Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 5 Mar 2026, 15:25 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Independent Special School · UK public procurement notice

Authority: Doncaster Council (Local council)

ServicesAbove thresholdLight touch regimeSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline value£41,138,640pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 3 Apr 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 10 yrsends 31 Aug 2036 · starts 1 Sept 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The City of Doncaster Council is seeking a high quality suitability resourced education provider to working partnership to deliver an independent special school for Doncaster children aged 5 -18 within an identified council owned asset.

CPV: Education and training services · Higher education services · Primary education services · Secondary education services · Special education services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

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

How Doncaster Council buys Special education services (CPV 8034), and who usually turns up

Doncaster Council’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: Special education services (CPV 8034) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerDoncaster Council · division 80
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: 1 of 1 known-size awards · market: CPV 8034 · Yorkshire and the Humber, n=12
1 of 125%

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 Yorkshire and the Humber.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 0 of 4 known-location awards · market: CPV 8034 · Yorkshire and the Humber, n=14
0 of 479%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside Yorkshire and the Humber.

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: 20 decided notices · market: CPV 8034 · UK-wide, n=10
34 days55 days

Half of these awards were announced within 34 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.

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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: exactly 5 of 5 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 8034 · Yorkshire and the Humber, n=10
100%60%

Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.

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 buyer32 lots with bid counts · all categories
25% had one bid
The market14 lots with bid counts · CPV 8034 · UK-wide
14% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid25% / 14%
Buyer: 8 of 32 lots with published bid counts. Market: 2 of 14 lots with published bid counts.
2–325% / 29%
Buyer: 8 of 32 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 14 lots with published bid counts.
4–628% / 57%
Buyer: 9 of 32 lots with published bid counts. Market: 8 of 14 lots with published bid counts.
7+22% / 0%
Buyer: 7 of 32 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 14 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 buyer32 lots with estimate and award · all categories
19% below estimate
The market13 lots with estimate and award · CPV 8034 · UK-wide
8% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate19% / 8%
Buyer: 6 of 32 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 1 of 13 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%63% / 69%
Buyer: 20 of 32 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 9 of 13 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate19% / 23%
Buyer: 6 of 32 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 3 of 13 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 8034120 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£41m
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 73 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet21% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 73 similar lots
1 bid21%
15 of 73 similar past lots received 1 bid (21%).
2–330%
22 of 73 similar past lots received 2–3 (30%).
4–625%
18 of 73 similar past lots received 4–6 (25%).
7+25%
18 of 73 similar past lots received 7+ (25%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3 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 £41m, 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.

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
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
Notice status
Planned procurement
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
Unspecified in notice
First published
5 Mar 2026, 15:25 GMT
Last source update
5 Mar 2026, 15:25 GMT
Authority reference
113932
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-020025
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Education and training servicesHigher education servicesPrimary education servicesSecondary education servicesSpecial education services
Delivery area
Yorkshire & Humber (UKE31)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06634e Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

5 Mar 2026 → 1 Sept 2026 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published231 days ago
    5 Mar 2026, 15:25 GMT
  2. Market engagement213 days ago
    23 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT

    The Market Engagement Event As part of the commissioning process we will be holding a market engagement event on Thursday 19th March 2026 from 13:30pm until 17:00pm at The CAST Waterdale Doncaster DN1 3BU The purpose of the event will be to engage with providers and discuss:

    • services included within this procurement exercise.
    • contextual information.
    • insights from those delivering similar services - to inform the final specification. Each organisation will be limited to maximum of two representatives. Please note: For those unable to attend, the presentation slides will be made available via Yortender following the event. To book a place on one of the sessions please email: [email protected] providing the following information:
    • Name of delegate and job title of delegate
    • Organisation details, including address
    • Delegate email address and contact telephone number Please confirm your attendance by 5pm Wednesday 11th March 2026
  3. Tender notice expected202 days ago
    3 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Contract starts52 days ago
    1 Sept 2026

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    5 Mar 2026, 15:25 GMT
    UK2

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

City of Doncaster Council

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PLHR-4113-HMNQ Civic Office, Waterdale, Doncaster, Yorkshire & Humber, DN1 3BUContact name, email, phone

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure