Find a TenderPast planning noticePreliminary market engagement notice
Published 13 Mar 2025, 17:34 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Future Academic Provision-UK2 · UK public procurement notice

Official notice

Authority: Ministry of Defence (Central government)

ServicesAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline value£117,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 30 Jan 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 8 yrs 8 moends 31 Aug 2035 · starts 5 Jan 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Strategic Command Commercial are currently inviting responses to a Preliminary Market Engagement Notice (PMEN) on key themes surrounding the Future Academic Provision (FAP) requirement. FAP aims to continually design, develop, and deliver Professional Defence & Security Education (PDSE) and training services, including the ability to award degrees up to RQF level 7 and potentially 8, recognising prior accredited learning. There are two primary delivery sites (Shrivenham and London) in addition to a virtual footprint on the Defence Learning Environment (DLE). There are aspirations to deliver courses to other locations which may include overseas.

CPV: Education and training services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 8 yrs 8 moSMEVCSE
Contract period: 5 Jan 2027 – 31 Aug 2035 (8 yrs 8 mo)
Delivery: UK, London, South EastEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Past planning notice
Procurement threshold
Above threshold (FTS publication)
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
13 Mar 2025, 17:34 GMT
Last source update
18 Jun 2026, 11:43 BST
Authority reference
Future Academic Provision Programme
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-057491
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Education and training services
Delivery area
UKLondon (UKI)South East (UKJ)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04ed09 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

13 Mar 2025 → 5 Jan 2027 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published
    13 Mar 2025, 17:34 GMT
  2. Market engagement
    19 Aug 2025, 23:59 BST

    Dear supplier,

    The Authority wishes to thank you for the interest and responses received to the Future Academic Provision (FAP) Request For Information (RFI) published on 18 December 2024. The RFI notice from 18/12/24 can be found within this notice.

    The Authority has carefully reviewed the responses to the FAP RFI and wishes to outline its position regarding next steps for the FAP Programme.

    The Authority wishes to explore themes raised by suppliers in response to the RFI. Due to commercial sensitivity, the Authority will be contacting suppliers who responded to the RFI individually to clarify elements of their response in greater detail.

    The Authority also has several follow up questions for the entire market which it is inviting industry’s view. Please see the attached document titled ‘20250313_Future_Academic_Provision_RFI_Follow_ Up_Questions_O’ which contains instructions on how to a submit a response in addition to the specific questions asked. The aim of the updated RFI is to understand the current market position in relation to key themes as outlined in the attached document.

    The Authority is also hosting an online webinar with the aim to provide an update on the FAP Programme to industry. The Authority reserves the right to hold a second online webinar and will update industry as soon as possible with confirmed details if this approach is chosen. The initial webinar will take place via Microsoft Teams on the following date:

    Webinar 1 – 27 March 2025. 10:00am-10:45am GMT. Please register by 5pm on 24 March 2025 via events.teams.microsoft.com/event/1df615cd-fa5c-… ↗

    Full details of the webinar are contained within the Microsoft Teams link.

    Upon the conclusion of the webinar, the Authority reserves the right to engage in dialogue with industry by holding individual discussions which are optional to suppliers. The Authority is proposing that individual discussions take place virtually via Microsoft Teams or in-person at the Defence Academy in Shrivenham, dependent on supplier preference. The discussion will last approximately 45 minutes and will aim to explore key themes in relation to FAP. All conversations held will be recorded to ensure that there is a clear audit trail as part of PMEN.

    Please register your interest in individual discussions by confirming via email to [email protected] by 5pm 24 March 2025. In this email, please provide up to three slots that your organisation can attend and the preferred format of the discussion. The Authority will acknowledge your response as soon as practically possible and confirm next steps to facilitate any potential discussion.

    Subject to commercial sensitivity, all information conducted as part of Preliminary Market Engagement will be shared with all suppliers as soon as practically possible.

    The Authority reserves the right and has no obligation to continue with the requirement following Preliminary Market Engagement, and if potential suppliers choose to act on any information they receive from during PME, it is entirely at their own risk

  3. Tender notice expected263 days ago
    30 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
  4. Latest notice published124 days ago
    18 Jun 2026, 11:43 BST
  5. Today
    20 Oct 2026
  6. Contract startsin 76 days
    5 Jan 2027

Notice history

6 events · 5 releases on Find a Tender · since 13 Mar 2025
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    13 Mar 2025, 17:34 GMT
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    22 May 2025, 09:21 BST
    UK2
  3. Pipeline notice published
    23 May 2025, 12:01 BST
    UK1
  4. Status changed to planned
    23 May 2025, 12:01 BST
  5. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    12 Aug 2025, 11:52 BST
    UK2
  6. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    18 Jun 2026, 11:43 BST
    UK2
Published amendments (3)

22/05/2025 UPDATE The Authority wishes to update the market on the Preliminary Market Engagement that has taken place in accordance with this notice. The Authority held individual discussions with five suppliers who registered an interest, between 6-7 May 2025. The conversations lasted approximately one hour each and explored three areas: 1. Training and Education Sector. 2. Procurement Approach. …

UPDATE 12 AUGUST 2025 The Authority wishes to provide the following update to the market: Further to its previous update in May 2025, the Authority has continued to work on its requirements capture and procurement approach. The purpose of this RFI is to gain the market’s view on the following proposed procurement approach. The Authority is currently considering two separate procurements and is kee…

UPDATE 18TH JUNE 2026 The Defence Academy has undertaken a comprehensive review of the Future Academic Programme (FAP), informed by the direction set out in SDR 25 and following feedback received from market engagement activities. As a result of this review, the Defence Academy has determined that progressing to a tendering phase at this time is not viable. This decision has been made with careful…

Routine re-releases (5)
  • 2025-05: 1 release · 22 May 2025
  • 2025-03: 1 release · 13 Mar 2025

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Pipeline notice
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Ministry of Defence

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PHVX-4316-ZVGZ Faringdon Road, Greenhill House, Room 13, Shrivenham, South East, SN6 8LAContact email

Official documents & specifications (5)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure