Official UK procurement notice
Defence Medical Services (DMS) Service Provider- Delivery of the Level 3 Senior Healthcare Support Worker English Apprenticeship (ST0217)
Authority: Ministry of Defence (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Ministry of Defence six year contract commencing 1st Aug 26, to support and supplement the delivery of the Level 3 Senior Healthcare Support Worker English Apprenticeship (ST0217) to the Defence Medical Services (Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force) Medics and Health Care Assistants. This is a two-year apprenticeship with the majority of training delivered by the tri-Services acting as an Apprenticeship Employer-Provider with a tri-Service initial military ‘foundation medic’ programme delivered to all apprentices at the Defence Medical Academy, Lichfield, followed by completion of the apprenticeship at military units UK wide.
There is a requirement for an APAR registered Provider to supplement the military training delivery of the apprenticeship, provide Functional Skills training where required, support Apprentices (for example by conducting progress reviews and EPA preparation), create and manage DfE compliant learner records.
CPV: Education and training services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedPublished value£10,000,000
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).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Technical response (including social value): 70%
- Commercial: 30%
Published award criteria (2)
- Technical response (including social value)
- Commercial
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
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
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 13 May 2025, 12:23 BST
- Last source update
- 10 Mar 2026, 07:08 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 12 Feb 2026
- Authority reference
714578455-ITT- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-051810- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0511e3Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
Payment will be made via the Contracting, Purchasing and Finance (CP&F) system / EXOSTAR.
Payment to be made in the form of quarterly milestone payments, paid within 30 days of invoice received when the service, training and support has been received to an acceptable standard.
- Risks
- DfE Changes – Potential changes to Department for Education (DfE) policies or funding and apprenticeship delivery and assessment regulations.
- Apprenticeship Cessation – The discontinuation of specific apprenticeship standards or frameworks.
- Introduction of New Apprenticeships – The implementation of new or additional apprenticeship standards that may require adjustments to existing contracts.
- Initial Trade Training (ITT) Changes – Modifications to ITT requirements or delivery methods.
- Army/Cap Badge Restructuring – Organisational changes within the Army or cap badge structures that could impact apprenticeship delivery
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 13 Oct 2025, 17:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 19 Sept 2025, 17:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
13 May 2025 → 1 Aug 2026 · 11 dates- Planning notice published13 May 2025, 12:23 BST
- Market engagement19 Jun 2025, 23:59 BST
Prior to release of the full ITT, the Authority wishes to gauge the level of market interest from potential providers wishing to bid for this procurement, based on the scope and estimated value(s) as detailed within this Notice. As such, the Authority hereby requests that any interested parties register their preliminary interest by sending an email to the following address: [email protected] by 19th June 2025.
Please note that for the avoidance of doubt, this notice is not a call for competition and companies who do not register their preliminary interest will still be free to attend the Bidders Conference (as detailed below) and will still be able to tender against the future ITT.
A Bidders Briefing session is planned to be held at the Defence Medical Academy (Litchfield) on the 11 Sep 2025 with details on how to secure a place provided in the Tender Notice. Places are limited and you can pre-register your interest in attending by email to [email protected]
- Next notice expected27 Aug 2025, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published28 Aug 2025, 10:25 BST
- Clarification questions by400 days ago19 Sept 2025, 17:00 BST
- Submission deadline376 days ago13 Oct 2025, 17:00 BST
- Assessment summaries sent255 days ago12 Feb 2026
- Award decision expected by254 days ago12 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Standstill ends243 days ago23 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Latest notice published228 days ago10 Mar 2026, 07:08 GMT
- Contract starts85 days ago1 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
12 events · 6 releases on Find a Tender · since 13 May 2025- Pipeline notice published13 May 2025, 12:23 BSTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published22 May 2025, 10:35 BSTUK2
- Planned procurement notice published6 Jun 2025, 16:55 BSTUK3
- Procurement method changed6 Jun 2025, 16:55 BST
- Deadline published: 29 Sept 2025, 17:00 BST6 Jun 2025, 16:55 BST
- Tender notice published28 Aug 2025, 10:25 BSTUK4
- Status changed to active28 Aug 2025, 10:25 BST
- Deadline moved to 13 Oct 2025, 17:00 BST28 Aug 2025, 10:25 BST+14 days · was 29 Sept 2025, 17:00 BST
- Contract award notice published12 Feb 2026, 09:04 GMTUK6
- Status changed to complete12 Feb 2026, 09:04 GMT
- Contract signature expected28 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMTscheduled
- Contract details notice published10 Mar 2026, 07:08 GMTUK7
Routine re-releases (6)
- 2025-06: 1 release · 6 Jun 2025
- 2025-05: 2 releases · 13 May 2025, 22 May 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pearson, TQ Education And Training Limitedjoint award1 Aug 2026 – 31 Jul 2032 | £7,825,239 | 12 Feb 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 1 · Pearson, TQ Education And Training Limited
- Signed
- 9 Mar 2026
- Value
- £7,825,239
- Period
- 1 Aug 2026 – 31 Jul 2032
- Status
- active
5 agreed KPIs: Timely Learner Reviews · Functional Skills – Maths and English · Timely MIS validation error resolution …
- Timely Learner Reviews
- Functional Skills – Maths and English
- Timely MIS validation error resolution
- Satisfactory SOP5 Audit Findings
- Learner Satisfaction
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2final-stage tenders · 5 at stage one | 1 | 0 | — |
Who bid
- did not winTHE COLLEGES’ PARTNERSHIPSME · South West England
- wonTQ Education and Training Ltd (Trading as Pearson TQ) · Greater London
Bidders as named on the Procurement Act 2023 award notice. “Won” means the bidder holds an award on this notice.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
3 commercial parties on the notice · 2 awarded- THE COLLEGES’ PARTNERSHIPBidder / tenderer
- TQ Education and Training Ltd (Trading as Pearson TQ)Awarded supplier
- TQ Education and Training Ltd (Trading as Pearson TQ)Awarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (7)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Signed contract 714578455- Redacted Contrcat
Notices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement 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