Official UK procurement notice
UKRI –5498 TechFirst undergraduate and Spärck AI scholarships: Cohort Management Function (Lot 1), Recruitment Function (Lot 2)
Authority: UK Research and Innovation (Central government)
What is being bought2 lots · detail below
Published requirement descriptionUK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has awarded a contract for the provision of Recruitment Management Services (Lot 2) to support the delivery of its TechFirst Undergraduate and Spärck AI Scholarship programmes.
The appointed supplier will deliver an end-to-end recruitment management service, including the design, promotion and delivery of recruitment campaigns to attract and engage prospective applicants. The service includes applicant outreach and engagement, management of the application process, candidate communications, administration of eligibility checks, coordination of assessment activities, and support throughout the selection process to ensure a high-quality candidate experience.
The supplier will also work collaboratively with UKRI and other delivery partners to support programme governance, performance reporting and continuous improvement, contributing to the successful delivery of UKRI's strategic objectives.
CPV: Assessment centre services for recruitment · Custom software development services · Data analysis services · Education and training services · Educational software development services · Job search services · Miscellaneous services · Project-management services other than for construction work · Recruitment services · Training services
Lots and requirements (2)Procurement structure
2 lots · all with a published value (£5,430,502 together) · same evaluation weights on every lotLot #1Cohort Management FunctionAwardedPublished value£2,665,239
The source published no individual description for this lot.
Lot #2Recruitment FunctionAwardedPublished value£2,765,263
The source published no individual description for this lot.
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/Quality: 80%
- Cost: 20%
Published award criteria (2)
- Technical/Quality
- Cost
- Price carries 20 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2 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
- 20 Mar 2026, 09:35 GMT
- Last source update
- 9 Sept 2026, 10:08 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 15 Jun 2026
- Authority reference
UKRI-5498- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-036797- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-066fdcFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 29 May 2026, 14:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 22 May 2026, 12:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
To access this opportunity please click here
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- Select Register Interest (you will not be able to view the tender documentation without registering an interest).
- Go back to the main menu and navigate to the My Proposals and Quotes section of the site.
- Select the opportunity from the list. Tender Documents for download are found in the Documents tab.
Timeline
20 Mar 2026 → 9 Sept 2026 · 10 dates- Planning notice published210 days ago20 Mar 2026, 09:35 GMT
- Market engagement197 days ago1 Apr 2026, 23:59 BST
Market engagement Webinar
- Tender notice published176 days ago22 Apr 2026, 16:28 BST
- Clarification questions by147 days ago22 May 2026, 12:00 BST
- Submission deadline140 days ago29 May 2026, 14:00 BST
- Award decision expected by122 days ago15 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
- Contract starts93 days ago15 Jul 2026, 00:00 BST
- Assessment summaries sent72 days ago5 Aug 2026, 00:00 BST
- Standstill ends62 days ago14 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
- Latest notice published37 days ago9 Sept 2026, 10:08 BST
Notice history
12 events · 5 releases on Find a Tender · since 20 Mar 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published20 Mar 2026, 09:35 GMTUK2
- Tender notice published22 Apr 2026, 16:28 BSTUK4
- Published value updated to £5,430,50222 Apr 2026, 16:28 BSTwas £5,054,438
- Status changed to active22 Apr 2026, 16:28 BST
- Procurement method changed22 Apr 2026, 16:28 BST
- Deadline published: 29 May 2026, 14:00 BST22 Apr 2026, 16:28 BST
- Contract award notice published3 Aug 2026, 15:02 BSTUK6
- Status changed to complete3 Aug 2026, 15:02 BST
- Contract award notice published5 Aug 2026, 17:06 BSTUK6
- Contract signature expected14 Aug 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract signature expected17 Aug 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published9 Sept 2026, 10:08 BSTUK7
Routine re-releases (5)
- 2026-04: 1 release · 22 Apr 2026
- 2026-03: 1 release · 20 Mar 2026
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lot 1 · Cohort Management Function1 award | |||
| QA LimitedUKRI-5498 TechFirst Undergraduate and Spärck AI Scholarships – Cohort Management Services (Lot 1)14 Aug 2026 – 14 Sept 2027 | £2,356,052 | 16 Jul 2026 | Awarded |
| Lot 2 · Recruitment Function1 award | |||
| Penna plcUKRI –5498 TechFirst undergraduate and Spärck AI scholarships: Cohort Recruitment Function (Lot 2)17 Aug 2026 – 17 Sept 2027 | £1,564,228 | 5 Aug 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
UKRI-5498 TechFirst Undergraduate and Spärck AI Scholarships – Cohort Management Services (Lot 1) · QA Limited
- Signed
- 8 Sept 2026
- Value
- £2,356,052
- Period
- 8 Sept 2026 – 30 Sept 2027
- Status
- active
No agreed KPIs: KPIs have been set for this contract, but not for publication and reporting through FTS
UKRI –5498 TechFirst undergraduate and Spärck AI scholarships: Cohort Recruitment Function (Lot 2) · Penna plc
- Signed
- 7 Sept 2026
- Value
- £1,564,228
- Period
- 7 Sept 2026 – 21 Oct 2027
- Status
- active
No agreed KPIs: KPIs have been set for this contract, but not for publication and reporting through FTS
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Lot | Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 · Recruitment Function | 9final-stage tenders | 6 | 0 | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
2 commercial parties on the notice- Penna PlcAwarded supplier
- QA LIMITEDAwarded 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 details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender