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Explore education statistics platform support

Department for Education

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

AwardUpdate

20 Jul 2026 at 13:54

Award Notice
AwardUpdate

20 Jul 2026 at 13:52

Award Notice
Award

20 Jul 2026 at 13:49

Award Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Department for Education procured ongoing support for Explore education statistics, a public-beta digital service used by departmental analysts to create and publish official and national statistics releases. The requirement covers maintenance and minor enhancements while larger improvements are delivered through separate Statements of Work. The supplier is expected to address bugs and issues, deliver a regular flow of small feature optimisations, monitor and optimise the service, and maintain accessibility standards. The work is classified as system and support services and falls within the services category. Delivery covers the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, Europe and the rest of the world. The service must remain publicly available because of the department’s regulatory responsibilities for its statistical service.

This completed procurement was run by selective procedure as a call-off from a framework agreement. The tender deadline was 5 May 2026 at 6am, and the award was made on 27 May 2026. The Department for Education awarded the requirement to Hive IT for £2,820,000 including the stated currency of GBP. The contract period runs from 1 August 2026 to 1 August 2028. The procurement was identified as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises and unsuitable for voluntary, community or social enterprises. Evaluation information recorded for the process focuses on the framework call-off route; the requirement itself centres on maintaining service availability, fixing defects, monitoring performance, delivering minor enhancements and meeting accessibility needs throughout the contract.

This award signals sustained demand from the Department for Education for suppliers able to support public-facing statistical technology in a live operational environment. Relevant competitors would need capability in software maintenance, service monitoring, performance optimisation, incident and bug resolution, and controlled delivery of small enhancements. Experience supporting digital services used by analysts, publishing official or national statistics, and working within public-sector service requirements would be directly relevant. Strong accessibility practice is important because the service must meet accessibility standards, while reliability and operational resilience matter because public availability is a regulatory requirement. The route also shows that framework access and credible small or medium-sized enterprise delivery capacity can be relevant to this buyer’s support requirements.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Explore education statistics platform support

Notice Description

Explore education statistics (EES) is a digital service used by analysts within the Department for Education (DfE) to create and publish official and national statistics releases. The service is in public beta and is relied on by users, with the department having regulatory requirements for keeping its statistical service publicly available. We require that the service is continually worked on, with bugs and issues addressed as they are raised and a regular flow of small feature optimisations to ensure it continues to meet the needs of the users including accessibility standards. Maintenance and minor enhancement of the service throughout the duration of the contract whilst enhancement work is taking place through other Statements of Work. We expect this to include monitoring and optimisation of the service as well as bug fixing.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-b5fd17-78d6d678-325b-450b-9ce5-8a12d4de8525
Publication Source
Contracts Finder
Latest Notice
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/6ba029dd-e2b0-480b-a7d2-44e1724e4a1e
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
Award Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Selective
Procurement Method Details
Call-off from a framework agreement
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Large, SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

CPV Codes

72250000 - System and support services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£2,820,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£2,820,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
20 Jul 20262 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
27 May 20264 months ago
Contract Period
1 Aug 2026 - 1 Aug 2028 2-3 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Not Specified
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

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
Postcode Area
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
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

HIVE IT LIMITED

Further Information

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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