Official UK procurement notice
UKRI-4863 National STEM Ambassadors programme
Authority: UK Research and Innovation (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionUK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is seeking a new supplier to continue the delivery of the STEM Ambassadors programme. UKRI wants to maintain the focus on STEM in this new contract whilst also piloting activities to build further on the existing focus of the programme.
The STEM Ambassadors programme is an established, recognisable national programme that supports the UK Government in its ambitions to support young people to develop STEM skills and consider career opportunities in the STEM sector by connecting them with Ambassadors that work in the sector. It is the UK’s largest STEM engagement programme for young people aged 5-19.
The main priorities of the renewed programme will be to:
- maintain its effectiveness as a national STEM volunteering infrastructure.
- implement changes that improve the delivery and coordination of the programme
- improve the programme’s recruitment of Ambassadors from universities and academic research organisations
- design, develop and implement targeted, innovative interventions that focus on young people from minoritised and underrepresented groups that have potential to be scaled up in local schools and non-school organisations (such as youth and community groups and cultural organisations such as art galleries and museums).
- evaluate the effectiveness of the programme and targeted interventions.
UKRI wants the programme to achieve the following objectives:
- Support the development and growth of the STEM skills required for working within STEM.
- To introduce and connect young people with the range of careers in STEM and challenge perceptions of what STEM is and who can work in STEM sectors.
- To inspire young people and build their trust and understanding of STEM.
The supplier will deliver these objectives through the following five work packages:
- Work package 1: STEM Ambassador recruitment, induction, support and training
- Work package 2: Employer and schools engagement and support
- Work package 3: Coordinated UK wide activity at national and regional levels
- Work package 4: Design, development, piloting and scaling of interventions targeting young people from underrepresented and minoritised groups
- Work package 5: Monitoring and evaluation of programme and targeted interventions
- Work package 6: Convening sector, network building and communications
The programme will be delivered from 1st October 2026 until 30th September 2032
Market Engagement Webinar:
UKRI is holding a market engagement webinar on 16th March 2026 commencing at 14.00 with a presentation followed by a question and answer session.
This webinar is an opportunity to learn more about the
STEM Ambassadors Programme and the procurement process as well as to provide valuable feedback on the requirement.
Please note that not registering an interest will not prevent any organisation from participating in any future procurement, nor will any information shared during preliminary market engagement provide an advantage in any subsequent process.
To find out more information about this webinar and register your interest
CPV: Business and management consultancy services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How UK Research and Innovation buys Business and management consultancy services (CPV 7941), and who usually turns up
UK Research and Innovation’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: Business and management consultancy services (CPV 7941) →
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.
Here, local means registered in South West England (authority’s region).
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside South West England.
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 38 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.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
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 bid4% / 13%
2–324% / 23%
4–628% / 10%
7+44% / 53%
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 estimate61% / 38%
Within ±2%35% / 43%
Above estimate4% / 19%
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 7941Published estimate£21m
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 30 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid13%
2–323%
4–610%
7+53%
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
- 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
- 27 Feb 2026, 17:48 GMT
- Last source update
- 27 Feb 2026, 17:48 GMT
- Authority reference
C0907- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-018167- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-065ee2Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
27 Feb 2026 → 1 Oct 2026 · 4 dates- Planning notice published237 days ago27 Feb 2026, 17:48 GMT
- Market engagement220 days ago16 Mar 2026, 23:59 GMT
Market engagement Webinar
- Tender notice expected178 days ago27 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts22 days ago1 Oct 2026, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published27 Feb 2026, 17:48 GMTUK2
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 (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender