Official UK procurement notice
Flexible Lifelong Learning · UK public procurement notice
Authority: Cardiff University (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionCardiff University’s new Institute for Flexible Lifelong Learning, established in August 2026, brings together the University’s long established lifelong learning and professional development portfolios into a single Institute with an expanded, future-focused approach to flexible study. The Institute builds on our strong foundations with a clear ambition – to make Cardiff University a “learning partner for life”, offering education that fits around work, life and changing career needs.
To support this ambition, Cardiff University are procuring the services of an Online Programme Management (OPM) as a flexible partner to provide specialist expertise and operational support for the development, launch and growth of a portfolio of fully online postgraduate programmes, with the first programmes expected to commence recruitment from Spring/Summer 2027 with the first cohort of students anticipated to start in academic year 2027/28.
- How the procedure runs: As stated in the COP and ITT documents.
CPV: Administrative educational services · Advertising and marketing services · Education and training services
How this framework works
From the published notice- Framework period
- 3 yrs · up to 5 yrs from 8 Jun 2027
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£5,000,000
- Economic & financial standing
As stated in the ITT documents.
- Technical & professional ability
As stated in the ITT 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 (4)
- Quality – Written Response: 45%
- Responsible Procurement: 10%
- Quality – Presentation: 20%
- Price: 25%
Published award criteria (4)
- Quality – Written Response
- Responsible Procurement
- Quality – Presentation
- Price
- Economic & financial standing
As stated in the ITT documents.
- Technical & professional ability
As stated in the ITT documents.
- Price carries 25 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2.5 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- “Flexible Lifelong Learning” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How Cardiff University buys Administrative services of agencies (CPV 7512), and who usually turns up
Cardiff University’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. This notice is a framework or DPS, so only frameworks and DPS are compared. Whole-market view: Administrative services of agencies (CPV 7512) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Here, local means the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside Wales (Cymru).
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 59 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid0% / 4%
2–348% / 26%
4–615% / 17%
7+37% / 53%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
On a framework or DPS, prices are agreed when work is called off.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Not comparable on a framework or DPS. The notice sets up a supplier panel and a ceiling value; what the work actually costs is agreed later, on each call-off or mini-competition, and those publish as contract notices of their own. The award-vs-estimate record of this market therefore sits on the call-offs; this page shows it on the contracts, not on the panel that frames them.
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 7512Published estimate£5.0m
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 81 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid4%
2–326%
4–617%
7+53%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Open admission
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 10 Jul 2026, 09:52 BST
- Last source update
- 20 Oct 2026, 10:21 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 20 May 2027
- Authority reference
CU.2071.GD- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-098813- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06c826Find a Tender
- How it runs
As stated in the COP and ITT documents.
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Apply via In-tend- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Appointment period ends
- 17 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 10 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en, cy
Timeline
10 Jul 2026 → 8 Jun 2027 · 8 dates- Planning notice published102 days ago10 Jul 2026, 09:52 BST
- Market engagement59 days ago21 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
Cardiff University is commencing early market engagement to inform the development of its upcoming procurement for the supply of Online Programme Management (OPM) services on a pay per service basis.
The University is currently undertaking a programme of work to provide the necessary insights and lay the groundwork for a strategic approach to fully online post graduate taught portfolio development and delivery, with a proposed start date for the first phase of the portfolio being September 2027.
The pre-market engagement exercise will seek to:
- To establish the level of interest in the tender opportunity
- Provide suppliers with insights into the proposal for Cardiff University to launch a fully online portfolio.
- To gain an understanding of your experience of similar contracts, incorporating any lessons learnt to drive improvements.
- Gain insight into the current OPM marketplace and emerging trends.
- Understand the range of services available on a modular or pay-per-service basis.
- Explore different commercial and contractual arrangements, including alternatives to traditional revenue-share models.
- Understand supplier capability and capacity to support online postgraduate portfolio growth.
- Understand approaches to student recruitment, marketing, retention, learner support and analytics.
- Explore innovative approaches to programme design, development and delivery.
- Inform the design, scope and structure of a future procurement exercise.
- Ensure that any forthcoming procurement exercise is suitably aligned to institutional priorities and supplier expectations.
The pre-market engagement event will be held at 11:00 – 12:00 on Wednesday, 12 August. This will be a presentation delivered by Cardiff University to potential suppliers to provide background to Cardiff University and our expectation of this need.
Suppliers interested in attending the pre-market engagement event must complete and return the registration form via the correspondence function on the Universities e-tender portal In-Tend.
in-tendhost.co.uk/cardiffuniversity/ ↗
Suppliers will be limited to 2 attendees. The session will be anonymised so that attendees will remain unknown to other participants. The deadline for registering attendance at the event is 12 noon on Tuesday 4th August 2026. Teams invitations will be issued once this deadline has passed. The University reserves the right to reject an application to attend sent after this time.
All presentation documentation, questions and answers will be published on the e-tendering portal following the pre-market engagement event.
Following this presentation, a questionnaire will be published on the tendering portal to gain insights from suppliers. The deadline for returning this questionnaire is Friday 21st August 2026. The University reserves the right to reject an application to attend sent after this time.
This stage does not formally commence a procurement process. Participation in this pre-market engagement is voluntary and will not provide any advantage or disadvantage in any subsequent tender process.
The University anticipates refining the scope, service levels, data requirements, performance metrics, and commercial structure following this Pre Market Engagement.
Insights gained will inform the final tender documentation.
- Next notice expected31 days ago18 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice publishedearlier today20 Oct 2026, 10:21 BST
- Today20 Oct 2026
- Clarification questions byin 21 days10 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Admission / appointment period endsin 28 days · period end, not a bid countdown17 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 213 days20 May 2027, 23:59 BST
- Contract startsin 231 days8 Jun 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
8 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 10 Jul 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published10 Jul 2026, 09:52 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published10 Jul 2026, 11:13 BSTUK2
- Pipeline notice published27 Aug 2026, 17:34 BSTUK1
- Status changed to planned27 Aug 2026, 17:34 BST
- Tender notice published20 Oct 2026, 10:21 BSTUK4
- Status changed to active20 Oct 2026, 10:21 BST
- Procurement method changed20 Oct 2026, 10:21 BST
- Deadline published: 17 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT20 Oct 2026, 10:21 BST
Published amendments (1)
May be more suitable to suppliers who aren't necessarily SMEs.
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2026-07: 1 release · 10 Jul 2026
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (6)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specifications https://in-tendhost.co.uk/cardiffuniversity/aspx/Home
- Technical specifications https://in-tendhost.co.uk/cardiffuniversity/aspx/Home
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline 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