Find a TenderPlanned procurementPipeline notice
Published 20 May 2026, 09:15 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Future Data Collection: IT

Authority: Department for Education (Central government)

ServicesAward under frameworkAbove thresholdSME suitable
Sectors: IT Services & Software (72) Delivery: UK
Planned pipeline value£5,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 5 yrsends 30 Apr 2032 · starts 1 May 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

FDC will develop a structure to collect granular, good quality, timely and comparable data across the lifecycle of the education estate that enables RBs to manage their estate effectively and the department to target investment, support and advice to drive better outcomes and opportunities for children and learners.

This underpins the Education Estate Directorate (EED) vision to support brilliant education and care outcomes through an estate that is safe, sustainable, and sufficiently sized.

CDC programmes have successfully provided a credible picture of the condition of school and college estate informing the Departments ability to allocate funding where most needed. We want to build on these, whilst delivering the objectives of the EED Data Strategy, to support RBs to collect the full range of data they need to manage their estate (wider than condition).

An IT Services supplier will be required to provide technology services. The supplier will provide the IT Solution for the data collection, two way data sharing and report release activity.

The Department is considering a call-off from Technology Services 4 (RM6190) or G-Cloud 14 (RM1557.14). The specific lot or lots will be determined as the project develops. The final contract will have a 3 to 5 year lifespan.

CPV: Data services · Software development services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 5 yrsSME
Contract period: 1 May 2027 – 30 Apr 2032 (5 yrs)
Delivery: UKEligibility: SME eligible

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How Department for Education buys Data services (CPV 7230), and who usually turns up

Department for Education’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Data services (CPV 7230) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerDepartment for Education · division 72
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 8 of 31 known-size awards · market: CPV 7230 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=7
26%43%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
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 registered in Greater London (authority’s region).

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 0 of 1 known-location awards · market: CPV 7230 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=11
0 of 145%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside Greater London.

How long to a decision?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 34 decided notices · market: CPV 7230 · UK-wide, n=5
50 days45 days

Half of these awards were announced within 50 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 7 of 48 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 7230 · Greater London (authority’s region), n=13
15%77%

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer53 lots with bid counts · all categories
9% had one bid
The market12 lots with bid counts · CPV 7230 · UK-wide
8% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid9% / 8%
Buyer: 5 of 53 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 12 lots with published bid counts.
2–334% / 17%
Buyer: 18 of 53 lots with published bid counts. Market: 2 of 12 lots with published bid counts.
4–625% / 50%
Buyer: 13 of 53 lots with published bid counts. Market: 6 of 12 lots with published bid counts.
7+32% / 25%
Buyer: 17 of 53 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 12 lots with published bid counts.

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.

Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.

Last 36 months.

This buyer35 lots with estimate and award · all categories
40% below estimate
The market11 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7230 · UK-wide
45% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate40% / 45%
Buyer: 14 of 35 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 5 of 11 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%49% / 27%
Buyer: 17 of 35 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 3 of 11 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate11% / 27%
Buyer: 4 of 35 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 3 of 11 lots with an estimate and award.
2

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.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 723060 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£5.0m
Expected competition
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 90 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet8% single-bid risk
Past bids on 90 similar lots
1 bid8%
7 of 90 similar past lots received 1 bid (8%).
2–332%
29 of 90 similar past lots received 2–3 (32%).
4–631%
28 of 90 similar past lots received 4–6 (31%).
7+29%
26 of 90 similar past lots received 7+ (29%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 4 bids.
Commercial price forecast
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.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £5.0m, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

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.

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.

Restricted route (Stage 2 ITT / Shortlist): Bidding is restricted to invited candidates who qualified at Stage 1. Uninvited suppliers cannot participate in this round.

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
Award under framework
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
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
20 May 2026, 09:15 BST
Last source update
20 May 2026, 09:15 BST
Authority reference
project_10158
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-046047
Latest notice
Pipeline notice (UK1)
Classification (CPV)
Data servicesSoftware development services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-069c91 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

20 May 2026 → 1 May 2027 · 2 dates
  1. Planning notice published154 days ago
    20 May 2026, 09:15 BST
  2. Today
    20 Oct 2026
  3. Contract startsin 192 days
    1 May 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Pipeline notice published
    20 May 2026, 09:15 BST
    UK1

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

Department for Education

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

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender