Official UK procurement notice
For the provision of a Higher Education Institution to deliver the Step Up to Social Work Programme for the East Midlands Regional Partnership (Cohorts 10 and 11)
Authority: Derby City Council (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionDerby City Council (the Council) is undertaking this procurement to establish a contract for the provision of a single Higher Education Institution to deliver the Step Up to Social Work Programme for the East Midlands Regional Partnership (EMRP) for up to two cohorts (Cohorts 10 and 11) beginning March 2027. We will be procuring this contract for all Authorities/Bodies in the EMPR, which currently consists of:
• Derby City Council - Lead Authority
• Northamptonshire Children's Trust
• Nottinghamshire County Council
• Nottingham City Council
• Leicester City Council
• Leicestershire County Council
• Derbyshire County Council
• Lincolnshire County Council
• Rutland County Council
The Step up to Social Work programme is funded by the Department for Education (DfE) with the intention of raising the standard of social workers who work in children's statutory services.
The programme recruits high calibre candidates who have a 2:2 degree and who already have experience of working with vulnerable children, young people or adults who want to train as social workers.
The procurement process adopted by the Council is based on the 'Open' tendering procedure as detailed in the Procurement Act 2023 (the "Act") and the Procurement Regulations 2024 (the "Regulations") but with the added flexibility offered by Light Touch Regime (Section 9 and Schedule 1 of the Procurement Regulations 2024) and any subsequent amendment or re-enactment thereof.
Read the full description (2,495 more characters)
Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) is underway in several areas across the country, including the East Midlands, and this may result in changes to council structures, service delivery and responsibilities, and geographical coverage during the life of the contract.
For this contract it is anticipated that the effects of LGR will not lead to an increased service demand or the need to extend provision to new areas or client groups. However, it may be necessary to novate the contract to a new entity (that may replace Derby City Council) in future.
The Council did not undertake any preliminary market engagement in advance of this procurement. This decision was taken following an internal assessment of the market, which concluded that the Council has sufficient knowledge of supplier capability, service delivery models, and pricing structures based on recent procurements of a similar nature.
The Council has procured similar services twice within the last ten years, and officers have engaged with market intelligence, benchmarking data, and lessons learned from contract management to inform the service specification and procurement strategy. Insight gained through ongoing supplier performance monitoring and user feedback has enabled the Council to refine its approach without the need for further engagement at the pre-procurement stage.
To ensure a fair and competitive process, the Council has taken care to avoid including bespoke or overly prescriptive requirements that could favour incumbents or any particular delivery model.
All potential suppliers are encouraged to raise questions via the clarification process during the tender period should they require further detail or context regarding any aspect of the specification or commercial arrangements.
The Council is committed to ensuring a transparent and level playing field and has taken steps to ensure that no supplier is unfairly advantaged or disadvantaged by the decision not to conduct formal market engagement.
Please note suppliers wishing to express interest and obtain the documentation must do so by 11.30pm on Thursday 22nd October 2026. It is recommended that you express interest and obtain the documentation well before this time to allow sufficient time to prepare and submit a bid.
The deadline for returns is 10.00am on Friday 23rd October 2026.
Documents are available at www.eastmidstenders.org
Please search for TD2420
Please note: we will only accept expressions of interest through the e-tendering system.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 1 Nov 2030, 23:59 GMT.
CPV: Higher education services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1Lot 1RenewalPublished value£3,600,000
- Value
- £3,600,000 exc. VAT · £3,600,000 inc. VAT
- Extensions
- 1 * 12 months
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).
- Quality
- Technical & professional abilityThe bidder must be a Higher Education Institution offering a programme that is already be validated with Social Work England and must enable and support students to meet the Professional Capabilities Framework (PCF) and Social Workers' post-qualifying standard (knowledge and skills statements).
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How Derby City Council buys Higher education services (CPV 8030) — and who usually turns up
Derby City Council’s own published record, next to the East Midlands market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Higher education services (CPV 8030) →
How the contest usually goes
Left: this authority. Right: the market where the work is delivered. Bids and award-vs-estimate pairs are per lot, from contested contracts only — direct awards (including PA 2023 transparency notices) report one bid by definition and are left out. On Procurement Act 2023 notices the count is the tenders assessed at the final stage, not every submission received; pairs compare like with like (VAT-exclusive, or VAT-inclusive on both sides). Empty means nothing was published, not filled in from elsewhere.
Derby City Council
contract notices in 36 months: 1 in CPV 8030 · 2 in division 80 · 92 in all categories (30 without competition · 8 route not published)
i
How many companies usually bid for work like this.
Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 45 lots. 19 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 3) and 26 from older notices (bids received, middle 5).
Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.
i
How often only one company bid.
Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 45 lots.
High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.
i
Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.
Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 38 pairs.
A past pattern, not a price to bid.
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.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 16 notices.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
i
How often this buyer changes a notice after publishing it.
Middle number of amendments per notice. Deadline extensions and corrections both count.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 24 months: 226 notices.
i
How often this buyer awards without a competition.
Direct or limited awards as a share of its notices that say which procedure was used. These routes are legal in defined cases. This is just the record.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 84 notices.
East Midlands · Higher education services (CPV 8030)
contract notices delivered in East Midlands in 36 months: 10 in CPV 8030 (10 competed) · 267 in division 80 (207 competed, 44 route not published)
i
How many companies usually bid for work like this.
Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8030), last 36 months: 4 lots. 3 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 5) and 1 from older notices (bids received, middle 3).
Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.
i
How often only one company bid.
Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8030), last 36 months: 4 lots.
High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.
i
Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.
Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8030), last 36 months: 4 pairs.
A past pattern, not a price to bid.
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.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8030), last 36 months: 3 notices.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
i
How much of this market goes to small and medium firms.
SME bidders where buyers published the split, otherwise SME winners.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8030), last 36 months: 4 lots.
i
How much work like this goes to companies based in the delivery region.
Awards in this category delivered here where the winner’s registered address is in the region.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8030), last 36 months: 4 awards.
Registered address, so a national firm with a local branch counts as outside.
i
Where this tender’s estimate would land if the usual pattern repeats.
We apply the buyer’s usual movement between estimate and award (or the region’s) to the estimate on this notice.
Based on this buyer’s own usual movement over 38 lots (all categories), applied to the £3,600,000 estimate on this notice.
A benchmark, not a price to bid.
Who you are likely to meet i
Who you may be up against.
Suppliers on this buyer’s earlier similar contracts, and suppliers whose record fits this tender.
A guess from the record. Buyers do not publish who is bidding.
i
Who you may be up against.
Suppliers on this buyer’s earlier similar contracts, and suppliers whose record fits this tender.
A guess from the record. Buyers do not publish who is bidding.
Suppliers on this authority’s earlier similar contracts, then suppliers with a matching track record — from published award history, not a bid list
Already supplying a similar contract to Derby City Council i
Who holds similar work with this buyer now.
Winners of this buyer’s earlier contracts that match this tender by title, lot, buyer and category.
i
Who holds similar work with this buyer now.
Winners of this buyer’s earlier contracts that match this tender by title, lot, buyer and category.
| Supplier | Earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Match |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of Central LancashirePrior contract | TD1938 - For the provision of a Higher Education Institution to deliver the Step Up to Social Work Programme for the East Midlands Regional Partnership (EMRP). | Prior Contract Award | — | 86% match |
Earlier contracts of this authority that the nightly matcher links to this notice by title, lot, buyer and CPV. Open the contract before treating anyone as the incumbent.
Suppliers with a similar track record — and how they price i
Suppliers with a similar track record, and how they price.
Suppliers matched on wins in this category, history with this buyer, location and size. Their award vs estimate is from their own past wins.
A guess from the record, not a bidder list.
i
Suppliers with a similar track record, and how they price.
Suppliers matched on wins in this category, history with this buyer, location and size. Their award vs estimate is from their own past wins.
A guess from the record, not a bidder list.
| Supplier | Evidence | Last award | Their award vs estimate | Relevance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OPEN DOORS INTERNATIONAL LANGUAGE SCHOOL SME | 3 class wins | 3 months ago | no comparable pairs | 52% |
| SKERN LODGE LIMITED SME | 3 class wins | 3 months ago | no comparable pairs | 52% |
| PATRONUS SECURITY UK LIMITED SME | 3 class wins | 3 months ago | no comparable pairs | 52% |
| MINDHUG LTD SME | 3 class wins | 3 months ago | no comparable pairs | 52% |
| M2HSE TRAINING LIMITED SME | 3 class wins | 3 months ago | no comparable pairs | 52% |
Matched by the nightly worker on class wins, buyer history, delivery geography, scale and notice text; relevance is a 0–100% heuristic score, not a probability of bidding. “Their award vs estimate” is that supplier’s middle value on its own comparable single-supplier wins, CPV 8030 first. Nobody here is known to be bidding.
Coverage and what to read with care
- Each tile explains itself. The on a figure says what it is, how it is counted and which scope this notice’s own record came from (class, division, all categories, or the authority’s 24-month row). The two columns are never blended and nothing is filled from a UK-wide figure; an empty tile means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
- Coverage. Roughly 40 % of notices publish a bid count; about half publish an ITL1 delivery location, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice has none (labelled). About 30 % of award-vs-estimate pairs are exact matches — the buyer published the award at the estimate. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden.
- “Match” and “relevance” are model scores from the nightly matcher, not published facts. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.
What this replaces i
The earlier contract this tender most likely replaces.
Matched on title, category and buyer. The match percentage says how close the titles are.
82% title match.
A likely match, not a published link.
i
The earlier contract this tender most likely replaces.
Matched on title, category and buyer. The match percentage says how close the titles are.
82% title match.
A likely match, not a published link.
The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (82% title match) — the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid
TD1938 - For the provision of a Higher Education Institution to deliver the Step Up to Social Work Programme for the East Midlands Regional Partnership (EMRP). — held by University of Central Lancashire; no contract end date published.
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
- Open for tender
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Light touch regime
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 1 Nov 2030
- First published
- 24 Sept 2026, 13:41 BST
- Last source update
- 24 Sept 2026, 13:41 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end — 15 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Authority reference
TD2420- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077985Find a Tender
How to participate & submission route
Official notice- Expression of interest (EOI)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 23 Oct 2026, 10:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 13 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
5 published dates · Europe/London- Tender notice published3 days ago24 Sept 2026, 13:41 BST
- Clarification questions byin 16 days13 Oct 2026, 12:00 BST
- Submission deadlinein 26 days23 Oct 2026, 10:00 BST
- Award decision expected byin 80 days15 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 155 days1 Mar 2027, 00:00 GMT
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published24 Sept 2026, 13:41 BSTUK4
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Conflict of interest declarationNot published
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender