Official UK procurement notice
DE - Teacher Education and Professional Learning - Replacement for Professional Qualification for Headship for Northern Ireland
Authority: Department of Education (Central government)·On behalf of: CPD
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Department of Education, wishes to appoint an external supplier to develop and
deliver a replacement programme for the Professional Qualification for Headship (PQH),
in line with the stated commitment in the TransformED Strategy . This is a Ministerial
priority with a defined timeline for the development, piloting and delivery of the
replacement programme which has been crafted to deliver the Minister’s stated objective
and work within the confines of each academic year. The contract duration is anticipated
to be from May 2026 until June 2029 with one optional extension until June 2031. The
supplier will be required to develop the programme from Contract Award until December
2026, with delivery of the pilot to commence in January 2027 to the end of December
2027(excluding Northern Ireland school holidays), running over 12 months with a cohort of
40 participants(cohort split in two, to allow the two modules to run concurrently and the
pilot to be completed within this timeframe. The programme will officially launch January
2028 which will run over an 18-month period. Delivery in subsequent years through
agreement with DE, could be split into separate January and September entry points
(combining to a total of 100 participants) each year which will provide practical preparation
as a key component in the pathway to Principalship through a comprehensive and tailored
programme for recently appointed and aspiring Principals. Suppliers should refer to the
Specification Schedule for full detail on the deliverables of this Contract.
CPV: Education and training services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£2,150,000
- Technical & professional ability
As per Tender documentation
What it takes to wini
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 morei
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).
- AC1 Content: Content - 31.5 percent
- AC2 Implementation: Implementation - 28 percent
- AC3 Social Value: Social Value - 10.5 percent
- AC4 Price: Price - 30 percent
- Technical & professional ability
As per Tender documentation
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
- Awarded
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 24 Feb 2026, 15:24 GMT
- Last source update
- 15 May 2026, 08:46 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 20 Apr 2026
- Authority reference
ID 6200345- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-016563- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-065b44Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
For further details on invoicing procedures please see : www.finance-ni.gov.uk/ar ↗ ticles/account-ni-good-invoicing-practice
The estimated value figure indicated in the Scope Section represents an overall estimated contract value. This value reflects the potential scale of the contract and takes into account potential optional extension periods and the uptake of potential optional services as detailed in the tender documents. This figure does not however take into account the application of indexation or increases to charges due to increases in the Real Living Wage. Neither CPD nor the contracting Authority can provide any guarantee as to the level of business under this contract. The Contracting Authority does not bind itself to accept the lowest or any tender. Suppliers remain responsible for all costs and expenses incurred by them or by any third party acting under instructions from the Supplier in connection with taking part in this procurement process regardless of whether such costs arise as a consequence, directly or indirectly of any amendments made to the procurement documents by the Contracting Authority at any time. No legally binding contract shall arise (and a Supplier shall have no legitimate expectation that a contract will be entered into) until such time as entry into the Contract has been confirmed by the Contracting Authority.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 24 Mar 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 10 Mar 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Tenders must be submitted electronically via the relevant Call for Tender (CfT) opportunity on eTendersNI, website details immediately below.
Paper submissions will not be accepted or considered and will be rejected by the Contracting Authority / Buyer.
The tender documents are available with unrestricted and full direct access, free of charge, at: URL etendersni.gov.uk/epps ↗
Timeline
24 Feb 2026 → 15 May 2026 · 8 dates- Tender notice published238 days ago24 Feb 2026, 15:24 GMT
- Clarification questions by224 days ago10 Mar 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Submission deadline210 days ago24 Mar 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Award decision expected by183 days ago20 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts177 days ago27 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
- Assessment summaries sent173 days ago1 May 2026, 00:00 BST
- Standstill ends159 days ago14 May 2026, 23:59 BST
- Latest notice published159 days ago15 May 2026, 08:46 BST
Notice history
8 events · 5 releases on Find a Tender · since 24 Feb 2026- Tender notice published24 Feb 2026, 15:24 GMTUK4
- Tender notice published18 Mar 2026, 16:50 GMTUK4
- Deadline moved to 24 Mar 2026, 15:00 GMT18 Mar 2026, 16:50 GMT+1 days · was 23 Mar 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Contract award notice published5 May 2026, 09:52 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete5 May 2026, 09:52 BST
- Contract award notice published5 May 2026, 09:56 BSTUK6
- Contract details notice published15 May 2026, 08:46 BSTUK7
- Contract signature expected15 May 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Published amendments (1)
Submission deadline has been updated from 23rd March 2026 to 24th March 2026
Routine re-releases (5)
- 2026-03: 1 release · 18 Mar 2026
- 2026-02: 1 release · 24 Feb 2026
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Queen's University Belfast18 May 2026 – 30 Jun 2029 · up to 30 Jun 2031Extensions: 1 Optional Extension up to 30 June 2031 | £3,000,000 | 30 Apr 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
DE - Teacher Education and Professional Learning - Replacement for Professional Qualification for Headship for Northern Ireland · Queen's University Belfast
- Signed
- 15 May 2026
- Value
- £3,000,000
- Period
- 18 May 2026 – 30 Jun 2029 · up to 30 Jun 2031 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- 1 Optional Extension up to 30 June 2031
No agreed KPIs: The value of this contract is below the relevant threshold of £5 million including VAT.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3final-stage tenders · 4 at stage one | 2 | 1 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
3 public bodies on the noticeOther public bodies
- CPDBeneficiary authority
- CPD - Supplies and Services DivisionProcess contact pointProcuring entityConstruction and Procurement Delivery – Supplies and Services Division, is a Centre of Procurement Expertise and provides a central procurement function for central government in Northern Ireland
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Queen's University BelfastAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (5)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender