Official UK procurement notice
Chevening and Marshall Administration Contract
Authority: Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis project covers the Marshall Scholarship Programme which is the UK's flagship US-UK scholarships programme and the Chevening Programme which provides individuals who show the potential to inspire, inform, and influence positive change, with an opportunity to study at a UK university and gain a UK educational qualification. We are procuring for a provider to deliver these Scholarships. Likely administration contract requirements include;
Programme Delivery
Marketing and Communications
Alumni Engagement
Partnerships
Finance
Monitoring and Evaluation
CPV: Administrative educational services · Administrative services for business operations · Marketing services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office buys General public services (CPV 7511), and who usually turns up
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: General public services (CPV 7511) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Here, local means the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in Greater London.
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.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 55 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
The buyer’s share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid27% / 17%
2–327% / 67%
4–627% / 17%
7+18% / 0%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate40% / 46%
Within ±2%60% / 50%
Above estimate0% / 4%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 7511No real estimate
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 35 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid11%
2–343%
4–631%
7+14%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- 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
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 23 May 2025, 16:17 BST
- Last source update
- 12 May 2026, 10:06 BST
- Authority reference
Project_12388- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-043334- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05245aFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
23 May 2025 → 1 Sept 2027 · 5 dates- Planning notice published23 May 2025, 16:17 BST
- Market engagement244 days ago18 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
Summary of the Requirement
The FCDO is seeking to engage with the market ahead of a planned procurement to appoint a delivery partner to manage the end to end administration of two flagship international scholarship programmes:
- Chevening Scholarships – operating globally across 160+ countries
- Marshall Scholarships – supporting US UK academic exchange
The future supplier will be responsible for delivering services including:
- Global communications and outreach
- Application and selection management
- Scholar and fellow placement support
- Pre departure services and UK based welfare
- Alumni engagement
- Monitoring, evaluation, data and reporting
- Financial administration and partnership management
The supplier must demonstrate innovation, operational resilience, global reach, and strong commitments to social value, inclusion, diversity, sustainability, and value for money.
Purpose of This Engagement
The purpose of this PME is to:
- Test market interest and capacity
- Refine the requirement and commercial model
- Explore potential delivery approaches
- Assess capability across relevant service areas
- Inform the final route to market decision (CCS FADS (RM6322) DPS or full PA23 open competition)
This engagement is not a call for competition.
Participation will not affect the ability of suppliers to compete in any future procurement.
The FCDO intends to host a virtual supplier engagement session
Registration: Please register your interest by completing the form below.
- Latest notice published161 days ago12 May 2026, 10:06 BST
- Today20 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 72 days31 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 315 days1 Sept 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
6 events · 5 releases on Find a Tender · since 23 May 2025- Pipeline notice published23 May 2025, 16:17 BSTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published2 Feb 2026, 15:12 GMTUK2
- Published value updated to £02 Feb 2026, 15:12 GMTwas £29,000,000
- Preliminary market engagement notice published17 Feb 2026, 10:00 GMTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published11 May 2026, 14:54 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published12 May 2026, 10:06 BSTUK2
Published amendments (3)
This Engagement has been postponed till further notice, If you have already registered you should receive an email to this effect. Once a new date is confirmed this will be published.
Summary of the Requirement The FCDO is seeking to engage with the market ahead of a planned procurement to appoint a delivery partner to manage the end to end administration of two flagship international scholarship programmes: • Chevening Scholarships – operating globally across 160+ countries • Marshall Scholarships – supporting US UK academic exchange The future supplier will be responsible for…
Summary of the Requirement The FCDO is seeking to engage with the market ahead of a planned procurement to appoint a delivery partner to manage the end to end administration of two flagship international scholarship programmes: • Chevening Scholarships – operating globally across 160+ countries • Marshall Scholarships – supporting US UK academic exchange The future supplier will be responsible for…
Routine re-releases (5)
- 2026-02: 1 release · 2 Feb 2026
- 2025-05: 1 release · 23 May 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (5)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender