Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 21 Jan 2026, 10:11 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Student Record Information System Higher Education

Authority: THE UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER (Education)

ServicesBelow threshold
Sectors: IT Services & Software (72) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Planned pipeline value£10,000,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 1 Oct 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 4 yrsends 29 Jun 2031 · starts 30 Jun 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Student Record Information System Higher Education

Ulster University is currently reviewing and developing its long-term strategic direction for its Student Record Information System (SRIS)and associated systems. Ulster’s aim is to transition to a modern based SaaS delivery model. The Service Provider will provide a Student Record Information System which supports the smooth operation of the University’s core education role, across it’s main campus locations in Belfast , Coleraine, Derry~Londonderry and support governed and appropriate provision of services to partners located both within the UK and globally.

CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

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

How THE UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER buys IT services: consulting, software, internet (CPV 72), and who usually turns up

THE UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER’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: IT services: consulting, software, internet (CPV 72) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerTHE UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER · all categories
The marketIT services: consulting, software, internet (CPV 72) · Northern Ireland (authority’s region)
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: 1 of 4 known-size awards · market: division 72 · Northern Ireland (authority’s region), n=146
1 of 440%

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 Northern Ireland (authority’s region).

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 6 of 10 known-location awards · market: division 72 · Northern Ireland (authority’s region), n=149
60%27%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in Northern Ireland.

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: 10 decided notices · market: division 72 · Northern Ireland (authority’s region), n=26
46 days41 days

Half of these awards were announced within 46 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 5 of 13 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: division 72 · Northern Ireland (authority’s region), n=203
38%55%

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 buyer9 lots with bid counts · all categories
11% had one bid
The market54 lots with bid counts · division 72 · Northern Ireland (authority’s region)
28% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid11% / 28%
Buyer: 1 of 9 lots with published bid counts. Market: 15 of 54 lots with published bid counts.
2–344% / 39%
Buyer: 4 of 9 lots with published bid counts. Market: 21 of 54 lots with published bid counts.
4–644% / 20%
Buyer: 4 of 9 lots with published bid counts. Market: 11 of 54 lots with published bid counts.
7+0% / 13%
Buyer: 0 of 9 lots with published bid counts. Market: 7 of 54 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 buyer5 lots with estimate and award · all categories
60% below estimate
The market45 lots with estimate and award · division 72 · Northern Ireland (authority’s region)
27% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate60% / 27%
Buyer: 3 of 5 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 12 of 45 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%0% / 58%
Buyer: 0 of 5 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 26 of 45 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate40% / 16%
Buyer: 2 of 5 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 7 of 45 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 #148 monthsPublished estimate£10m
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 54 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet28% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 54 similar lots
1 bid28%
15 of 54 similar past lots received 1 bid (28%).
2–339%
21 of 54 similar past lots received 2–3 (39%).
4–620%
11 of 54 similar past lots received 4–6 (20%).
7+13%
7 of 54 similar past lots received 7+ (13%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 3 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 £10m, 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
Below threshold
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
21 Jan 2026, 10:11 GMT
Last source update
21 Jan 2026, 10:11 GMT
Authority reference
cft 6356741 EXP2428
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-005132
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-060aa5 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

21 Jan 2026 → 30 Jun 2027 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published274 days ago
    21 Jan 2026, 10:11 GMT
  2. Market engagement253 days ago
    11 Feb 2026, 23:59 GMT

    If you wish to participate in the Ulster University’s Preliminary Market Engagement for this requirement, a questionnaire for completion is available via eTendersNI under [6356741]

    The questionnaire must be completed and submitted via eTendersNI by the engagement deadline date and time detailed above.

  3. Tender notice expected21 days ago
    1 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Today
    22 Oct 2026
  5. Contract startsin 250 days
    30 Jun 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    21 Jan 2026, 10:11 GMT
    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

Ulster University

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central governmentNorthern Irish devolved regulations apply GB-COH: RC000726 · GB-PPON: PDLT-6268-MWZV Cromore Road, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, BT52 1SAContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure