Official UK procurement notice
The Provision of Multi-Engine Pilot Training
Authority: Ministry of Defence (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Ministry of Defence (MOD) requires a Civilian Aviation Authority (CAA) Approved Training Organisation (ATO) to train up to 22 fixed-wing pilots from April 2026 to March 2028. This training will use two syllabi due to differing input standards and onward training routes:
- Multi-Engine Crossovers (MEXO). The first, up to 10 trainees, will see training using elements of the modular Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) / Instrument Rating (IR) courses and the Airline Pilot Standard (APS) Multi Crew Cooperation (MCC) Course to achieve the training standard set by the MOD. The MOD is not looking for the award of a Commercial Pilot Licence / Instrument Rating at the end of this training as trainees will not have completed any CAA pre-requisite training courses so will not have met the minimum CAA entry requirements for starting CPL/IR training; this training therefore does not need CAA approval. However, the MOD is looking to achieve a near equivalent CPL/IR skills test standard along with MCC training and some additional training elements not required by the CPL/IR. Trainees will have completed the following military training courses, as a minimum, before arrival with the Contractor: Elementary Flying Training, Fast-Jet Lead-In, and Basic Fast-Jet Training with associated Groundschools. Alternatively, these trainees may be previously qualified military Fast-Jet or Rotary Wing pilots who have been awarded RAF Wings and completed at least one front-line tour with approximately 1000+ total flying hours.
- Ab-initios. The second, up to 12 trainees, will see training on Single-Engine (SE) aircraft and Multi-Engine (ME) aircraft prior to them undertaking additional training with the military. The SE element should broadly mirror the Private Pilot Licence syllabus which will allow them to gain Pilot in Command experience and focus on Instrument Flying skillsets. This will be followed by a ME syllabus which should build on Instrument Flying techniques as well as teach asymmetric flying skills. In addition, these trainees should also complete the APS MCC Course. The MOD is not looking for the award of any licence upon completion of this course. Trainees will have completed Elementary Flying Training and associated Groundschool.
CPV: Specialist training services · Training programme services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1AwardedRenewalPublished value£3,600,000
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)
- Technical Non-Cost including Social Value: 60%
- Price: 40%
Published award criteria (2)
- Price
- Technical Non-Cost including Social Value: Technical Npn-Cost including Social Value
- Price carries 40 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 4 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
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
- Awarded
- 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
- 18 Aug 2025, 12:11 BST
- Last source update
- 8 May 2026, 14:30 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 30 Mar 2026
- Authority reference
715601455- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-006411- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0589a6Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 27 Feb 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 6 Feb 2026, 12:30 GMT
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Submission via the Defence Sourcing Portal
Timeline
18 Aug 2025 → 8 May 2026 · 11 dates- Planning notice published18 Aug 2025, 12:11 BST
- Market engagement12 Sept 2025, 23:59 BST
Further instructions are included in the uploaded document - 20250813_715601455 MEPT_PREM
For information purposes a draft Statement of Requirement (SOR) -
20250701_715601455_Statement_of_Requirement_MEPT-Expansion_Draft has also been uploaded.
The closing date and time for resposne to the RFI is 12 September 2025 at 17:30hrs.
- Next notice expected397 days ago24 Sept 2025, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published275 days ago24 Jan 2026, 15:45 GMT
- Clarification questions by263 days ago6 Feb 2026, 12:30 GMT
- Submission deadline241 days ago27 Feb 2026, 17:00 GMT
- Award decision expected by210 days ago30 Mar 2026, 23:59 BST
- Assessment summaries sent200 days ago10 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
- Contract starts190 days ago20 Apr 2026, 00:00 BST
- Standstill ends188 days ago21 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Latest notice published171 days ago8 May 2026, 14:30 BST
Notice history
12 events · 6 releases on Find a Tender · since 18 Aug 2025- Pipeline notice published18 Aug 2025, 12:11 BSTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published18 Aug 2025, 13:01 BSTUK2
- Planned procurement notice published24 Sept 2025, 11:27 BSTUK3
- Deadline published: 24 Oct 2025, 17:30 BST24 Sept 2025, 11:27 BST
- Tender notice published24 Jan 2026, 15:45 GMTUK4
- Published value updated to £3,600,00024 Jan 2026, 15:45 GMTwas £4,000,000
- Status changed to active24 Jan 2026, 15:45 GMT
- Deadline moved to 27 Feb 2026, 17:00 GMT24 Jan 2026, 15:45 GMT+126 days · was 24 Oct 2025, 17:30 BST
- Contract award notice published10 Apr 2026, 12:26 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete10 Apr 2026, 12:26 BST
- Contract signature expected27 Apr 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published8 May 2026, 14:30 BSTUK7
Routine re-releases (6)
- 2025-09: 1 release · 24 Sept 2025
- 2025-08: 2 releases · 18 Aug 2025, 18 Aug 2025
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leading edge Aviation Ltd27 Apr 2026 – 26 Apr 2028 · up to 26 Apr 2030Extensions: This contract can be extended by +1+1 years. The Authority will review and confirm six moths prior to the initial contract end date. | £1,826,482same award published again · counted once | 10 Apr 2026standstill to 21 Apr 2026 | Standstill |
| Leading edge Aviation Ltd | £1,826,482 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
The Provision of Multi-Engine Pilot Training · Leading edge Aviation Ltd
- Signed
- 7 May 2026
- Value
- £1,826,482
- Period
- 1 Jun 2026 – 31 May 2028 · up to 31 May 2030 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- This contract can be extended by +1+1 year optional extensions. The Authority will review and confirm six months prior to the ebd of the initial contract end date.
4 agreed KPIs: Course Timelines · Report Timelines · Training …
- Course Timelines, The Contractor is to complete courses within the allocated time.
- Report Timelines, The Contractor is to submit the completed End of Course Reports to the MOD within allocated time.
- Training, The Contractor is to train trainees at a consistent rate of at least three events (flights or simulator events) per week. A failed event counts as a completed event for this metric. Military requirements would offset this metric by one event per day of trainee unavailability.
- Meetings, Contractor is to attend the Monthly Performance Review Meeting with the requisite information on trainees’ progress.
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2final-stage tenders | 2 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Leading edge Aviation LtdAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (6)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender