Official UK procurement notice
Student Counselling Services — UK public procurement notice
Authority: Ulster University (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionUlster University is seeking tender responses for a contract to procure an external student counselling provider to supplement existing sources of internal wellbeing, mental health, disability and financial support to students through our Student Wellbeing teams across our campuses.
Ulster University’s Student Wellbeing team does not provide therapeutic counselling ‘in-house’ so has engaged an external counselling provider to facilitate this part of the service offering since 2013. While delivered by an external provider, the University requires the counselling service as part of the suite of services that students can avail of to enhance their mental health and wellbeing. Access to the counselling service shall be seamless for UU students. When a UU student accesses Student Wellbeing for counselling, staff will triage the student to identify if this is the most appropriate intervention; if this is identified as the most appropriate intervention, a seamless referral system for Student Wellbeing staff shall form part of this contract.
Ulster University has almost 30,000 registered students across a broad demographic of ‘Home fee paying’ students from across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as well as students from Great Britain, other EU countries, and international students.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 1 Jul 2028, 23:59 BST.
CPV: Counselling services · Guidance and counselling services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1Lot 1RenewalPublished value£1,200,000
- Value
- £1,200,000 exc. VAT · £1,200,000 inc. VAT
- Extensions
- Following the initial contract period (2 years), there are options to extend up to a further 24 months. Optional extension periods will be subject to review and satisfactory performance assessment by the University.
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).
Published sub-criteria (2)
- Quality Submission - Questions QS-01 - QS-05 — 60%
- Commercial Submission — 40%
No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How Ulster University buys Social work services (CPV 8531) — and who usually turns up
Ulster University’s own published record, next to the Northern Ireland market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Social work services (CPV 8531) →
How the contest usually goes
Left: this authority. Right: the market where the work is delivered. Bids and award-vs-estimate pairs are per lot, from contested contracts only — direct awards (including PA 2023 transparency notices) report one bid by definition and are left out. On Procurement Act 2023 notices the count is the tenders assessed at the final stage, not every submission received; pairs compare like with like (VAT-exclusive, or VAT-inclusive on both sides). Empty means nothing was published, not filled in from elsewhere.
Ulster University
contract notices in 36 months: 1 in CPV 8531 · 3 in division 85 (1 route not published) · 22 in all categories (6 route not published)
i
How many companies usually bid for work like this.
Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 9 lots. All 9 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices, which count bids assessed.
Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.
i
How often only one company bid.
Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 9 lots.
High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.
i
Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.
Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 5 pairs.
A past pattern, not a price to bid.
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.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 10 notices.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
i
How often this buyer changes a notice after publishing it.
Middle number of amendments per notice. Deadline extensions and corrections both count.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 24 months: 26 notices.
i
How often this buyer awards without a competition.
Direct or limited awards as a share of its notices that say which procedure was used. These routes are legal in defined cases. This is just the record.
Based on this buyer’s tenders in all categories, last 36 months: 16 notices.
Northern Ireland · Social work services (CPV 8531)
contract notices delivered in Northern Ireland in 36 months: 23 in CPV 8531 (19 competed, 4 route not published) · 214 in division 85 (173 competed, 29 route not published)
i
How many companies usually bid for work like this.
Middle value of published bid counts, one per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8531), last 36 months: 28 lots. 6 lots are from Procurement Act 2023 notices (bids assessed, middle 4) and 22 from older notices (bids received, middle 4.5).
Nothing is filled in from UK-wide numbers. An empty tile means nothing usable was published.
i
How often only one company bid.
Share of lots that received exactly one bid, on the same competitions as the bids figure.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8531), last 36 months: 28 lots.
High means a thin market or an incumbent that is hard to beat.
i
Do awards for work like this land above or below the estimate.
Estimate against award per lot, for this buyer or this region in the same sector.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8531), last 36 months: 17 pairs.
A past pattern, not a price to bid.
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.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8531), last 36 months: 4 notices.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
i
How much of this market goes to small and medium firms.
SME bidders where buyers published the split, otherwise SME winners.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8531), last 36 months: 27 lots.
i
How much work like this goes to companies based in the delivery region.
Awards in this category delivered here where the winner’s registered address is in the region.
Based on this region’s tenders in this sector (CPV 8531), last 36 months: 9 awards.
Registered address, so a national firm with a local branch counts as outside.
i
Where this tender’s estimate would land if the usual pattern repeats.
We apply the buyer’s usual movement between estimate and award (or the region’s) to the estimate on this notice.
Based on this buyer’s own usual movement over 5 lots (all categories), applied to the £1,200,000 estimate on this notice.
A benchmark, not a price to bid.
Coverage and what to read with care
- Each tile explains itself. The on a figure says what it is, how it is counted and which scope this notice’s own record came from (class, division, all categories, or the authority’s 24-month row). The two columns are never blended and nothing is filled from a UK-wide figure; an empty tile means the source published nothing usable. Long form: Methodology.
- Coverage. Roughly 40 % of notices publish a bid count; about half publish an ITL1 delivery location, so the market column reads the authority’s registered region when the notice has none (labelled). About 30 % of award-vs-estimate pairs are exact matches — the buyer published the award at the estimate. n is on every figure; a thin sample is muted, never hidden.
- “Match” and “relevance” are model scores from the nightly matcher, not published facts. Find a Tender does not publish who is bidding. Never shown: contact details, payment behaviour, or a recommended price.
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
- Open for tender
- 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
- Yes · next expected 1 Jul 2028
- First published
- 23 Sept 2026, 12:08 BST
- Last source update
- 23 Sept 2026, 12:08 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end — 25 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Authority reference
CfT_6722895- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06907fFind a Tender
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via eTendersNI- Expression of interest (EOI)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 27 Oct 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 19 Oct 2026, 15:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
8 published dates · Europe/London- Planning notice published146 days ago1 May 2026, 14:51 BST
- Market engagement119 days ago28 May 2026, 23:59 BST
The purpose of this Preliminary Market Engagement Notice (PME) and Request for Information (RFI) is to invite potential Service Providers to express an interest and provide information to assist with the procurement and development of a specification for Counselling Services at Ulster University. more…
The procurement route, duration and type of contract(s) shall be determined following this preliminary market consultation and engagement with market participants. It is this PME which will help to inform the University's strategy for this contract. It is important to note that this PME/RFI is not a call for competition, a pre-qualification questionnaire, part of any pre-qualification/selection process or a current tender opportunity. Potential providers will need to express an interest in any future tender opportunity once a Tender Notice is published. This RFI is intended as an awareness, communication, and information gathering exercise. An expression of interest is no indication of a commitment to participate in the RFI process, nor does it infer any preferential or special status on those individuals and organisations who express an interest in the RFI exercise. The RFI Questionnaire can be accessed by registering with eTendersNI (www.etendersni.gov.uk) and searching for the relevant CfT_6522356. - Next notice expected85 days ago1 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published1 day ago23 Sept 2026, 12:08 BST
- Clarification questions byin 25 days19 Oct 2026, 15:00 BST
- Submission deadlinein 33 days27 Oct 2026, 15:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 62 days25 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 98 days1 Jan 2027, 00:00 GMT
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Notice history
7 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 1 May 2026- Tender notice published23 Sept 2026, 12:08 BSTUK4
- Published value updated23 Sept 2026, 12:08 BSTwas £1,200,000
- Status changed to active23 Sept 2026, 12:08 BST
- Procurement method changed23 Sept 2026, 12:08 BST
- Deadline published: 27 Oct 2026, 15:00 GMT23 Sept 2026, 12:08 BST
- Preliminary market engagement notice published1 May 2026, 15:07 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published1 May 2026, 14:51 BSTUK2
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (4)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Conflict of interest declarationNot published
Notices published for this procedure
- 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