UK ENIC · UK public procurement notice

The high-level objectives of UK ENIC are to:

• Enable the UK to meet its obligations under the Lisbon Recognition Convention.
• Provide qualification recognition information to individuals and organisations both in the UK and globally.
• Represent the UK in international forums.
• Support the Department for Education and other Government Departments as required.
• Promote the service of UK ENIC to achieve maximum visibility with a range of promotional material and media including a website for information.

Currently the high-level requirements of UK ENIC are to deliver the UK National Information Centre for the Recognition of Professional Qualifications.

The demands on UK ENIC are constantly evolving and there will be a continuing need for the supplier to invest not only in improving the delivery of the services to its users, but in ensuring that international data is kept fully up to date and comprehensive in its coverage and that UK ENIC is able to respond flexibly and effectively to policy needs of Government departments. The rapid expansion of higher education in all parts of the world, the accompanying proliferation of qualifications and the greater international mobility of highly skilled workers will pose a series of major and, in some cases, new challenges to UK ENIC.

The supplier will provide comprehensive and up to date information on the education systems of other countries, and the equivalence of foreign qualifications to those of the UK. The supplier will be expected to provide advice about qualifications and to evaluate foreign qualifications, dealing with enquiries by telephone, letter, fax and e-mail as a minimum. The provision of services will include information and advice on academic and vocational qualifications and professional titles including:

• Comparisons of level of achievements between those of the UK and those of other countries.
• Benchmarking overseas vocational qualifications.

The supplier will also be expected to provide input into and support for public policy, including the provision of advice to, and representation of, the UK Government and Devolved Administrations. This includes:

• Attending network meetings and providing briefing and information on request for the Department for Education, working cooperatively with other Government departments, the Devolved Administrations and other relevant organisations.
• Provision of advice, responses to, and representation of, the UK Government and Devolved Administrations concerning international processes and developments.
• Providing regular feedback on the delivery of the service, trends in demand, progress in meeting objectives and the current strategic approach and thinking to the NARIC Executive Council, Department for Education and other relevant bodies.

The ENIC / NARIC networks, in which the UK will participate as an ENIC, co-operate (within their individual mandates) with the EU Commission, the Council of Europe and UNESCO as co-secretariats. Joint initiatives of the ENIC-NARIC networks include:

• Holding an annual joint meeting to support multilateral co-operation through sharing of qualification-recognition information on policies and practices and providing an opportunity for capacity building activities.
• Managing online information systems (e.g. ENIC-NARIC.net Web site, listservs, social media) as essential tools in assisting the ENIC NARIC Networks in carrying out their mandate, especially the Lisbon Recognition Convention information provisions. Additional information: The publication of this notice does not signify the commencement of any procurement process and does not constitute any commitment by the Department for Education to undertake any procurement exercise. In the event that the Department for Education might decide to commence any procurement process as contemplated by this notice, a full notice will be published at the relevant time.