Official UK procurement notice
CPT_26_22 Professional Accountancy Apprenticeship training programme
Authority: National Audit Office (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe National Audit Office (NAO) is the UK’s independent public spending watchdog, supporting Parliament in holding government to account and improving public services through high-quality audit work.
The NAO intends to re-procure its Professional Accountancy and Apprenticeship Training contract to support tuition delivery for graduate and school-leaver trainees undertaking ICAEW qualifications, including ACA examinations. The procurement is expected to launch in late autumn 2026.
The NAO is seeking an experienced, accredited training provider to deliver professional accountancy tuition and apprenticeship training for the following expected routes:
•Level 6 Digital Financial Audit apprenticeships for graduates and school leavers, delivered over 48 months. This route combines the 12-month Certificate in Finance, Accounting and Business (CFAB) with a 36-month Level 6 applied degree apprenticeship in Digital Technology; and
•Level 7 Accountancy Professional apprenticeships for eligible school leavers, delivered over 54 months.
•ACA Professional qualification route for eligible graduates, delivered over 36 months.
The new procurement is expected to cover Level 6 and Level 7 apprenticeship training only. While Level 4 Professional Accounting Technician apprenticeships are currently delivered under the NAO's existing arrangements and will continue with the incumbent supplier, they are not intended to form part of the new procurement.
The contract may include scope for the NAO to introduce, offer or develop additional related apprenticeship routes or qualification programmes at different levels during the term, subject to business need, funding availability and agreement with the appointed provider.
The estimated total value of the new procurement is up to £6 million (inclusive of VAT) over a five-year term. Although Level 4 delivery is not intended to form part of this new procurement, the estimated value has been set to accommodate the anticipated Level 6 and Level 7 apprenticeship routes, potential changes in demand, and the possible introduction of additional apprenticeship pathways, qualification programmes, or related services during the contract term.
The anticipated contract term is three years, with an option to extend for up to a further two years, giving a maximum duration of five years.
CPV: Personal development training services · Specialist training services · Staff training services · Training services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How National Audit Office buys Specialist training services (CPV 8051), and who usually turns up
National Audit Office’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Specialist training services (CPV 8051) →
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.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award 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 the region where that award was delivered.
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How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 100 days of the bid deadline.
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How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
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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 bid9% / 19%
2–359% / 42%
4–632% / 27%
7+0% / 12%
How did awards compare with estimates?
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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 estimate35% / 53%
Within ±2%30% / 42%
Above estimate35% / 5%
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 80Published estimate£5.0m
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 80. The comparison uses that group.
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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 789 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid23%
2–330%
4–624%
7+24%
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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
- 7 Aug 2026, 13:53 BST
- Last source update
- 7 Aug 2026, 13:53 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-075315- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06df28Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
7 Aug 2026 → 1 Sept 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published79 days ago7 Aug 2026, 13:53 BST
- Market engagement52 days ago2 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
This Preliminary Market Engagement Notice invites interested suppliers to attend a virtual market engagement event on Thursday 3 September 2026, from 10.00am to 11.00am, ahead of the NAO’s planned procurement exercise, expected to launch in winter 2026.
The event will provide early insight into the proposed Professional Accountancy and Apprenticeship Training procurement, including the anticipated requirement and procurement timetable.
Suppliers wishing to attend should email [email protected] by 12 noon on Wednesday 2 September 2026, providing each attendee’s name, job title, organisation and contact details. Further information will be provided closer to the event.
Please note this engagement is being used to help the NAO assess market interest before the formal procurement process begins. It is not a call for competition or an invitation to tender. Attendance is optional and non-attendance will not prevent suppliers from participating in any future procurement process.
- Today25 Oct 2026
- Tender notice expectedin 37 days30 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 311 days1 Sept 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published7 Aug 2026, 13:53 BSTUK2
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 (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender