Official UK procurement notice
Software Licenses for Schools and Academies
Authority: Crescent Purchasing Consortium Limited (Public body)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis is an information gathering exercise named Preliminary Market Engagement. The purpose of this exercise is to gather information from suppliers who provide Software Licenses & Associated Services for Academies and Schools, outlined within the document available on Multiquote, to assist in forming the framework to meet the members requirement.
We are looking to review the lot structure of the framework and engage with potential suppliers to create a proposed basket of goods to meet our varying member’s needs.
Following this, we aim to go out to tender, to form a framework that offers Software Licenses & Associated Services for Academies and Schools to the education sector
Please complete the questionnaire along with the Preliminary Market Engagement Declaration. Details are available via MultiQuote: suppliers.multiquote.com ↗. MultiQuote reference CA16627
Any resulting framework from this exercise will be available to Further Education Institutions, Universities, Sixth Forms, Academies, Schools, Museums and other similar organisations who are CPC Members (www.thecpc.ac.uk/members/regions.php ↗) and all CPC future members (www.gov.uk/guidance/get-informa… ↗). Local Authorities may also wish to use the resulting framework when procuring on behalf of Educational Establishments.
If you wish to be involved in this Preliminary Market Engagement, please complete the questionnaire and sign and return the embedded Preliminary Market Declaration document by 11.59pm on 20th November 2025. MultiQuote reference CA16627
CPV: Software package suites
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewal
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Crescent Purchasing Consortium Limited buys Facilities management software package and software package suite (CPV 4842), and who usually turns up
Crescent Purchasing Consortium Limited’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: Facilities management software package and software package suite (CPV 4842) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
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 the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside North West England.
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.
Half of these awards were announced within 42 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
The market share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
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.
1 bid0% / 0%
2–313% / 20%
4–625% / 40%
7+63% / 40%
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.
Below estimate52%
Within ±2%29%
Above estimate19%
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.
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
Our matching links this notice to “Software Licenses & Associated Services for Academies and Schools” of this authority, but none of the 8 panel members sit in a category matching this notice.
Lot #1CPV 4842Published estimate£12m
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 56 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid14%
2–325%
4–632%
7+29%
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.
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.
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.
| Supplier | This buyer’s earlier contract | Lot | Award value | Why listed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phoenix Software LtdEarlier contract | Software Licenses & Associated Services for Academies and Schoolsnotice published Aug 2022 | Lot 5 – Other Off the Shelf Software including Educational Resources Software | — | Matched as the earlier contract |
| IDN Supplies LtdEarlier contract | Software Licenses & Associated Services for Academies and Schoolsnotice published Aug 2022 | Lot 4 –Data Security, Backup and Recovery (excluding Microsoft, Google and Chrome Software as covered in Lots 1, and 3) | — | Matched as the earlier contract |
| ODYSSEY EDUCATION LTDEarlier contract | Software Licenses & Associated Services for Academies and Schoolsnotice published Aug 2022 | Lot 5 – Other Off the Shelf Software including Educational Resources Software | — | Matched as the earlier contract |
| Stone Technologies Ltd t/a Converge Technology SolutionsEarlier contract | Software Licenses & Associated Services for Academies and Schoolsnotice published Aug 2022 | Lot 5 – Other Off the Shelf Software including Educational Resources Software | — | Matched as the earlier contract |
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.
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.
What this replaces i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
72% title match.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
72% title match.
A past supplier may not bid again.
The prior contract this notice most likely re-tenders · matched by title and category (72% title match), the holder is not guaranteed to re-bid
Software Licenses & Associated Services for Academies and Schools, winner not published; no contract end date published.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- 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
- 24 Oct 2025, 15:54 BST
- Last source update
- 24 Oct 2025, 15:54 BST
- Authority reference
CA16627- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-068300- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05d39dFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
24 Oct 2025 → 15 Jul 2026 · 4 dates- Planning notice published362 days ago24 Oct 2025, 15:54 BST
- Market engagement335 days ago20 Nov 2025, 23:59 GMT
Engagement
- Tender notice expected289 days ago5 Jan 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract starts99 days ago15 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published24 Oct 2025, 15:54 BSTUK2
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
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender