Official UK procurement notice
Framework for Student Recruitment Outreach and Marketing Services for NCG
Authority: NCG (Public body)
NCG is seeking to establish a Framework Agreement for the provision of comprehensive student recruitment outreach, marketing and associated professional advisory services to support the sustainable growth of its Higher Education provision. The successful bidder(s) will work collaboratively with NCG to develop and deliver domestic recruitment campaigns, strengthen market presence, increase brand awareness and generate high quality student enquiries and applications across priority markets.
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionNCG is seeking to establish a Framework Agreement for the provision of comprehensive student recruitment outreach, marketing and associated professional advisory services to support the sustainable growth of its Higher Education provision.
The successful bidder(s) will work collaboratively with NCG to develop and deliver domestic recruitment campaigns, strengthen market presence, increase brand awareness and generate high quality student enquiries and applications across priority markets.
For more information about this opportunity, please visit the eSourcing portal at:
neupc.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-Newcas… ↗
To respond to this opportunity, please click here:
CPV: Advertising and marketing services · Business development consultancy services · Marketing services · Promotional services · Recruitment services
How this framework works
From the published notice- Type
- Open framework
- Call-offs
- call-offs are awarded directly to appointed suppliers, without further competition
- Places
- up to 3 suppliers
- Framework period
- 1 yr 10 mo · up to 3 yrs 10 mo from 1 Feb 2027
Who may buy through it
NCG and its subsidiaries including NCG Higher Education Centre Ltd
Published description of the framework
NCG intends to appoint a maximum of three suitably experienced suppliers to the Framework. Suppliers will be ranked according to their final evaluation score from the procurement process (where supplier capacity allows).
Recruitment will be split as follows.
•Primary Supplier – 66%
•Secondary Supplier – 20%
•Tertiary Supplier – 14%
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedWhat 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 (9)
- Admissions and quality compliance: 15%
- Responsible recruitment performance: 15%
- Contribution to student continuation: 10%
- Contribution to student completion and progression: 10%
- Mobilisation, governance, performance management and continuous improvement: 15%
- Business Continuity: 5%
- Price: 20%
- Social Value: 5%
- Environmental and Sustainability: 5%
Published award criteria (9)
- Admissions and quality compliance
- Responsible recruitment performance
- Contribution to student continuation
- Contribution to student completion and progression
- Mobilisation, governance, performance management and continuous improvement
- Environmental and Sustainability
- Social Value
- Business Continuity
- Price
- Price carries 20 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- “Framework for Student Recruitment Outreach and Marketing Services for…” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, up to 3 suppliers, not a single contract, and call-offs are awarded directly: getting appointed is the whole game.
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 NCG buys Advertising and marketing services (CPV 7934), and who usually turns up
NCG’s published record next to the market for the same work. Compared with other frameworks and DPS only. Whole-market view: Advertising and marketing services (CPV 7934) →
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.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 53 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 bid2%
2–310%
4–629%
7+60%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Awards below, close to or above the estimate, per lot. The buyer side adds below-threshold contracts with a pre-award estimate; an award inside a published range counts as close.
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 price is set later, on each call-off.
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 79Published estimate£29m
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 79. The comparison uses that group.
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.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid1%
2–36%
4–611%
7+81%
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Planet Education Networks LimitedWorked for this buyer | Marketing and Outreach Servicesended Jul 2026 | — | £2.8m | Similar wording and category |
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.
| Supplier | Won in this category | Live contracts | Award vs estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
Anything Is Possible Media LimitedGroup company | £18m8 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 2 live · £5.1m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=7 |
| £6.5m27 awards in 36m · last 1 month ago | 6 live · £1.9m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 15% below n=2 | |
SMRS LimitedSME | £100k3 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 1 live · £72k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | no comparable pairs |
| £45k3 awards in 36m · last 12 months ago | 1 live · £1.3m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | no comparable pairs | |
Sideshow LtdSME | £90k1 award in 36m · last 15 months ago | 1 live · £90k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=1 |
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender and Contracts Finder), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly. Contracts Finder appears in live search, the Retender Radar, contract pages, organisation counts, the earlier contracts and past suppliers on a tender's competition panel, the buyer's decision figure and its award against estimate; the other analytical figures are built from Find a Tender notices.
- 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
- 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
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- NCG and its subsidiaries including NCG Higher Education Centre Ltd
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 12 Nov 2026, 16:44 GMT
- Last source update
- 12 Nov 2026, 16:44 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 18 Jan 2027
- Authority reference
NCG260101T- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-107748- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07bb09Find a Tender
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via Delta eSourcing- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Appointment period ends
- 7 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 25 Nov 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
12 Nov 2026 → 1 Feb 2027 · 5 dates- Tender notice published1h ago12 Nov 2026, 16:44 GMT
- Today12 Nov 2026
- Clarification questions byin 12 days25 Nov 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Admission / appointment period endsin 24 days · period end, not a bid countdown7 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 67 days18 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 80 days1 Feb 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published12 Nov 2026, 16:44 GMTUK4
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 (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender