Invitation to Tender for Trialling Framework Service 2025 -2028

The Standards and Testing Agency (STA) is responsible for developing and delivering statutory national curriculum tests in English Reading, English Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (GPS), Mathematics, Phonics, and the Reception Baseline Assessment for schools. The STA ensures these tests are of the highest quality, accessible to all, inclusive, and free from bias.

The Agency invites potential bidders to participate in the tender process, aiming to appoint up to five suppliers to a new trialling framework.

The initial framework term will be three years (from June 2025 to June 2028), with an option to extend for an additional 12 months.

The total framework value is not expected to exceed £18M ( including the extension period).

Trialling is essential to the STA’s operating model for delivering new assessments and adding to the bank of items for current assessments. Two types of trials are conducted:

Item Validation Trial (IVT): A relatively small-scale trial providing evidence to support item development, such as refining question wording and developing coding frames.

Technical Pre-Test (TPT): A larger-scale trial providing statistical evidence related to items.