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Find a TenderAwarded without competitionContract details notice
Published 19 Sept 2025, 15:59 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Executive Masters in Public Policy (EMPP)

Official notice

Authority: Department for Education (Central government)

Direct award
Sectors: Education & Training (80) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Awarded value£1,072,820published award · exc. VAT
Awarded 18 Sept 2025no call for competition
Awarded to London School of Economics and Political Science

What is being bought

Published requirement description

This Direct Award is to the London School of Economics for the delivery of the 2026-28 Cohort of the Executive Masters in Public Policy, and the final month of delivery for the 25-27 cohort. Designed in conjunction with the UK Civil Service the Executive Masters in Public Policy is an expert level course designed to equip senior policy makers with the skills and knowledge required to become excellent policy makers.

This direct award aims to provide learners continuity of service and provision, ensuring that there is no break in our ability to deliver expert level accredited learning whilst we undertake a full procurement. This will cover the final month of delivery of the 25-27 cohort, which falls outside of our current contract, and the delivery of a full Cohort starting in September 2026-28. If this Direct Award were not to proceed, the full delivery of the 2025-27 cohort would be in jeopardy. Proceeding via a direct award is the favourable option in comparison to other available contracting vehicles, as it represents a significant saving on the per-student cost in comparison to the per-student cost for the 2025-27 cohort.

The Direct Award will also allow us to undertake a full procurement exercise for delivery of Accredited Learning from September 2027, allowing us to test the requirements of the policy profession against the wider higher education market.

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Awarded
80300000 Higher education services

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
Standard
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
19 Sept 2025, 15:59 BST
Last source update
22 Jan 2026, 11:05 GMT
Authority reference
Project_10047
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-005652
Latest notice
Contract details notice (UK7)
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-059e5e Find a Tender
Why no open competition
Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
Published justification

London School of Economics (LSE) is the only supplier that could deliver the conclusion of the 2025-27 cohort without disruption to learners, due to the conclusion of the current frameworks. Due to recruitment timelines (beginning December 2025), it will be impossible to have a new supplier in place for the delivery of the 2026-28 cohort. A quotation from the supplier indicates an estimated saving of £55,137.50 across government when compared to the existing arrangements, based off student volumes for 2025-27. This extension would allow time for us to test requirements against the open market through a full procurement exercise.

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

30 Sept 2025 → 22 Jan 2026 · 2 dates
  1. Standstill ends384 days ago
    30 Sept 2025, 23:59 BST
  2. Notice published271 days ago
    22 Jan 2026, 11:05 GMT

Notice history

5 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 19 Sept 2025
  1. Transparency notice published
    19 Sept 2025, 15:59 BST
    UK5
  2. Contract award notice published
    19 Sept 2025, 17:07 BST
    UK6
  3. Contract award notice published
    2 Oct 2025, 12:45 BST
    UK6
  4. Contract signature expected
    10 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
    scheduled
  5. Contract details notice published
    22 Jan 2026, 11:05 GMT
    UK7
Routine re-releases (4)
  • 2025-09: 1 release · 19 Sept 2025

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded value £1,072,8201 award exc. VAT
Contracts signed 1latest 29 Dec 2025
Awarded toValueDateStatus
London School of Economics and Political Science10 Oct 2025 – 31 May 2028£1,072,82018 Sept 2025Awarded

Contracts

  • Contract 1 · London School of Economics and Political Science

    Signed
    29 Dec 2025
    Value
    £1,072,820
    Period
    29 Dec 2025 – 31 May 2028
    Status
    active
    3 agreed KPIs: Social value: Public Accessibility of Academic Expertise · Survey satisfaction score · Course Completion Rate
    • Social value: Public Accessibility of Academic Expertise, Number of publicfacing academic events hosted or delivered annually.
    • Survey satisfaction score, Average satisfaction score from postgraduate learners (via surveys)
    • Course Completion Rate, Measures the percentage of enrolled postgraduate students who successfully complete the course within the agreed timeframe.

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Department for Education

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PDZG-3487-DPVD Sanctuary Buildings, 20 Great Smith Street, London, London, SW1P3BTContact email

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice

Official documents & specifications (4)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Contract details notice contractContract details noticeUK7Contract details notice on Find a Tender
  • Contract award notice awardContract award noticeUK6Contract award notice on Find a Tender
  • Contract award notice awardContract award noticeUK6Contract award notice on Find a Tender
  • Transparency notice awardTransparency noticeUK5Transparency notice on Find a Tender