Official UK procurement notice
Subcontracted Education and Training Provision 2026/27
Authority: East Surrey College (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionOrbital South Colleges (East Surrey College and John Ruskin College) is inviting Expressions of Interest from high-quality education and training providers interested in delivering subcontracted provision during the 2026/27 academic year. OSC retains full accountability for all funded provision and is seeking partners who can demonstrate excellence in quality, compliance, learner outcomes and alignment with local skills priorities.
CPV: Education and training services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
Education and training services (CPV 80) in South East England, and who usually turns up
East Surrey College has too little published record in this market to describe on its own. Published market evidence for the same work stands beside whatever it has. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Education and training services (CPV 80) →
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.
Across this market, small firms won 63% of awards with a known supplier size.
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 South East England.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Across this market, 44% of winners were registered in the delivery region.
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 40 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.
Across this market, at least 38% of awarded procurements had no recorded rival.
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 bid42%
2–324%
4–622%
7+12%
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 estimate22%
Within ±2%70%
Above estimate7%
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
Lot #1Estimate not published
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 115 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid42%
2–324%
4–622%
7+12%
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.
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.
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
- Unspecified in notice
- 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
- 10 Jul 2026, 16:24 BST
- Last source update
- 17 Jul 2026, 10:54 BST
- Authority reference
OSC-EOI-SUB-2026-27.- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-067607- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06c8e9Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
10 Jul 2026 → 1 Aug 2026 · 4 dates- Planning notice published103 days ago10 Jul 2026, 16:24 BST
- Latest notice published96 days ago17 Jul 2026, 10:54 BST
- Market engagement95 days ago17 Jul 2026, 23:59 BST
We are particularly interested in proposals that:
Meet identified local, regional and employer skills needs.
Deliver specialist or niche provision not currently available within the College.
Extend participation into underserved communities or learner groups.
Support Adult Skills Fund (ASF), 16-19 provision, apprenticeships and other funded programmes where subcontracting is permitted.
Demonstrate strong employer engagement and progression outcomes.
Providers must demonstrate:
A strong track record of quality and learner achievement.
Robust safeguarding, Prevent and compliance arrangements.
Financial stability and appropriate insurances.
Effective ILR management, funding compliance and audit readiness.
The capacity to work within OSC's quality assurance, performance management and governance frameworks.
Expression of Interest Submission
Interested organisations should submit:
Organisation profile and key contacts.
Details of proposed curriculum delivery.
Geographic areas of operation.
Relevant funding streams and learner groups.
Recent quality and performance information.
Evidence of financial health and compliance arrangements.
Following evaluation of EOIs, shortlisted providers may be invited to participate in a full tender and due diligence process, including financial, quality, safeguarding and compliance reviews.
Procurement Approach
This EOI forms the first stage of OSC's subcontracting partner selection process for the 2026/27 academic year. Subcontracting arrangements will only be awarded where there is a clear educational and strategic rationale and where delivery represents value for money and positive outcomes for learners.
- Contract starts81 days ago1 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 10 Jul 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published10 Jul 2026, 16:24 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published17 Jul 2026, 10:54 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 (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender