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Find a TenderAdministrative changeContract change notice
Published 19 Aug 2025, 14:50 BST

This notice announces an administrative change to an existing contract or market (a contract change notice). No new tender or admission is opened here; see the linked notices below for the original opportunity.

Official UK procurement notice

Independent Complaints Adjudication Service for OFSTED (ICASO)

Official notice

Authority: Department for Education (Central government)

ServicesOpen procedureAbove thresholdSME suitable
Sectors: Business Services & Consultancy (79) Delivery: UK
Published estimate£125,000≈ £42k / year · £150,000 inc. VAT0.4% below published estimate
Submissions closed 17 Sept 2025awarded 26 Sept 2025
Awarded to CEDR Services Ltd
Contract term 3 yrsends 31 Oct 2028 · up to 31 Oct 2029 with extensions · starts 1 Nov 2025

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Department for Education (DfE) requires a supplier to provide an independent adjudication service in relation to Ofsted's handling of complaints about its work including: handling individual complaints, the provision of advice, regular reporting regarding the volume and nature of the complaint, and publication of an annual report. The adjudication service is independent of Ofsted. Conclusions and recommendations are independent of both Ofsted and DfE.

The supplier will refer to the service as the Independent Complaints Adjudication Service for Ofsted (ICASO) and is required to identify themselves as the supplier of this service and provide information regarding the service with a webpage that can be referred to on Ofsted's webpage.

The DfE is keen to maximise opportunities to participate in procurement for Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs). Consideration will also be given to consortia and collaborative bids from all forms of organisations.

  • No preliminary market engagement: Shortened timescales

CPV: Arbitration and conciliation services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · value published
Lot #1AwardedRenewal 3 yrsPublished value£125,000
Contract period: 1 Nov 2025 – 31 Oct 2028 (3 yrs) · up to 31 Oct 2029 with extensionsValue: £125,000 exc. VAT · £150,000 inc. VAT
Extensions: The contract shall run from the effective date for an initial period of 3 years (the contract period) with an option to extend for up to 12 months reviewed at the end of the 3 year period if required.
79422000 Arbitration and conciliation services

What it takes to win
i

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 more
How bids were scored
Quality: 80%Price: 20%
Published sub-criteria (2)
  • Technical: 80%
  • Commercial: 20%
Published award criteria (2)
  • Technical
  • Commercial
What this means for your bid
  • Price carries 20 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.

Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.

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
Administrative change
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
19 Aug 2025, 14:50 BST
Last source update
26 Oct 2026, 10:41 GMT
Award evaluation window
Submission end – 25 Sept 2025
Authority reference
Project_9994
FTS notice number
2025/S 000-049873
Latest notice
Contract change notice (UK10)
Classification (CPV)
Arbitration and conciliation services
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-058a9f Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Run through: Jaggaer · Who buys & how to bid on JAGGAER
Supplier login requiredElectronic submission allowedLanguage: EN
Access & registration note: Free; latest Chrome/Edge/Firefox only — corporate browsers fail
Submission deadline
17 Sept 2025, 12:00 BST
Clarification deadline
10 Sept 2025, 12:00 BST
Submission channel
Official e-sourcing portal
Electronic submission
Allowed
Accepted languages
en
Detailed submission instructions & authority contactsFrom official release

education.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html ↗

Tenderers will need to register via the address above

Timeline

19 Aug 2025 → 26 Oct 2026 · 8 dates
  1. Tender notice published
    19 Aug 2025, 14:50 BST
  2. Clarification questions by
    10 Sept 2025, 12:00 BST
  3. Submission deadline
    17 Sept 2025, 12:00 BST
  4. Award decision expected by396 days ago
    25 Sept 2025, 23:59 BST
  5. Assessment summaries sent391 days ago
    1 Oct 2025, 00:00 BST
  6. Standstill ends378 days ago
    13 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
  7. Contract starts360 days ago
    1 Nov 2025
  8. Latest notice published18h ago
    26 Oct 2026, 10:41 GMT

Notice history

7 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 19 Aug 2025
  1. Tender notice published
    19 Aug 2025, 14:50 BST
    UK4
  2. Contract award notice published
    2 Oct 2025, 12:49 BST
    UK6
  3. Status changed to complete
    2 Oct 2025, 12:49 BST
  4. Contract signature expected
    22 Oct 2025, 23:59 BST
    scheduled
  5. Contract details notice published
    24 Oct 2025, 14:59 BST
    UK7
  6. Contract change notice published
    26 Oct 2026, 10:41 GMT
    UK10
  7. Contract change proposed
    5 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
    The modification is permitted under Schedule 8, paragraph 8 of the Procurement Act 2023 as it provides for additional services to those already provided under the existing ICASO contract. The additional scope extends the existing ICASO service to cover school-related referrals. Appointing a separate supplier to deliver this additional scope would result in two providers operating alongside each other within the same independent complaints review service. The existing provider already holds the operational knowledge, referral pathways, reporting arrangements and independence model required to deliver the expanded review process. Using a separate supplier would require the contracting authority to establish and manage parallel arrangements for the additional scope alongside the existing ICASO service, rather than using the operational knowledge, referral pathways, reporting arrangements and independence model already established under the current contract. This would duplicate the resources and associated costs required to establish, operate and manage those arrangements, resulting in substantial duplication of costs for the contracting authority as well as operational inconvenience. The modification is therefore considered necessary to enable the additional services to be delivered through the existing ICASO arrangements while maintaining a consistent and integrated approach to the service. The value of the modification does not increase the estimated value of the contract by more than 50%, in accordance with Schedule 8, paragraph 8(1)(d) of the Procurement Act 2023.
Routine re-releases (4)
  • 2025-08: 1 release · 19 Aug 2025

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Awards 1
Awarded value £124,5001 award exc. VAT
Bids received 22 from SMEs
Contracts signed 1latest 22 Oct 2025
Awarded toValueDateStatus
CEDR Services LtdSME1 Nov 2025 – 31 Oct 2028 · up to 31 Oct 2029Extensions: The contract shall run from the effective date for an initial period of 3 years (the contract period) with an option to extend for up to 12 months reviewed at the end of the 3 year period if required.£124,50026 Sept 2025Awarded

Contracts

  • Contract 1 · CEDR Services LtdSME

    Signed
    22 Oct 2025
    Value
    £124,500
    Period
    1 Nov 2025 – 31 Oct 2028 · up to 31 Oct 2029 with extensions
    Status
    active
    Extensions
    The contract shall run from the effective date for an initial period of 3 years (the contract period) with an option to extend for up to 12 months reviewed at the end of the 3 year period if required.
    • Change proposed 5 Nov 2026 The modification is permitted under Schedule 8, paragraph 8 of the Procurement Act 2023 as it provides for additional services to those already provided under the existing ICASO contract. The additional scope extends the existing ICASO service to cover school-related referrals. Appointing a separate supplier to deliver this additional scope would result in two providers operating alongside each other within the same independent complaints review service. The existing provider already holds the operational knowledge, referral pathways, reporting arrangements and independence model required to deliver the expanded review process. Using a separate supplier would require the contracting authority to establish and manage parallel arrangements for the additional scope alongside the existing ICASO service, rather than using the operational knowledge, referral pathways, reporting arrangements and independence model already established under the current contract. This would duplicate the resources and associated costs required to establish, operate and manage those arrangements, resulting in substantial duplication of costs for the contracting authority as well as operational inconvenience. The modification is therefore considered necessary to enable the additional services to be delivered through the existing ICASO arrangements while maintaining a consistent and integrated approach to the service. The value of the modification does not increase the estimated value of the contract by more than 50%, in accordance with Schedule 8, paragraph 8(1)(d) of the Procurement Act 2023., new value £186,750 · standstill applies
    7 agreed KPIs: ICASO to check eligibility of complaint with Ofsted within five working days of receipt of the complaint referral. · Adjudication reports to be provided within 25 days of receipt of Ofsted’s complaint summary. · Recommendations made must fall within the scope of the ICASO. …
    • ICASO to check eligibility of complaint with Ofsted within five working days of receipt of the complaint referral.
    • Adjudication reports to be provided within 25 days of receipt of Ofsted’s complaint summary.
    • Recommendations made must fall within the scope of the ICASO.
    • Adjudication reports must be completed within three months of receiving the complaint referral, unless otherwise agreed.
    • Quarterly performance reports are produced and submitted on the dates agreed.
    • Annual Reports are submitted to Ofsted for comments one month prior to publication.
    • Annual Reports are published on the ICASO website by 31 March each year.

Bid statistics published by the authority

BidsSMEVCSEValid bid range
2final-stage tenders20—

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 email

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice
  • CEDR Services LimitedAwarded supplierGB-PPON: PBPR-5822-DRBQ 100 St. Paul's Churchyard, London, London, EC4M 8BUContact email

Official documents & specifications (4)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Contract change notice contractContract change noticeUK10Contract change notice on Find a Tender
  • Contract details notice contractContract details noticeUK7Contract details notice on Find a Tender
  • Contract award notice awardContract award noticeUK6Contract award notice on Find a Tender
  • Tender notice tenderTender noticeUK4Tender notice on Find a Tender