Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 1 May 2026, 10:50 BST

Official UK procurement notice

School Improvement and Governance Service

Authority: London Borough of Waltham Forest (Local council)

ServicesAbove thresholdSME suitableVCSE suitable
Planned pipeline value£1,351,776pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 15 Jun 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 1 yrends 31 Mar 2028 · up to 31 Mar 2032 with extensions · starts 1 Apr 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The London Borough of Waltham Forest is preparing to recommission its School Improvement Partner from 1st April 2027. This service will be to support schools in-borough to continue to be good or better. The provider will need to be able to deliver a suitably matched school improvement partner for all London Borough of Waltham Forest maintained schools including the specialist SEMH School and the Local Authority Pupil Referral Unit; deliver SEND improvement work, SATS moderation and monitoring and develop cluster-based working across the local area.

Thank you for taking the time to complete this Market Engagement Questionnaire. The London Borough of Waltham Forest is seeking early feedback from potential providers to help shape our approach to the future commissioning of a School Improvement Partner (SIP). Your responses will support the Council to understand market capacity and capability, explore delivery models, and identify opportunities for innovation and collaboration. The information you provide will be used for planning purposes only and will help inform the development of the service specification and procurement documentation.

This is not a formal tender process, but an opportunity to contribute to the development of a high-quality service.

The deadline for completed responses to be submitted via the London Tenders Portal is 12 noon Friday 15th May.

CPV: Education and training services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 1 yrSMEVCSE
Contract period: 1 Apr 2027 – 31 Mar 2028 (1 yr) · up to 31 Mar 2032 with extensions
Delivery: LondonEligibility: SME eligibleVCSE eligible
Extensions: Extension options published

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How London Borough of Waltham Forest buys Education and training services (CPV 80), and who usually turns up

London Borough of Waltham Forest’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: Education and training services (CPV 80) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerLondon Borough of Waltham Forest · all categories
The marketEducation and training services (CPV 80) · Greater London
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 14 of 23 known-size awards · market: division 80 · Greater London, n=332
61%43%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

Here, local means registered in Greater London.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 11 of 13 known-location awards · market: division 80 · Greater London, n=338
85%41%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in Greater London.

How long to a decision?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 8 decided notices · market: division 80 · Greater London, n=72
77 days39 days

Half of these awards were announced within 77 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 14 of 44 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 80 · Greater London, n=506
32%58%

Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer11 lots with bid counts · all categories
9% had one bid
The market92 lots with bid counts · division 80 · Greater London
12% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid9% / 12%
Buyer: 1 of 11 lots with published bid counts. Market: 11 of 92 lots with published bid counts.
2–345% / 35%
Buyer: 5 of 11 lots with published bid counts. Market: 32 of 92 lots with published bid counts.
4–627% / 30%
Buyer: 3 of 11 lots with published bid counts. Market: 28 of 92 lots with published bid counts.
7+18% / 23%
Buyer: 2 of 11 lots with published bid counts. Market: 21 of 92 lots with published bid counts.

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer10 lots with estimate and award · all categories
30% below estimate
The market75 lots with estimate and award · division 80 · Greater London
41% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate30% / 41%
Buyer: 3 of 10 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 31 of 75 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%60% / 37%
Buyer: 6 of 10 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 28 of 75 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate10% / 21%
Buyer: 1 of 10 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 16 of 75 lots with an estimate and award.
2

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.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #112 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£1.4m
Expected competition
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 92 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet12% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 92 similar lots
1 bid12%
11 of 92 similar past lots received 1 bid (12%).
2–335%
32 of 92 similar past lots received 2–3 (35%).
4–630%
28 of 92 similar past lots received 4–6 (30%).
7+23%
21 of 92 similar past lots received 7+ (23%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 4 bids.
Commercial price forecast
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.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £1.4m, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

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.

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.

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
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
1 May 2026, 10:50 BST
Last source update
1 May 2026, 10:50 BST
Authority reference
DN781016
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-040370
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Education and training services
Delivery area
London (UKI53)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-069009 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

1 May 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published175 days ago
    1 May 2026, 10:50 BST
  2. Market engagement160 days ago
    15 May 2026, 23:59 BST

    The London Borough of Waltham Forest is preparing to recommission its School Improvement Partner

    Thank you for taking the time to complete this Market Engagement Questionnaire. The London Borough of Waltham Forest is seeking early feedback from potential providers to help shape our approach to the future commissioning of a School Improvement Partner (SIP). Your responses will support the Council to understand market capacity and capability, explore delivery models, and identify opportunities for innovation and collaboration. The information you provide will be used for planning purposes only and will help inform the development of the service specification and procurement documentation.

  3. Tender notice expected129 days ago
    15 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Today
    23 Oct 2026
  5. Contract startsin 160 days
    1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    1 May 2026, 10:50 BST
    UK2

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

London Borough of Waltham Forest

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-PPON: PPJN-6757-NZZZ Waltham Forest Town Hall, London, London, E17 4JFContact name, email, phone

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure