Find a TenderOpen for tender Tender notice
Published 21 Sept 2026, 13:51 BST

Official UK procurement notice

715940476 EPACS UK4 - Tender Notice

Authority: Ministry of Defence (Central government)

ServicesOpen procedureAbove threshold
Sectors: Education & Training (80) Delivery: UK
Published estimate£560,000≈ £112k / year · £720,000 inc. VAT
Submission deadline 22 Oct 202617:30 BST · 30d 6h left
Clarification cut-off 9 Oct 202612:30 BST · questions to the authority
Contract term 5 yrsup to 7 yrs with extensions · starts 4 Jan 2027
Bids per lot · this authority 3CPV 8043 · n=3 · competition analysis ↓

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) requires Higher Education Institution (HEI) providers to collaborate with the Authority to validate a degree programme which complies with regulations set by the relevant government authorities (Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in the UK, The Office for Students in England, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales in Wales, and the Scottish Funding Council in Scotland). Course validation must be in place to allow qualifications to be awarded to students on completion of their courses.

The role of the DCTT is to train and educate Aeronautical Engineering (AE) to meet the Defence requirement.

CPV: Adult-education services at university level · Personal development training services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1Lot 1Renewal 5 yrsPublished value£560,000
Contract period: 4 Jan 2027 — 3 Jan 2032 (5 yrs) · up to 7 yrs with extensionsDelivery: UKTurnover guideline: ~£223,877/yr≈ 2× annual value
Value
£560,000 exc. VAT · £720,000 inc. VAT
Extensions
Additional optional +1+1 years added to the initial period at the Authorities discretion
80430000 Adult-education services at university level80570000 Personal development training services

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

What it takes to win
i

How this buyer will score bids.

The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).

Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published — the tender pack may add more
How bids are scored
Price: 100%
Published sub-criteria (2)
  • Price50%
  • Technical non-cost including social value50%

No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.

Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid

How Ministry of Defence buys Adult-education services at university level (CPV 8043) — and who usually turns up

Ministry of Defence’s own published record, next to the South East England market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Adult-education services at university level (CPV 8043)

1

How the contest usually goes

Left: this authority. Right: the market where the work is delivered. Bids and award-vs-estimate pairs are per lot, from contested contracts only — direct awards (including PA 2023 transparency notices) report one bid by definition and are left out. On Procurement Act 2023 notices the count is the tenders assessed at the final stage, not every submission received; pairs compare like with like (VAT-exclusive, or VAT-inclusive on both sides). Empty means nothing was published, not filled in from elsewhere.

This authority

Ministry of Defence

contract notices in 36 months: 8 in CPV 8043 (2 without competition · 1 route not published) · 162 in division 80 (43 without competition · 20 route not published) · 1,267 in all categories (486 without competition · 214 route not published)

Bids per lot
i

How many companies usually bid for work like this.

Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8043), last 36 months: 3 lots. 1 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 4) and 2 from older notices (bids received, middle 2).

Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.

3CPV 8043 · 36m · n=3 lots
Single-bid lots
i

How often only one company bid.

Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8043), last 36 months: 3 lots.

High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.

33%CPV 8043 · 36m · n=3 lots
Award vs estimate
i

Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.

Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8043), last 36 months: 8 pairs.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

9% aboveCPV 8043 · 36m · n=8 pairs
Deadline → award date
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in this industry (CPV 80), last 36 months: 28 notices.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

60ddivision 80 · 36m · n=28 notices
Notice updates
i

How often this buyer changes a notice after publishing it.

Middle number of amendments per notice. Deadline extensions and corrections both count.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 24 months: 1,159 notices.

Last 24 months.

0all categories · 24m · n=1,159 notices
Awarded without competition
i

How often this buyer awards without a competition.

Direct or limited awards as a share of its notices that say which procedure was used. These routes are legal in defined cases. This is just the record.

Based on this buyer’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8043), last 36 months: 7 notices.

Last 36 months.

29%CPV 8043 · 36m · n=7 notices
Bids per lot moderate · n=3
i

How the number of bidders is spread across lots.

Each lot with a published bid count is put in a band: one bid, two to three, four to six, seven or more. Real competitions only.

Based on 3 lots on 3 contested notices · CPV 8043, last 36 months.

  • 1 bid 33%
  • 2–3 33%
  • 4–6 33%
  • 7+ 0%

Median 3 · 3 lots on 3 contested notices · CPV 8043.

Winning award vs estimate robust · n=8
i

How often winners come in below, near or above the estimate.

Each lot with both an estimate and an award is placed by how far the award sat from the estimate.

Based on 8 lot pairs · CPV 8043, last 36 months.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

  • Below estimate 25%
  • Within ±2% 13%
  • Above estimate 63%

8 lot pairs · CPV 8043.

The market · authority’s region

South East England · Adult-education services at university level (CPV 8043)

contract notices delivered in South East England in 36 months: 6 in CPV 8043 (5 competed, 1 route not published) · 276 in division 80 (203 competed, 53 route not published) · the notice publishes no delivery location, so the authority’s registered region is used

Bids per lot
i

How many companies usually bid for work like this.

Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 80), last 36 months: 158 lots. 92 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 4) and 66 from older notices (bids received, middle 2).

Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.

3division 80 · 36m · n=158 lots
Single-bid lots
i

How often only one company bid.

Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.

Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 80), last 36 months: 158 lots.

High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.

30%division 80 · 36m · n=158 lots
Award vs estimate
i

Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.

Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.

Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 80), last 36 months: 106 pairs.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

at estimatedivision 80 · 36m · n=106 pairs
Deadline → award date
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.

Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 80), last 36 months: 66 notices.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

53ddivision 80 · 36m · n=66 notices
SME bidders
i

How much of this market goes to small and medium firms.

SME bidders where buyers published the split, otherwise SME winners.

Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 80), last 36 months: 136 lots.

Last 36 months.

72%division 80 · 36m · n=136 lots
Winners based in the region
i

How much work like this goes to companies based in the delivery region.

Awards in this category delivered here where the winner’s registered address is in the region.

Based on this region’s tenders in this industry (CPV 80), last 36 months: 263 awards.

Registered address, so a national firm with a local branch counts as outside.

Last 36 months.

66%division 80 · 36m · n=263 awards
Bids per lot robust · n=158
i

How the number of bidders is spread across lots.

Each lot with a published bid count is put in a band: one bid, two to three, four to six, seven or more. Real competitions only.

Based on 158 lots on 95 contested notices · division 80, last 36 months.

  • 1 bid 30%
  • 2–3 25%
  • 4–6 24%
  • 7+ 22%

Median 3 · 158 lots on 95 contested notices · division 80.

Winning award vs estimate robust · n=106
i

How often winners come in below, near or above the estimate.

Each lot with both an estimate and an award is placed by how far the award sat from the estimate.

Based on 106 lot pairs · division 80, last 36 months.

A past pattern, not a price to bid.

  • Below estimate 36%
  • Within ±2% 52%
  • Above estimate 12%

106 lot pairs · division 80.

robust · n=8
i

Where this tender’s estimate would land if the usual pattern repeats.

We apply the buyer’s usual movement between estimate and award (or the region’s) to the estimate on this notice.

Based on this buyer’s own usual movement over 8 lots (CPV 8043), applied to the £560,000 estimate on this notice.

A benchmark, not a price to bid.

Awards in Ministry of Defence (CPV 8043, n=8 pairs) land a median 9% above: on this notice’s £560,000 that is about £608,720. Context for a bid, not a recommended price.
2

Who you are likely to meet
i

Who you may be up against.

Suppliers on this buyer’s earlier similar contracts, and suppliers whose record fits this tender.

A guess from the record. Buyers do not publish who is bidding.

Suppliers on this authority’s earlier similar contracts, then suppliers with a matching track record — from published award history, not a bid list

Suppliers with a similar track record — and how they price
i

Suppliers with a similar track record, and how they price.

Suppliers matched on wins in this category, history with this buyer, location and size. Their award vs estimate is from their own past wins.

A guess from the record, not a bidder list.

SupplierEvidenceLast awardTheir award vs estimateRelevance
Energus Limited Large3 class wins · 3 lots for this buyerthis monthno comparable pairs64%
Bridgwater & Taunton College 3 class wins · 3 lots for this buyerthis monthat estimate n=158%
Kings College London Large1 class wins · 5 lots for this buyerthis month20% below n=556%
Cardiff University Large7 class winsthis monthat estimate n=355%
Liverpool John Moores Large1 class wins · 2 lots for this buyerthis month7% below n=354%

Matched by the nightly worker on class wins, buyer history, delivery geography, scale and notice text; relevance is a 0–100% heuristic score, not a probability of bidding. “Their award vs estimate” is that supplier’s median on its own comparable single-supplier wins, CPV 8043 first. Nobody here is known to be bidding.

Coverage and what to read with care
  • Each tile explains itself. The on a figure says what it is, how it is counted and which scope this notice’s own record came from (class, division, all categories, or the authority’s 24-month row). The two columns are never blended and nothing is filled from a UK-wide figure; an empty tile means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
  • Coverage. Roughly 40 % of notices publish a bid count; about half publish an ITL1 delivery location, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice has none (labelled). About 30 % of award-vs-estimate pairs are exact matches — the buyer published the award at the estimate. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden.
  • “Match” and “relevance” are model scores from the nightly matcher, not published facts. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Open procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Open for tender
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
No (one-off requirement)
First published
21 Sept 2026, 13:51 BST
Last source update
21 Sept 2026, 13:51 BST
Award evaluation window
Submission end — 30 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
Latest notice
Tender notice (UK4)
Classification (CPV)
Adult-education services at university levelPersonal development training services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07767c Find a Tender

How to participate & submission route

Official notice
Expression of interest (EOI)
Tender submission deadline
22 Oct 2026, 17:30 BST
Clarification deadline
9 Oct 2026, 12:30 BST
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release
Submission via the Defence Sourcing Portal www.contracts.mod.uk
Published estimate £560,000 excludes VAT (£720,000 including VAT).

Timeline

5 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Tender notice published1 day ago
    21 Sept 2026, 13:51 BST
  2. Clarification questions byin 17 days
    9 Oct 2026, 12:30 BST
  3. Submission deadlinein 30 days
    22 Oct 2026, 17:30 BST
  4. Award decision expected byin 70 days
    30 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
  5. Contract startsin 104 days
    4 Jan 2027, 00:00 GMT

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Nothing awarded yet
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Tender notice published
    21 Sept 2026, 13:51 BSTUK4

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Ministry of Defence

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PHVX-4316-ZVGZ RAF HIgh Wycombe, Naphill, South East, HP14 4UE [email protected]

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

  • Conflict of interest declarationtenderConflict of interest declarationNot published

Notices published for this procedure

  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender