Official UK procurement notice
Professional and Generic Skills Programme
Authority: NHS England (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionNHS England is seeking to award a contract for a provider to design, deliver, administer and continuously improve a Professional and Generic Skills Programme for postgraduate medical and dental learners across the South-West of England. The programme will support the development of leadership, management, communication, patient safety, ethics and quality improvement skills, and must align with the General Medical Council (GMC) Generic Professional Capabilities Framework and wider NHS workforce priorities. The anticipated requirement is for approximately 225 learner places per year.
There shall be no guaranteed income under the Contract, but a cost per learner to be charged to the Contracting Authority in respect of each learner participating in the training programme under the Contract. The cost per learner shall be an all-inclusive cost and the only charge to be recovered under the Contract in respect of services provided.
The Awarded Contract shall be payable based on the volume of activity with a maximum price per learner of £1,022.22 (Exclusive of VAT).
The maximum cost per learner has been calculated using the total contract value divided by the indicative maximum learner volume over the contract term.
£1,150,000 ÷ 1,125 = £1,022.22.
The following risks have been declared through the contract notice:
Learner numbers may vary during the contract term. The current estimate is approximately 225 learner places per year, but actual demand may increase or decrease in response to workforce requirements, funding availability and regional demand. Any material change to learner numbers, and any associated change in contract value, will be subject to budget availability, agreement between the parties, NHS England governance approval and any required business case approvals.
The curriculum may also need to change during the contract term to reflect regulatory requirements, national policy, professional standards, workforce priorities or updates to the GMC Generic Professional Capabilities Framework. The successful provider will be required to work collaboratively with NHS England to review and update programme content where necessary, ensuring the programme remains current, compliant and aligned to emerging best practice. Any significant curriculum changes will be subject to appropriate governance and approval.
CPV: Education and training services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£1,150,000
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).
- Social Value 10%
- Technical 70%
- Commercial (20%)
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
- Awarded
- 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
- 10 Aug 2026, 08:15 BST
- Last source update
- 29 Sept 2026, 11:05 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 9 Oct 2026
- Authority reference
C463861- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-077849- Latest notice
- Contract award notice (UK6)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06df9dFind a Tender
- Risks
Learner numbers may vary during the contract term. The current estimate is approximately 225 learner places per year, but actual demand may increase or decrease in response to workforce requirements, funding availability and regional demand. Any material change to learner numbers, and any associated change in contract value, will be subject to budget availability, agreement between the parties, NHS England governance approval and any required business case approvals.
The curriculum may also need to change during the contract term to reflect regulatory requirements, national policy, professional standards, workforce priorities or updates to the GMC Generic Professional Capabilities Framework. The successful provider will be required to work collaboratively with NHS England to review and update programme content where necessary, ensuring the programme remains current, compliant and aligned to emerging best practice. Any significant curriculum changes will be subject to appropriate governance and approval.
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 15 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 28 Aug 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
To express interest and participate in the tender, please register and apply via Atamis e-sourcing portal health-family.force.com/s/Welcome ↗.
Should Tenderers have any queries, or having problems using the portal, they should contact Helpdesk at:
Phone: 0800 9956035
E-mail: [email protected]
Timeline
10 Aug 2026 → 21 Oct 2026 · 10 dates- Planning notice published75 days ago10 Aug 2026, 08:15 BST
- Tender notice published70 days ago14 Aug 2026, 16:52 BST
- Market engagement70 days ago14 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
Engagement for pre-awareness and optional feedback on the draft specification.
- Next notice expected67 days ago17 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
- Clarification questions by56 days ago28 Aug 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission deadline39 days ago15 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST
- Assessment summaries sent25 days ago29 Sept 2026, 00:00 BST
- Latest notice published25 days ago29 Sept 2026, 11:05 BST
- Award decision expected by14 days ago9 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts3 days ago21 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
10 events · 5 releases on Find a Tender · since 10 Aug 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published10 Aug 2026, 08:15 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published10 Aug 2026, 09:14 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published14 Aug 2026, 16:52 BSTUK4
- Status changed to active14 Aug 2026, 16:52 BST
- Procurement method changed14 Aug 2026, 16:52 BST
- Deadline published: 15 Sept 2026, 12:00 BST14 Aug 2026, 16:52 BST
- Contract award notice published29 Sept 2026, 10:46 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete29 Sept 2026, 10:46 BST
- Contract award notice published29 Sept 2026, 11:05 BSTUK6
- Contract signature expected21 Oct 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Published amendments (1)
Small typo amended.
Routine re-releases (5)
- 2026-08: 2 releases · 10 Aug 2026, 10 Aug 2026
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| University of PlymouthVCSE21 Oct 2026 – 22 Oct 2029 · up to 22 Oct 2031Extensions: The contract shall commence on contract signature for an initial term of three years, with the option for NHS England to extend the contract by up to two further periods of 12 months each. · Amended: Contract value error | £1,149,750 | 29 Sept 2026 | Awarded |
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2final-stage tenders | 0 | 1 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- University of PlymouthAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (5)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender