Find a TenderAwarded without competitionContract award notice
Published 8 Aug 2026, 16:28 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Always-on’ partnership with UCAS 26/27

Official notice

Authority: NHS England (Central government)

Direct award
Sectors: Business Services & Consultancy (79) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Awarded value£533,409published award · exc. VAT
Award in standstill 6 Aug 2026no call for competition
Award (standstill) to UCAS Media Ltd

What is being bought

Published requirement description

NHS England intends to award a 12 month contract to UCAS for the delivery of targeted marketing and recruitment support services to increase awareness of NHS careers and encourage applications and acceptances to nursing and allied health profession (AHP) degree programmes for the 2026/27 recruitment cycle. The contract includes targeted communications, management of NHS health careers webpages, audience segmentation, admissions data insights, and campaign reporting. The award is being made via a Direct Award under Schedule 5, Paragraph 6 of the Procurement Act 2023, as UCAS is uniquely placed to deliver these services through its national higher education admissions platform and is the only supplier with direct access to higher education applicant data.

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Direct award
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Notice status
Awarded without competition
Procurement threshold
Unspecified in notice
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Direct award (no call for competition)
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
8 Aug 2026, 16:28 BST
Last source update
8 Aug 2026, 17:11 BST
Authority reference
C463854
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-075491
Latest notice
Contract award notice (UK6)
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06df8f Find a Tender
Why no open competition
Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
Published justification

The direct award is permitted under Schedule 5, Paragraph 6 of the Procurement Act 2023, as both statutory conditions applicable to the contract have been met,

Review and risk notes
Risks

Not applicable.

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

8 Aug 2026 → 19 Aug 2026 · 2 dates
  1. Notice published74 days ago
    8 Aug 2026, 17:11 BST
  2. Standstill ends63 days ago
    19 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST

Notice history

3 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 8 Aug 2026
  1. Transparency notice published
    8 Aug 2026, 16:28 BST
    UK5
  2. Contract award notice published
    8 Aug 2026, 17:11 BST
    UK6
  3. Contract signature expected
    20 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
    scheduled

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded value £533,4091 award exc. VAT
Awarded toValueDateStatus
UCAS Media LtdSME20 Aug 2026 – 19 Aug 2027£533,4096 Aug 2026standstill to 19 Aug 2026Standstill

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

NHS England

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PDPT-3135-BWWY Wellington House, 133-135 Waterloo Rd, London, London, SE1 8UGContact email

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice
  • UCAS Media LimitedAwarded supplierGB-PPON: PQLW-4791-YWWY Rosehill, New Barn Ln, Cheltenham, Cheltenham, South West, GL52 3LZContact email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Contract award notice awardContract award noticeUK6Contract award notice on Find a Tender
  • Transparency notice awardTransparency noticeUK5Transparency notice on Find a Tender