Planning

Assessment of existing and new Early Years Educator (Level 3) qualifications

DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Planning

10 Mar 2023 at 15:06

Planning

27 Jan 2023 at 11:47

Summary of the contracting process

The Department for Education is planning a procurement exercise for the 'Assessment of existing and new Early Years Educator (Level 3) qualifications'. The tender involves assessing and approving Level 3 and above early years qualifications against new criteria to be effective from September 2024. The procurement method will be Open, following Light Touch principles, with an estimated contract period from July 3, 2023, to September 30, 2024. The procurement stage is the planning phase, with a communication future notice date set for April 11, 2023.

This opportunity is suitable for small and medium enterprises and voluntary, community, and social enterprise organisations. Businesses in the education sector or those offering educational services may find this tender particularly relevant for business growth opportunities. The tender aims to create a pool of approved qualifications for Level 3 early years educators, benefiting providers and training organisations. Interested parties are advised to register on the DfE's e-procurement portal, Jaggaer, to stay updated on this opportunity and avoid missing out.

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Notice Title

Assessment of existing and new Early Years Educator (Level 3) qualifications

Notice Description

The Department for Education will be publishing a tendering opportunity to commission an organisation to assess and approve Level 3 and above early years qualifications and courses against the new Early Years Educator criteria, to be published in Spring and come into effect from September 2024. The Early Years Educator (EYE) Level 3 criteria review is one of the programmes within the Early Years Education Recovery (EYER) package. This review contributes to the EYRP by updating and improving the EYE Level 3 criteria, responding directly to sector feedback on the need for improving the quality of EYE Level 3 qualifications. For more information on the EYER package, please visit Early Years Education Recovery Programme - GOV.UK. To respond to sector feedback, in summer 2022, we launched a review, conducted by NCFE, of the EYE qualification, including the criteria. Recommendations for revisions to the criteria were made based on NCFE's findings. The consultation for the revised criteria was conducted online over an 8-week period from 28 November 2022 to Monday 23 January 2023. The Early Years Educator Level 3 criteria set out the minimum expected standards for what a practitioner qualified to Level 3 should know, understand and be able to do to be when delivering the Early Years Foundation Stage statutory framework (EYFS). The primary objective of the successful contractor is to, on behalf of the department as regulator, assess existing and new qualifications, against this new criteria and 'approve' those qualifications that meet the criteria. This will allow holders of these qualifications to be considered as a Level 3 qualified member of staff within an early years setting. There are up to c.242 approved courses (pre Sept 2014/post Sept 2014)) currently listed in the EYQL that will need assessing and, potentially, advising on how to update. This does not account for any new qualifications that might be added. The organisation will do this by: - Working with the further and higher education sector, and private training providers, to inform them of the regulatory need to have their qualifications approved against the new criteria. - Assessing and approving existing qualifications and courses submitted by awarding organisations and training providers who have adapted their qualifications and courses against the new criteria. - Assessing and approving new qualifications and courses submitted by awarding organisations and training providers against the new criteria. - Where a qualification is not assessed as meeting the new criteria, advising on how the qualification be improved to meet the new criteria. - Monitor the Early Years Educator Qualifications list of qualifications and provide the department with regular updates as to how many qualifications have been submitted/updated, so that the department can follow up with any awarding organisation and training providers as appropriate. Additional information: The DfE intends to run an Open procurement in Spring 2023 which will follow Light Touch principles as outlined in PCR 2015. The information contained in this Prior Information Notice (PIN), including information relating to the nature and scope of the authority requirements, the service classification of this requirement of the list of CPV codes, is only indicative of the authority's current thinking and is neither exhaustive nor binding. The authority reserves the right at its absolute discretion to amend it at the time of issue of any further notices or at any other time. Please revisit this notice periodically for any updates regarding this opportunity. This open tender competition will be run via the DfE's e-procurement portal, Jaggaer. It is recommended that to avoid missing out, interested organisations register on this system as soon as possible. Links to the site and related guidance can be found via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/procurement#jaggaer-the-dfe-etendering-portal

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-b5fd17-4203757e-9ba0-4fc8-b24f-be8b51fe0823
Publication Source
Contracts Finder
Latest Notice
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/a6b9daa4-c431-4dbc-a51f-2f3ea1ac0ff9
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Planned Procurement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Not specified
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

75 - Administration, defence and social security services


CPV Codes

75121000 - Administrative educational services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£210,000 £100K-£500K
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
10 Mar 20232 years ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
11 Apr 2023Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
2 Jul 2023 - 30 Sep 2024 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planned
Lots Status
Not Specified
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1P 3BT
Post Town
South West London
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
TLC North East (England), TLD North West (England), TLE Yorkshire and The Humber, TLF East Midlands (England), TLG West Midlands (England), TLI London, TLJ South East (England), TLK South West (England)

Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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