Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 9 Mar 2026, 11:49 GMT

Official UK procurement notice

Supply of a Secondary School Timetabling & Scheduling Solution

Authority: THE KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST (Education)

ServicesSME suitable
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 6 Apr 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 3 yrsends 31 May 2029 · up to 31 May 2031 with extensions · starts 1 Jun 2026

What is being bought

Published requirement description

This RFI is issued to gather market insights regarding modern, complex timetabling solutions for secondary schools. The Trust is seeking a solution capable of managing advanced UK secondary structures, including large-scale part-time staffing and Key Stage 5 (KS5) requirements.

The information gathered through this process will be used to inform our overarching procurement strategy, specifically by evaluating the technical feasibility of cloud-based versus 64-bit on-premises solutions and establishing a comprehensive understanding of the total cost of ownership, including licensing, implementation, and ongoing support.

Furthermore, these insights will assist in determining the most appropriate route to market, whether that be through identifying relevant existing frameworks or establishing the necessity for a formal procurement process.

CPV: Educational software package · Scheduling software development services · Scheduling software package · Software implementation services · Software package and information systems · Software support services

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published

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

How THE KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST buys Software-related services (CPV 7226), and who usually turns up

THE KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST’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: Software-related services (CPV 7226) →

1

How the contest usually goes

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

Question for the bid
This buyerTHE KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST · all categories
The marketSoftware-related services (CPV 7226) · South East England
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: 3 of 6 known-size awards · market: CPV 7226 · South East England, n=83
50%36%

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 South East England.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 5 of 7 known-location awards · market: CPV 7226 · South East England, n=97
71%25%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in South East England.

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: no decision dates published · market: CPV 7226 · South East England, n=7
—157 days

Half of these awards were announced within 157 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.

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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 4 procurements with awards; rival share unknown · market: CPV 7226 · South East England, n=132
—72%

Awards are recorded, but published direct routes and bid counts do not establish this buyer’s share.

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 buyerNo bid counts published
The market8 lots with bid counts · CPV 7226 · South East England
13% had one bid
Market · select a colour for counts
1 bid13%
Market: 1 of 8 lots with published bid counts.
2–338%
Market: 3 of 8 lots with published bid counts.
4–638%
Market: 3 of 8 lots with published bid counts.
7+13%
Market: 1 of 8 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 buyerNo estimate-and-award pairs published
The market5 lots with estimate and award · CPV 7226 · South East England
40% below estimate
Market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate40%
Market: 2 of 5 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%60%
Market: 3 of 5 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate0%
Market: 0 of 5 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 #1CPV 722636 monthsSME suitableEstimate not published
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 87 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet8% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 87 similar lots
1 bid8%
7 of 87 similar past lots received 1 bid (8%).
2–329%
25 of 87 similar past lots received 2–3 (29%).
4–629%
25 of 87 similar past lots received 4–6 (29%).
7+34%
30 of 87 similar past lots received 7+ (34%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 5 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.

—Estimate not published
The buyer published no estimate for this lot, so there is nothing to forecast against. A price prediction here would be a number about a number we do not have.

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
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
9 Mar 2026, 11:49 GMT
Last source update
9 Mar 2026, 11:49 GMT
Authority reference
TKAT26001
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-020819
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Educational software packageScheduling software development servicesScheduling software packageSoftware implementation servicesSoftware package and information systemsSoftware support services
Delivery area
South East (UKJ4)
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06652e Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

9 Mar 2026 → 1 Jun 2026 · 4 dates
  1. Planning notice published227 days ago
    9 Mar 2026, 11:49 GMT
  2. Market engagement209 days ago
    26 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT

    Request for Information via a Questionnaire

  3. Tender notice expected199 days ago
    6 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
  4. Contract starts144 days ago
    1 Jun 2026, 00:00 BST

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    9 Mar 2026, 11:49 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

THE KEMNAL ACADEMIES TRUST

Contracting authorityPublic authority - sub-central government GB-COH: 07348231 The Atkins Centre Kemnal Technology College, Sidcup, London, DA14 5AAContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure