Official UK procurement notice
MoJ/HMPPS AI-enhanced Digital Reading Education Cloud-based Software Solution
Authority: Ministry of Justice (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionPreliminary Market Engagement Notice
Reference & Title: prj_15796 MoJ/HMPPS AI-enhanced Digital Reading Education Cloud-based Software Solution – Request for Information
Procurement Unique Identifier: PDNN-2773-HVYN
Date of Issue: 10/11/2025
Contracting Authority: The Ministry of Justice (MoJ)
Contact Details: Shannon Wood, Commercial Lead for Emerging Technology – [email protected]
- Purpose of the Notice
This UK2 Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) Notice is issued in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023. The purpose of this notice is to inform the market of a MoJ Request for Information (RFI) and to engage with suppliers to obtain feedback and insights on the potential requirement for an AI-enhanced Digital Reading Education Cloud-Based Software Solution.
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) is a major government department, at the heart of the justice system. The MoJ works to protect and advance the principles of justice; our vision is to deliver a world-class justice system that works for everyone in society.
His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) is an executive agency, sponsored by the MoJ and carries out sentences given by the courts, in custody and in the community, and rehabilitates people in its care through education and employment.
For at least the past three years, there have been over 80,000 prisoners held in custody at any given time. In 2015/16 the estimated total cost of crime in England and Wales is more than £58 billion. Rehabilitative services, including reading education, have proven to reduce recidivism, changing lives.
Over 60% of prisoners have literacy levels below those expected at the end of primary education. Traditional reading interventions can fail to engage adult learners in custody, especially those with neurodiverse needs or disrupted educational histories. This contributes to poor mental health, behavioural issues, and reduced rehabilitation prospects.
The MoJ is keen to obtain feedback and insights on the potential requirement for an AI-enhanced Digital Reading Education Cloud-Based Software Solution. This Request for Information (RFI) is a preliminary market engagement exercise to seek information relating to this requirement, and to gain a better understanding of the types and availability of products and services, as well as the commercial terms on which to acquire them.
- Access and Communication
This RFI is being conducted through the MoJ e-Sourcing portal and all communications between MoJ and Suppliers during this RFI process must strictly be made using the MoJ e-Sourcing portal.
Suppliers must create an account on the e-sourcing portal found via the link here: ministryofjusticecommercial.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html ↗
Suppliers can access the RFI via PQQ_541 ‘MoJ/HMPPS AI-enhanced Digital Reading Education Cloud-based Software Solution’.
The PQQ will hold the following RFI documents and information which consists of:
Attachment 1 RFI Instructions
Attachment 2 RFI Background and Scope
Attachment 2, Annex A Prison Education Services Standard Non-Functional requirements
Attachment 3 RFI Questionnaire
Clarification questions and answers document (shared using the messaging facility)
Suppliers will respond to the RFI by uploading the completed Attachment 3 RFI Questionnaire to Technical Envelope, Question 1.1 ‘RFI Questionnaire’.
- Timescales
These are our intended RFI timescales. We will inform you if and when timelines change.
Time / Date
Activity
10th November 2025
UK2 Preliminary Market Engagement Notice released and supplier e-sourcing system registration
12th November 2025
RFI opens and Clarification period starts
19th November 2025, 17:00
Clarification period ends
20th November 2025, 17:00
Deadline for the publication of responses to RFI Clarification questions
26th November 2025, 17:00
Deadline for submission of RFI Responses
December to January 2025
Confirm the next steps to Suppliers
- Disclaimer
Nothing shall constitute a commitment to ordering or award unless the MoJ publishes an Invitation to Tender that results in the award of a Contract.
The contents of the Market Engagement are not binding and may be subject to change or cancellation.
CPV: Development software development services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Ministry of Justice buys Programming services of packaged software products (CPV 7221), and who usually turns up
Ministry of Justice’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: Programming services of packaged software products (CPV 7221) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in the delivery region.
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.
Half of these awards were announced within 49 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
The buyer’s share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
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.
1 bid7%
2–356%
4–623%
7+14%
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.
Below estimate56%
Within ±2%30%
Above estimate15%
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.
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 7221No real estimate
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 80 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid4%
2–334%
4–633%
7+30%
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.
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.
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.
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
- Below threshold
- 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
- 10 Nov 2025, 15:12 GMT
- Last source update
- 10 Nov 2025, 15:12 GMT
- Authority reference
prj_15796- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-072496- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05ddedFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
10 Nov 2025 → 2 Mar 2026 · 4 dates- Planning notice published346 days ago10 Nov 2025, 15:12 GMT
- Market engagement329 days ago26 Nov 2025, 23:59 GMT
This RFI is being conducted through the MoJ e-Sourcing portal and all communications between MoJ and Suppliers during this RFI process must strictly be made using the MoJ e-Sourcing portal.
Suppliers must create an account on the e-sourcing portal found via the link here: ministryofjusticecommercial.bravosolution.co.uk/web/login.html ↗
Suppliers can access the RFI via PQQ_541 ‘MoJ/HMPPS AI-enhanced Digital Reading Education Cloud-based Software Solution’.
The PQQ will hold the following RFI documents and information which consists of:
Attachment 1 RFI Instructions
Attachment 2 RFI Background and Scope
Attachment 2, Annex A Prison Education Services Standard Non-Functional requirements
Attachment 3 RFI Questionnaire
Clarification questions and answers document (shared using the messaging facility)
Suppliers will respond to the RFI by uploading the completed Attachment 3 RFI Questionnaire to Technical Envelope, Question 1.1 ‘RFI Questionnaire’.
- Tender notice expected234 days ago1 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts234 days ago2 Mar 2026
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published10 Nov 2025, 15:12 GMTUK2
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
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender