000 available per year.

The Council receives two separate Adult Education Budget (AEB) grants from:

  1. Education Skills Funding Agency (ESFA)/Department for Education (DfE)
  2. Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA)

The Council delivers adult education in-house, but a proportion of the grants are sub-contracted to independent providers that deliver training that complements the in-house delivery.

The Adult Education Budget (AEB) aims to engage adults and provide the skills and learning they need to equip them for work, an apprenticeship or other learning. It enables more flexible tailored programmes of learning to be made available, which may or may not require a qualification, to help eligible learners engage in learning, build confidence, and/or enhance their wellbeing.

The relevant CPCA and ESFA Funding Rules and eligibility criteria for the academic year (1 August 2024 – 31 July 2025) will apply to this funding.

CPV: Adult and other education services · Health and social work services

Lots and requirements (4)Procurement structure

4 lots · no lot values published
Lot #1Lot 1: CPCA Adult Skills Fund (ASF) - Accredited / regulated qualifications and legal…

Lot 1: CPCA Adult Skills Fund (ASF) - Accredited / regulated qualifications and legal entitlements: Up to £350,000 per year

The ASF aims to engage adults and provide the skills and learning they need to progress into, or within, work; or equip them for an apprenticeship or other learning.

All Delivery Partners must have due regard to the skills analysis and priorities of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority (CPCA) and those detailed in the Local Skills Improvement Plan.

The ASF supports three legal entitlements to full funding for eligible adult learners. These are set out in the Apprenticeships, Skills and Children's Learning Act 2009, and enable eligible learners to be fully funded for the following qualifications:

  • English and maths, up to and including level 2, for individuals aged 19 and over, who have not

previously attained a GCSE grade 4 (C), or higher, and/or

  • first full qualification at level 2 for individuals aged 19 to 23, and/or
  • first full qualification at level 3 for individuals aged 19 to 23

Eligible learners exercising their legal entitlement, must only be enrolled on qualifications from the published approved list of qualifications in the level 2 and level 3 legal entitlement and/or the approved list of qualifications in the English and maths legal entitlement for the relevant funding year here: www.qualifications.education.gov.uk ↗

The ASF also supports delivery of other qualifications up to level 2. This provision either is fully or co-funded, depending on the learner’s age, prior attainment and circumstances. We can only fund qualifications listed as available to our funding streams and fundable here: www.qualifications.education.gov.uk ↗

All delivery must comply with the relevant funding rules:

Skills Library - Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority (cambridgeshirepeterborough-ca.gov.uk)

The funding rates we pay for qualifications (minus our management fee) are published here: findalearningaimbeta.fasst.org.uk ↗

We will not award funding to providers who already hold a CPCA direct ASF grant or contract (or are a subcontractor to a direct grant or contract holder) within the CPCA area.

Supporting document: Guiding Principles of Accredited Delivery

Priority for allocation of funding will be given to providers delivering face to face learning in the following areas or targeted to learners living in these specific areas/wards:

  • Fenland – all wards
  • East Cambridgeshire - all wards
  • Huntingdonshire – Huntingdon North, Yaxley, Warboys, The Stukeleys, Folksworth, St Neots, St

Ives and Ramsey wards

  • Cambridge City – Abbey, Kings Hedges, Arbury, East Chesterton, Trumpington, Coleridge, Cherry

Hinton, Romsey and Petersfield

  • South Cambs – The Mordens, Melbourne, Milton and Waterbeach, Fen Ditton and Fulbourn,

Sawston, Caxton and Papworth, Balsham, Bar Hill, Barrington, Bassingbourn and Cambourne

Please note that we are not looking for any courses to be delivered in Peterborough.

Adult Education Budget (AEB) postcode files - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk ↗)

Delivery: East of England
Lot #2Lot 2: CPCA Tailored Learning – non-regulated: Up to £150,000 per year

Lot 2: CPCA Tailored Learning – non-regulated: Up to £150,000 per year

As outlined in the government response to the DfE consultation Skills for jobs, the purpose of Tailored Learning (previously known as Community Learning), is primarily to support learners into employment and to progress to further learning, in line with the overall purpose of the Adult Skills Fund.

The current system will also support wider outcomes, including using it to:

  • improve health and wellbeing
  • equip parents/carers to support their child’s learning, and
  • develop stronger and more integrated communities

The objectives, set out in the funding rules ask you to widen participation and transform people’s destinies by supporting progression relevant to personal circumstances. We expect you to encourage and support all learners to progress onto new or more stretching provision to help them into more formal learning or employment. We would not expect to see multiple enrolments on similar level courses, or a repeat of similar learning aims where this does not benefit the learner’s development.

Lots 1 and 2 are for learners living CPCA devolved postcodes: with priority for allocation of funding given to providers delivering face to face learning in the following areas or targeted to learners living in these specific areas/wards:

  • Fenland – all wards
  • East Cambridgeshire - all wards
  • Huntingdonshire – Huntingdon North, Yaxley, Warboys, The Stukeleys, Folksworth, St Neots

and Ramsey wards

  • Cambridge City – Abbey, Kings Hedges, Arbury, East Chesterton, Trumpington, Coleridge,

Cherry Hinton, Romsey and Petersfield

  • South Cambs – The Mordens, Melbourne, Milton and Waterbeach, Fen Ditton and Fulbourn,

Sawston, Caxton and Papworth, Balsham, Bar Hill, Barrington, Bassingbourn and Cambourne

Please note that we are not looking for any courses to be delivered in Peterborough.

For reference: Cambridgeshire Insight – Deprivation – Indices of Multiple Deprivation

All delivery must comply with the relevant funding rules:

Skills Library - Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority (cambridgeshirepeterborough-ca.gov.uk)

Delivery: East of England
Lot #3Lot 3 ESFA Adult Skills Fund (ASF) – Accredited / regulated qualifications and legal…

Lot 3 ESFA Adult Skills Fund (ASF) – Accredited / regulated qualifications and legal entitlements: up to £75,000 per year

The ASF supports three legal entitlements to full funding for eligible adult learners. These are set out in the Apprenticeships, Skills and Children's Learning Act 2009, and enable eligible learners to be fully funded for the following qualifications:

  • English and maths, up to and including level 2, for individuals aged 19 and over, who have not

previously attained a GCSE grade 4 (C), or higher, and/or

  • first full qualification at level 2 for individuals aged 19 to 23, and/or first full qualification at level
  • for individuals aged 19 to 23

Eligible learners exercising their legal entitlement, must only be enrolled on qualifications from the published approved list of qualifications in the level 2 and level 3 legal entitlement and/or the approved list of qualifications in the English and maths legal entitlement for the relevant funding year here: www.qualifications.education.gov.uk ↗

Lots 3 and 4 are for learners living in non-devolved postcode areas: Adult Education Budget (AEB) postcode files - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk ↗)

As such priority will be given to to providers delivering learning to eligible learners living in other counties bordering Cambridgeshire including Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west.

Please note that we are not looking for any courses to be delivered in Peterborough.

The ASF also supports delivery of other qualifications up to level 2. This provision either is fully or co-funded, depending on the learner’s age, prior attainment and circumstances. We can only fund qualifications listed as available to our funding streams and fundable here: www.qualifications.education.gov.uk ↗

All delivery must comply with the relevant funding rules:

Adult education funding - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk ↗)

Delivery: East of England
Lot #4Lot 4 ESFA Tailored Learning up to £25,000 per year:

Lot 4 ESFA Tailored Learning up to £25,000 per year:

As outlined in the government response to the DfE consultation Skills for jobs, the purpose of tailored learning (previously known as Community Learning), is primarily to support learners into employment and to progress to further learning, in line with the overall purpose of the Adult Skills Fund.

The current system will also support wider outcomes, including using it to:

  • improve health and wellbeing
  • equip parents/carers to support their child’s learning, and
  • develop stronger and more integrated communities

The objectives, set out in the funding rules ask you to widen participation and transform people’s destinies by supporting progression relevant to personal circumstances. We expect you to encourage and support all learners to progress onto new or more stretching provision to help them into more formal learning or employment. We would not expect to see multiple enrolments on similar level courses, or a repeat of similar learning aims where this does not benefit the learner’s development.

Lots 3 and 4 are for learners living in non-devolved postcode areas: Adult Education Budget (AEB) postcode files - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk ↗)

As such priority will be given to to providers delivering learning to eligible learners living in other counties bordering Cambridgeshire including Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west

Please note that we are not looking for any courses to be delivered in Peterborough.

All delivery must comply with the relevant funding rules:

Adult education funding - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk ↗)

Lots 3 and 4 are for learners living in non-devolved postcode areas: Adult Education Budget (AEB) postcode files - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk ↗)

Delivery: East of England

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Open procedure
Legal basis
CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Closed
Procurement threshold
Unspecified in notice
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
18 Apr 2024, 15:56 BST
Last source update
18 Apr 2024, 15:56 BST
Authority reference
DN719682
FTS notice number
2024/S 000-012708
Classification (CPV)
Adult and other education servicesHealth and social work services
Delivery area
East of England (UKH12)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-045369 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Run through: ProContract (Due North) · Who buys & how to bid on ProContract
Supplier login requiredLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free · short registration with manual review; public opportunity list
Submission deadline
31 Aug 2026, 12:00 BST
Submission channel
{"electronicSubmission"}
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

Timeline

18 Apr 2024 → 31 Aug 2026 · 2 dates
  1. Notice published
    18 Apr 2024, 15:56 BST
  2. Submission deadline58 days ago
    31 Aug 2026, 12:00 BST

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Cambridgeshire County Council

Contracting authorityLocal CouncilRegional or local authorityGeneral public services New Shire Hall, Alconbury Weald, Huntingdon, East of England, PE28 4YEContact name, email, phone Published organisation website ↗

Official documents & specifications

Official links; attachments are not copied

No document links were published on the notice.