Official UK procurement notice
Provision of Online Graduate and Postgraduate Educational Services
Authority: ASTON UNIVERSITY (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis is a services contract for the provision of online educational services at graduate and post graduate level.
CPV: Higher education services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1This is a services contract for the provision of online educational services at…Awarded
This is a services contract for the provision of online educational services at graduate and post graduate level.
These services include acting as a college of Aston University by:
- Creating and adapting Aston University materials in order to ensure that they are appropriate for online teaching;
- Delivering online teaching in respect of courses from undergraduate to doctorate level;
- Marketing the courses to prospective students;
- Providing an admissions service; and
- Providing student support services.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 22 Dec 2023, 11:12 GMT
- Last source update
- 22 Dec 2023, 11:12 GMT
- Authority reference
946- FTS notice number
2023/S 000-037811- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04297aFind a Tender
- Why no open competition
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to absence of competition for technical reasons
- Published justification
The University sought to appoint a provider through which to secure its online education offering.
The University's objective requirements for its provider included (1) the provision of online education services; and (2) the ability to make a significant (multimillion pound) upfront investment in infrastructure to support the contract. The University is of the view that that there is no reasonable commercial alternative through which to achieve its online education offering. It also considers that its requirements are driven by commercial positions and are not aimed at the artificial narrowing of competition.
Recognising that its requirements were more extensive than many online education contracts, the University directly engaged with the market to ascertain the market's ability to meet the University's requirements and its appetite for doing so. Following that engagement the University identified only one party who had the capability to deliver the requirements and who was willing to contract with the University on this basis. Indeed, the engagement did not reveal any other provider with a viable solution and who would be willing to put forward the significant multi-million pound upfront investment for the infrastructure required under the contract.
Therefore, following a review of the commercial case put forward, the University has made the commercial decision to enter into the contract with OES, who satisfies all of the criteria under Regulation 57 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Online Education Services | £230,000,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 037811-2023-1 · Online Education Services
- Signed
- 15 Dec 2023
- Value
- £230,000,000
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bids | — | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Online Education Services LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.