Official UK procurement notice
Developing a Digital and Data Skills Pathway
Authority: Department for Education (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Department for Education is procuring a supplier to develop a digital and data skills pathway for schools along with support to help implement it effectively. The pathway will set out the minimum and aspirational standards for the skills and expertise needed to use technology, digital, data and AI safely and effectively. It will drive an ongoing professional development journey, can be used to align sector support and new training to a consistent framework and support integration of safe and effective use of technology into pedagogical and management practices, including where it can support engagement, inclusivity, outcomes and workload reduction. The programme must be designed using a number of design principles including co-design with the sector. The contract runs to March 2027 with a budget of up to £500,000 and will result in a GOV.UK-hosted, future-proofed national framework and support to help its implementation.
CPV: Development consultancy services · E-learning services · Education and training services · IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · Secondary education services · Training software development services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£500,000
- Economic & financial standing
Detailed in Tender documents
- Technical & professional ability
Detailed in Tender documents
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)
- Commercial: 30%
- Quality and Social Value: 70%
Published award criteria (2)
- Commercial
- Quality and Social Value
- Economic & financial standing
Detailed in Tender documents
- Technical & professional ability
Detailed in Tender documents
- 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
- 15 May 2026, 09:26 BST
- Last source update
- 9 Oct 2026, 09:57 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 19 Aug 2026
- Authority reference
project_10519- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-058117- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0699aeFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 31 Jul 2026, 12:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 3 Jul 2026, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
15 May 2026 → 9 Oct 2026 · 10 dates- Planning notice published153 days ago15 May 2026, 09:26 BST
- Market engagement135 days ago2 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
A market engagement session will take place on 2 June 2026 from 11:00-12:00. The link for this session is: teams.microsoft.com/meet/377473666032143 ↗
Meeting ID: 377 473 666 032 143
Passcode: WE3Ky3uq
- Next notice expected122 days ago15 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published118 days ago19 Jun 2026, 14:05 BST
- Clarification questions by104 days ago3 Jul 2026, 12:00 BST
- Submission deadline76 days ago31 Jul 2026, 12:00 BST
- Award decision expected by57 days ago19 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent56 days ago21 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST
- Contract starts45 days ago1 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published6 days ago9 Oct 2026, 09:57 BST
Notice history
11 events · 5 releases on Find a Tender · since 15 May 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published15 May 2026, 09:26 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published20 May 2026, 08:36 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published19 Jun 2026, 14:05 BSTUK4
- Published value updated to £500,00019 Jun 2026, 14:05 BSTwas £300,000
- Status changed to active19 Jun 2026, 14:05 BST
- Procurement method changed19 Jun 2026, 14:05 BST
- Deadline published: 31 Jul 2026, 12:00 BST19 Jun 2026, 14:05 BST
- Contract award notice published22 Aug 2026, 12:33 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete22 Aug 2026, 12:33 BST
- Contract signature expected4 Sept 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published9 Oct 2026, 09:57 BSTUK7
Routine re-releases (5)
- 2026-05: 2 releases · 15 May 2026, 20 May 2026
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| EDUCATE VENTURES RESEARCH LIMITEDSMEDeveloping a Digital and Data Skills Pathway contract4 Sept 2026 – 31 Mar 2027 | £300,000 | 21 Aug 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Developing a Digital and Data Skills Pathway contract · EDUCATE VENTURES RESEARCH LIMITEDSME
- Signed
- 10 Sept 2026
- Value
- £300,000
- Period
- 10 Sept 2026 – 31 Mar 2027 · up to 30 Sept 2027 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- An optional provision for the Department to extend for up to a maximum of 6 months. The Department shall exercise this extension option by giving not less than one month's written notice. Any decision to extend the contract will be subject to affordability, governance requirements, government priorities and policies.
3 agreed KPIs: The number, range and spread of users, experts and stakeholders engaged in development of the requirements · The timeliness and quality of products delivered. · The breadth of implementation support and how it enables users to meet all agreed domains.
- The number, range and spread of users, experts and stakeholders engaged in development of the requirements
- The timeliness and quality of products delivered.
- The breadth of implementation support and how it enables users to meet all agreed domains.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 16final-stage tenders · 17 at stage one | 16 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- EDUCATE VENTURES RESEARCH LIMITEDAwarded 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
- Tender notice Tender 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