Official UK procurement notice
Exam Boards · UK public procurement notice
Authority: Dudley College of Technology (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionSubject of the Contract:
Provision of regulated qualifications and assessments from specified awarding bodies.
Description of the Contract:
Dudley College intends to directly award contracts for the provision of qualifications and assessments to a defined list of approved exam boards. These include:
- Pearson Edexcel
- AQA
- City & Guilds
- NCFE
This decision is based on curriculum alignment, quality assurance, and regulatory compliance. No competitive tendering procedure will be undertaken for this procurement.
Justification for Direct Award:
Under Section 41 and Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023, Dudley College is permitted to make a direct award where:
- The goods or services can only be supplied by a particular supplier due to technical or educational requirements.
- The contract value and nature do not warrant a competitive procedure.
- The decision supports continuity and consistency in curriculum delivery.
Estimated Contract Value:
£5-£6 million.
Contract Duration:
3 years with optional 1-year extension
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Awarded
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 5 Aug 2025, 14:30 BST
- Last source update
- 5 Aug 2025, 14:30 BST
- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-046173- Latest notice
- Transparency notice (UK5)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0581a0Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Technical Reasons; Urgency
- Published justification
Under Section 41 and Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023, Dudley College is permitted to make a direct award where:
- The goods or services can only be supplied by a particular supplier due to technical or educational requirements.
- The contract value and nature do not warrant a competitive procedure.
- The decision supports continuity and consistency in curriculum delivery.
- Risks
Students unable to complete exams without contract which would impact College performance and student experience.
Notice history
2 events · 1 release on Find a Tender · since 5 Aug 2025- Transparency notice published5 Aug 2025, 14:30 BSTUK5
- Contract signature expected1 Sept 2025, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| AQA, City & Guilds of London Institute, NCFE, Pearson Education Limitedjoint award1 Sept 2025 – 31 Aug 2029 | £6,000,000 | — | Standstill |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
4 commercial parties on the notice- AQAAwarded supplier
- CITY AND GUILDS OF LONDON INSTITUTEAwarded supplier
- NCFEAwarded supplier
- PEARSON EDUCATION LIMITEDAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender