Official UK procurement notice
Procurement of Providers for the National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for Special Education Needs Coordinators (SENCOs) Framework
Authority: Department for Education (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis notice corrects minor errors in the original Contract Notice
The Department is seeking to appoint new lead providers under a framework agreement to deliver the National Professional Qualifications (NPQ) for Special Education Needs Coordinators (SENCOs). The successful providers will deliver the NPQ for SENCOs on this new framework agreement alongside providers appointed to the Department’s existing framework agreements to deliver NPQ services.
The framework agreement is anticipated to be awarded in January 2024 and will expire on 14 April 2028; The termination date aligns to the expiry date of the Department's existing framework for the provision of similar services and justifies the proposed period of the framework agreement.
The estimated total value of the framework agreement is £15,000,000 (excluding VAT).
CPV: Education and training services · Higher education services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Services - Please refer to procurement documents for full requirements
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
- Suitability
The Department is seeking to appoint Providers to deliver the National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs). Given the importance of this qualification, in addition to seeking Providers via an open process under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the Department is proposing to procure additional capacity to deliver the qualification via the National Institute of Teaching (NIoT) and the NPQ Framework.
There is no cap on the number of providers that can be on the new framework agreement, providing that they meet the requirements as set out in the invitation to tender. The documents for which can be accessed via the Department’s eSourcing portal, Jaggaer.
Background
Delivering on the commitments set out in the Teacher Recruitment and Retention Strategy (which can be found at www.gov.uk/government/publicati… ↗), the Department has developed a suite of specialist and leadership NPQs to complete the golden thread of support, training and development available through a teacher’s entire career.
In the SEND and AP Improvement Plan, published in March 2023, the Department announced the decision to replace the current National Award for SEN Co-ordination (NASENCO) with a new leadership level NPQ for SENCOs as the mandatory qualification for SENCOs. First teaching of the new NPQ will begin in Autumn 2024.
The National Professional Qualifications (NPQs) provide training and support fo…
- Staff
- Names and qualifications of delivery staff must be submitted
- “Procurement of Providers for the National Professional Qualification…” is a framework: the contest is a place on its panel, not a single contract.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record · publisher note attached- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Closed
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Framework agreement
- Who may use this agreement
- Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Yes (GPA)
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 25 Aug 2023, 14:55 BST
- Last source update
- 8 Sept 2023, 17:56 BST
- Award evaluation window
- 3 Nov 2023 – …
- Authority reference
2023/S 000-026659- FTS notice number
2023/S 000-026716- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-03f726Find a Tender
- Electronic trading
- e-invoicing allowed · electronic ordering · electronic payment
- Review procedure
The Department will incorporate a voluntary minimum 10 calendar day standstill period at the point information on the award of the Framework Agreement is communicated to Potential Providers. Potential Providers who are unsuccessful shall be informed by the Department as soon as possible after the decision has been made as to the reasons why they were unsuccessful. If any clarification regarding the award of the Framework Agreement has not been successfully resolved, The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 provide for aggrieved parties who have been harmed or are at risk of harm by breach of the rules to take legal action.
Any such action must be brought within the applicable limitation period. Where a contract has not been entered into, the Court may order the setting aside of the award decision or order the Authority to amend any document and may award damages.
If a contract has been entered into the Court may, depending on the circumstances, award damages, make a declaration of ineffectiveness, order the Department to pay a fine, and/or order that the duration of the contract be shortened. The purpose of the voluntary standstill period referred to above is to allow the parties to apply to the Courts to set aside the award decision before the Framework Agreement is entered into.
Publisher note: The Public Contracts Regulations 2015 apply to this procurement (the “Regulations”). The Authority is basing it's procedure on the Open Procedure set out in Regulation 27 of the Regulations. Services of the nature of those covered by this procurement are designated as “Schedule 3” Services (the Social and Other Specific Services) under the Regulations and as such are not subject to the full requirements of the Regulations. The Authority is only bound by the application of the Regulations to the extent that they are applicable to Schedule 3 services. The procurement is covered by Regulations 74 to 76 (the Light Touch Regime). Educational establishments that meet with the criteria listed below will be entitled (but not obliged) to access the framework at any time during the Contract Period. Academy 16 to 19 sponsor led Academy 16-19 converter Academy alternative provision converter Academy alternative provision sponsor led Academy converter Academy special converter Academy special sponsor led Academy sponsor led City technology college Community school Community special school Foundation school Foundation special school Free schools Free schools 16 to 19 Free schools alternative provision Free schools special Further education Local authority Local authority nursery school Non-maintained special school Pupil referral unit Secure units Service children’s education Sixth form colleges/ sixth form centres Special post 16 institution Studio schools University technical college Voluntary aided school Voluntary controlled school British schools overseas Higher education institutions Independent schools Welsh establishment Offshore schools Other independent school Other independent special school Institution funded by other Government Department Other international schools* Further information, including the ECF and NPQ service requirements, can be found within the tender documents available at https://education.app.jaggaer.com/
How it was run
Official noticeTender documents are also served through a separate tool: https://education.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html ↗
- Appointment period ends
- 3 Nov 2023, 12:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- {"electronicSubmission","written"}
- Accepted languages
- en
- Bid validity
- 180 days from the deadline
- Bids opened
- 3 Nov 2023, 12:00 GMT
Timeline
8 Sept 2023 → 3 Nov 2023 · 4 dates- Next notice expected8 Sept 2023, 00:00 BST
- Notice published8 Sept 2023, 17:56 BST
- Admission / appointment period endsperiod end, not a bid countdown3 Nov 2023, 12:00 GMT
- Bids opened3 Nov 2023, 12:00 GMT
Notice history
3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 8 Sept 2023- Status changed to active8 Sept 2023, 14:35 BST
- Procurement method changed8 Sept 2023, 14:35 BST
- Deadline published: 3 Nov 2023, 12:00 GMT8 Sept 2023, 14:35 BST
Published amendments (1 · 0 deadline changes)
| When | What | Before | After | Shift |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | TextIII.1.1 | The Department is seeking to appoint Providers to deliver the National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs). Given the importance of this qualification, in addition to seeking Providers via an open process under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the Department is proposing to procure additional capacity to deliver the qualification via the Nati… | Please refer to the Procurement Documents | |
| — | TextII.2.4 | Services - Please refer to procurement documents for full requirements. | Services - as described in the Procurement Documents The Department is seeking to appoint Providers to deliver the National Professional Qualification (NPQ) for Special Educational Needs Co-ordinators (SENCOs). Given the importance of this qualification, in addition to seeking Providers via an open process under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the Department is proposing to procure addition… |
1 amendment published without a description.
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- High CourtReview body
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Economic and financial selection criteria
- Technical selection criteria