Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 29 Sept 2026, 14:32 BST

Official UK procurement notice

Outsourced Qualifications Delivery Services

Authority: Sanctuary Housing Association (Housing)

ServicesBelow thresholdLight touch regimeSME suitable
Published estimate£500,000≈ £500k / year · £500,000 inc. VAT
Tender notice expected 1 Nov 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 1 yrup to 7 yrs with extensions · starts 1 Apr 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Sanctuary Group is undertaking Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) with organisations that provide qualifications assessment and delivery services for vocational, professional and apprenticeship qualifications. This engagement will help inform the procurement strategy and future contracting approach for a potential outsourced qualifications delivery service.

The requirement is expected to include the delivery of qualifications across care, housing and business disciplines throughout England and Scotland, together with quality assurance, learner support and management information services. The scope may also include the transfer and ongoing management of existing qualification assessors under TUPE regulations where applicable.

Objectives of the Engagement

Sanctuary wishes to engage with the market to:

• Understand supplier capability, capacity and delivery models.

• Explore approaches to delivering qualifications across multiple disciplines and geographical regions.

• Understand experience of managing learner journeys, quality assurance and regulatory compliance.

• Gather feedback on potential lotting, contract structure and mobilisation requirements.

• Explore opportunities to maximise the use of available funding regimes and grant opportunities.

Read the full description (2,387 more characters)

• Understand supplier experience of TUPE transfers and workforce integration.

• Obtain market feedback to support the development of any future procurement process.

Potential Scope

The future requirement may include:

• Delivery of care, housing and business-related qualifications.

• Support for vocational qualifications, professional qualifications and apprenticeship pathways where applicable.

• Learner enrolment, , assessment and certification services.

• Progress monitoring, achievement tracking and reporting.

• Internal quality assurance and awarding body compliance.

• Management information and performance reporting.

• England and/or Scotland coverage.

• Potential TUPE transfer of existing assessors.

Market Engagement Webinar

Interested organisations are invited to attend a market engagement webinar via Teams.

Date: 9 October 2026

Time: 10:00am to 11:00am (BST)

The webinar will provide an overview of the proposed requirement, expected outcomes, procurement considerations and an opportunity for suppliers to ask questions.

Registration

Organisations wishing to participate should register their interest by emailing: [email protected] with the subject line "Outsourced Qualifications Delivery Services"

Please include:

• Organisation name

• Main contact name

• Email address

• Job title

• Areas of interest and expertise (for example Care, Housing, Business, England, Scotland)

Joining instructions will be provided to registered organisations in advance of the webinar. Only one person per organisation needs to register, the main contact can then forward the Teams link where appropriate.

Additional Information

Participation in this market engagement exercise is voluntary and will not influence the outcome of any future procurement process. Any future procurement opportunity will be advertised separately and interested organisations will need to participate in that process should they wish to be considered for contract award.

Sanctuary reserves the right to amend the scope described during this engagement and no commitment is made at this stage to commence a procurement process. The information gathered through this exercise will be used solely to inform Sanctuary's procurement strategy and requirements.

The estimated contract value and contract duration are currently being assessed and will be advised as part of the tender process following pre- market engagement.

CPV: Training services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Lot 1PlannedRenewal 1 yrSME
Contract period: 1 Apr 2027 — 1 Apr 2028 (1 yr) · up to 7 yrs with extensionsEligibility: SME eligibleDelivery: North East, North West, Yorkshire & Humber, East Midlands, West Midlands, East of England, London, South East, South West, Scotland
Extensions
Extension options published
80500000 Training services

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
Light touch regime
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Competitive procedure
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
No (one-off requirement)
First published
29 Sept 2026, 14:32 BST
Last source update
29 Sept 2026, 14:32 BST
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Training services
Delivery area
North East (UKC)North West (UKD)Yorkshire & Humber (UKE)East Midlands (UKF)West Midlands (UKG)East of England (UKH)London (UKI)South East (UKJ)+2 more
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077ca1

How it was run

Submission deadline
—

Timeline

4 published dates · Europe/London
  1. Planning notice publishedjust passed
    29 Sept 2026, 14:32 BST
  2. Market engagementin 9 days
    9 Oct 2026, 00:59 BST
    Market Engagement Webinar Interested organisations are invited to attend a market engagement webinar via Teams. Date: 9 October 2026 Time: 10:00am to 11:00am (BST) The webinar will provide an overview of the proposed requirement, expected outcomes, procurement considerations and an opportunity for more…suppliers to ask questions. Registration Organisations wishing to participate should register their interest by emailing: [email protected] with the subject line "Outsourced Qualifications Delivery Services" Please include: • Organisation name • Main contact name • Email address • Job title • Areas of interest and expertise (for example Care, Housing, Business, England, Scotland) Joining instructions will be provided to registered organisations in advance of the webinar. Only one person per organisation needs to register, the main contact can then forward the Teams link where appropriate. Additional Information Participation in this market engagement exercise is voluntary and will not influence the outcome of any future procurement process. Any future procurement opportunity will be advertised separately and interested organisations will need to participate in that process should they wish to be considered for contract award. Sanctuary reserves the right to amend the scope described during this engagement and no commitment is made at this stage to commence a procurement process. The information gathered through this exercise will be used solely to inform Sanctuary's procurement strategy and requirements.
  3. Tender notice expectedin 33 days
    1 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
  4. Contract startsin 183 days
    1 Apr 2027, 01:00 BST

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Pipeline notice
Awards (0)
No award published
Contracts (0)
No contract published
Bid statistics
No aggregate bid statistics published

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    29 Sept 2026, 14:32 BSTUK2

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

SANCTUARY HOUSING ASSOCIATION

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-COH: IP19059R Chamber Court, Castle Street, Worcester, West Midlands, WR1 3ZQ

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure