Official UK procurement notice
The Spencer Academy Trusts Microsoft Licensing & Support Services
Authority: THE SPENCER ACADEMIES TRUST (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionSpencer Academies Trust is seeking a suitably qualified supplier to provide Microsoft Licensing and Support Services.
The contract will include the provision, management and support of the Trust's Microsoft licensing estate, including Microsoft 365 A3 and Microsoft 365 A5 licensing, licence administration, subscription management, renewal management, compliance support, billing, reporting and associated licensing advice.
Tenderers are required to submit pricing for the following options:
Microsoft 365 A3 Licensing and Support Services for a three (3) year term;
Microsoft 365 A3 Licensing and Support Services for a five (5) year term;
Microsoft 365 A5 Licensing and Support Services for a three (3) year term;
Microsoft 365 A5 Licensing and Support Services for a five (5) year term.
The Trust will evaluate all four pricing options and reserves the right to award any one option based on the outcome of the evaluation and the determination of the most advantageous tender. Only one contract will be awarded.
The successful supplier shall provide all services necessary to support the ongoing management of the Trust's Microsoft licensing requirements throughout the contract term.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 1 Jul 2031, 23:59 BST.
- How the procedure runs: The procurement will be conducted using a single-stage Competitive Flexible Procedure. Suppliers will be invited to submit a complete tender response by the tender submission deadline. Tenders will first be assessed against the published pass/fail requirements. Suppliers failing any mandatory requirement will be excluded from further evaluation. Compliant tenders will then be evaluated in accordance with the published award criteria and weightings. No negotiation is anticipated. The Authority reserves the right to seek clarification of tenders where necessary in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023.
CPV: Software package and information systems · Software supply services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1Published value£1,000,000
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 (4)
- Service Delivery: 10%
- Added Value: 5%
- Price: 80%
- Social Value: 5%
Published award criteria (4)
- Price
- Service Delivery
- Social Value
- Added Value
No conditions of participation were published on the notice; check the tender documents.
- Price carries 80 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 8 points. This one is won on the number: sharpen the price before polishing the prose.
- Turnover usually expected at this size: about £399,781 (twice the annual value).
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula. Turnover is an indicative market norm (≈2× annual value), not a published condition.
Competition analysis · published record, not a forecast of who will bid
How THE SPENCER ACADEMIES TRUST buys Software-related services (CPV 7226), and who usually turns up
THE SPENCER ACADEMIES TRUST’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Software-related services (CPV 7226) →
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.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 54 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.
Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.
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 bid27%
2–331%
4–620%
7+22%
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 estimate57%
Within ±2%24%
Above estimate20%
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 #1CPV 7226Published estimate£1.0m
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.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid12%
2–341%
4–625%
7+21%
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.
Based on 1 comparable award. Each lot reflects its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Middle 50%£901k–£948k
Estimate£1.0m
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.
| Supplier | Won in this category | Live contracts | Award vs estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
Softcat PlcLarge | £272m356 awards in 36m · last this month | 104 live · £569m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=4 |
| £399m28 awards in 36m · last 1 month ago | 12 live · £208m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 3% below n=7 | |
Phoenix Software LtdLarge | £280m212 awards in 36m · last 1 month ago | 80 live · £152m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | at estimate n=10 |
CGI IT UK LimitedLarge | £140m28 awards in 36m · last 2 months ago | 4 live · £46m iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 5% below n=11 |
| £40m50 awards in 36m · last this month | 15 live · £570k iPublic contracts this supplier still holds. Its awards whose published end date is still in the future, with their values. Many contracts publish no end date, so this is a floor, not the whole book. Unexpired says nothing about spare capacity. | 8% below n=2 |
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- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible 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 2031
- First published
- 26 Oct 2026, 17:26 GMT
- Last source update
- 26 Oct 2026, 17:26 GMT
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 30 Nov 2026
- Authority reference
261026/13- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-101261- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0790a3Find a Tender
- How it runs
The procurement will be conducted using a single-stage Competitive Flexible Procedure. Suppliers will be invited to submit a complete tender response by the tender submission deadline. Tenders will first be assessed against the published pass/fail requirements. Suppliers failing any mandatory requirement will be excluded from further evaluation. Compliant tenders will then be evaluated in accordance with the published award criteria and weightings. No negotiation is anticipated. The Authority reserves the right to seek clarification of tenders where necessary in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023.
How to participate & submission route
Official notice Submit via portal- Requests to participate (first stage)
- —
- Tender submission deadline
- 23 Nov 2026, 13:00 GMT
- Clarification deadline
- 9 Nov 2026, 07:00 GMT
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Tenders must be submitted electronically by email to [email protected] no later than 13:00 on 23 November 2026.
Tender responses must be submitted in PDF format using the Supplier Response Template provided. Late submissions may not be considered.
Clarification requests should be submitted by email to [email protected] by 09 November 2026.
Timeline
26 Oct 2026 → 1 Jan 2027 · 5 dates- Tender notice published21h ago26 Oct 2026, 17:26 GMT
- Today27 Oct 2026
- Clarification questions byin 12 days9 Nov 2026, 07:00 GMT
- Submission deadlinein 26 days23 Nov 2026, 13:00 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 34 days30 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 65 days1 Jan 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published26 Oct 2026, 17:26 GMTUK4
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Nothing awarded yet- 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 (6)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender