Official UK procurement notice
MCA Competency Assessment Preparation Services
Authority: Southampton Solent University (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe University is looking to procure a specialist digital provider capable of delivering comprehensive, scalable, flexible MCA CoC assessment preparation across all seafaring disciplines (Deck, Engine and Electro-technical) to support cadets while at sea.
CPV: Education and training services
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The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1RenewalPublished value£2,000,000
- Technical & professional ability
The supplier must hold ISO 9001:2015 or an equivalent externally audited quality management accreditation. They must also hold Cyber Essentials as a minimum, with Cyber Essentials Plus preferred.
What it takes to wini
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Technical: 60%
- Commercial: 40%
Published award criteria (2)
- Technical
- Commercial
- Technical & professional ability
The supplier must hold ISO 9001:2015 or an equivalent externally audited quality management accreditation. They must also hold Cyber Essentials as a minimum, with Cyber Essentials Plus preferred.
- Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
- Turnover usually expected at this size: about £1,332,117 (twice the annual value).
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula. Turnover is an indicative market norm (≈2× annual value), not a published condition.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How Southampton Solent University buys Education and training services (CPV 80), and who usually turns up
Southampton Solent University’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Education and training services (CPV 80) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in South East England.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside the region where that award was delivered.
i
Half of these awards have an award date within 39 days of the bid deadline.
i
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
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
1 bid32%
2–329%
4–624%
7+16%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Below estimate32%
Within ±2%55%
Above estimate13%
Assess each lot i
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Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 80Published estimate£2.0m
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 80. The comparison uses that group.
i
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative.
1 bid24%
2–334%
4–624%
7+17%
i
Based on 57 comparable awards. Each lot reflects its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative.
Middle 50%£1.9m–£2.0m
Estimate£2.0m
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
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No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
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| Supplier | Won in this category | Live contracts | Award vs estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
Academia LtdGroup company | £40m53 awards in 36m · last this month | 7 live · £10m i | 34% below n=2 |
Skills for Care LtdGroup company | £33m5 awards in 36m · last 6 months ago | 2 live · £29m i | 45% below n=3 |
| £14m13 awards in 36m · last 6 months ago | 2 live · £4.7m i | no comparable pairs | |
Hull CollegeLarge | £471k2 awards in 36m · last 3 months ago | 1 live · £209k i | no comparable pairs |
| £1.1m6 awards in 36m · last 6 months ago | 3 live · £1.1m i | 5% below n=2 |
About this data
- Estimates, labelled. The price range, possible competitors and earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards, not published facts, win chances or price advice. The buyer’s own record and the wider market are shown apart, never mixed.
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender and Contracts Finder), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0, updated through the day and rebuilt nightly. Not every figure uses both feeds, and each one shows how many records it rests on: see the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
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
- Open for tender
- 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 Nov 2026, 17:19 GMT
- Last source update
- 13 Nov 2026, 17:19 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 8 Jan 2027
- Authority reference
26.WMS.51- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-108224- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-07bc29Find a Tender
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via In-tend- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 8 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 24 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Please submit responses using the University's In-Tend portal in-tend.co.uk/Solent ↗. All correspondence must also be submitted using this facility, failure to do may result in your tender not being considered.
Timeline
13 Nov 2026 → 1 Feb 2027 · 5 dates- Tender notice published2h ago13 Nov 2026, 17:19 GMT
- Today13 Nov 2026
- Clarification questions byin 10 days24 Nov 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Submission deadlinein 24 days8 Dec 2026, 12:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 56 days8 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 79 days1 Feb 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published13 Nov 2026, 17:19 GMTUK4
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender