Planning

Soft Market Testing Exercise for the Provision of an Attendance Monitoring Software Solution

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

23 Aug 2022 at 12:24

Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The University of Southampton is currently conducting a Soft Market Testing Exercise for the Provision of an Attendance Monitoring Software Solution. This procurement process aims to explore various options for meeting the university's need to monitor student academic engagement, particularly focusing on activities related to academic work and the new immigration system requirements introduced by the Home Office. The engagement end date for this exercise is set for 27th September 2022, with the university planning to implement the chosen solution by September 2023/24. The University of Southampton is seeking interested parties to provide input, with the deadline for completed questionnaires and requests to attend the Soft Market Testing event scheduled for noon on 27th September 2022.

This tender presents an opportunity for businesses specialising in software packages and information systems to participate in the soft market testing exercise conducted by the University of Southampton. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community, and Social Enterprises (VCSEs) are encouraged to engage in this process. Businesses with experience in providing technological solutions related to student engagement monitoring in educational settings would find this tender particularly relevant. The timetable for this exercise includes the submission deadline for questionnaires and event attendance requests set for 27th September 2022, with the university leveraging electronic tendering tools for managing the process and communication with participating organisations.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Soft Market Testing Exercise for the Provision of an Attendance Monitoring Software Solution

Notice Description

The University of Southampton wishes to explore a range of options to meet its need for the provision of an attendance monitoring solution through a soft market testing exercise. The University would like to be able to monitor the academic engagement of students, whilst partaking in academic activities on campus, off campus or academic activities whilst working online. Monitoring academic engagement has also been introduced as part of the new immigration system on 5 October 2020 by the Home Office (UKVI). The new academic engagement policy requires sponsors (University of Southampton) to ensure that all sponsored students are academically engaged for the entirety of their course, including activities they consider would indicate academic engagement such as: * Attending required lectures, seminars, or tutorials * Undertaking required laboratory work * Undertaking research or fieldwork * Submitting essays, assignments and attending examinations The University currently has a number of systems and processes in place for the purposes of monitoring attendance of sponsored students. The University records student engagement through BlackBoard, Eduroam, log on to university workstations, entry access (including Library), PGR Tracker, use of printers, eAssignment and remote study log entries, access to the MySouthampton App and logins to SUSSED. These show electronic and on campus activity, but do not include data on exam, tutorial, seminar, lecture, and practical class attendance. The monitoring needs to be simple for students to use and give visibility to the student of academic engagement information being collected. The university needs to be able collect the data required, use appropriate technology and to be able to report on the data quickly and efficiently. Our plan is to have the appropriate, technological solution in place for September 2023/24, in the first instance for sponsored students and then scale the solution for all students during Semester 1 2023/24. The University is keen to explore all options that may be available in the marketplace and interested parties are invited to complete and return a questionnaire and attend a Soft Market Testing event to demonstrate an end to end system walk through from both the student and visa team perspective. The deadline for the receipt of completed questionnaires and requests to attend a Soft Market Testing event is 12:00 (Noon) 27th September 2022. Information received as part of this soft market testing exercise shall be used to help shape the University's final specification of requirements and scope any resulting procurement process. Please Note: The University is conducting this soft market testing exercise to allow interested parties, with appropriate experience, to outline their views and provide impartial information to the University with no commitment to themselves or the University. This is not a call for competition at this stage. Additional information: The University is utilising an electronic tendering tool (In-Tend: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/universityofsouthampton) to manage this soft market testing exercise and to communicate with participating organisations. All documentation in relation to this soft market testing exercise can be downloaded from In-Tend. Participating organisations are advised that there will be no hard copy documents issued to organisations and all communications with the University including the submission of Soft Market Testing event request form will be conducted via In-Tend. Regular monitoring of In-Tend is the responsibility of the participating organisation. If you are not already registered as a supplier with the University of Southampton, you will need to register in In-Tend in order to access the soft market testing documentation. Once you have logged in: click on 'Tenders'; locate the relevant project; and click 'View Details'. Once you are in the project screen, you will be able to register your company against the project and access all documentation by clicking 'Express Interest'. Further instructions for the submission of soft market event forms are below. To submit your return, please follow the instructions below: 1. Log In 2. Click 'Tenders' 3. Locate the relevant project 4. View Details 5. Click on the tab relating to the relevant project stage (e.g. 'Soft Market Testing') 6. Click on the 'Attach Documents' button and upload your return. 7. Check ALL your response documents are uploaded and displayed in the "My Tender Return" panel. The system will only permit your organisation to make one return. 8. Click the red "Submit Return" button. Please note that, to preserve the integrity of the soft market testing exercise, all queries must made be via the correspondence function within In-Tend. The deadline for the receipt of completed questionnaires and requests to attend a Soft Market Testing event is 12:00 (Noon) 27th September 2022. This Prior information Notice is issued solely for the purpose of conducting pre-procurement market engagement and does not constitute any commitment to undertake any procurement in the future. Interested parties will not be prejudiced by any response or failure to respond to the PIN event and a response to this PIN does not guarantee any invitation to participate in this event or any future procurement. This PIN does not constitute a call for competition to procure any services, supplies or works mentioned in this PIN and the University will not accept any proposals offered in response to this PIN. The University of Southampton is not liable for any costs, fees, or expenses incurred by any party in replying to the PIN or attending any briefing day (if applicable). Any procurement of any services, supplies or works by the University of Southampton will be carried out strictly in accordance with the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-b5fd17-c6e31f2b-df13-4ab2-8779-0a6f8dbeabd8
Publication Source
Contracts Finder
Latest Notice
https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/8fe361d2-d0d7-4237-89ab-83da03d713ba
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

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

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

48 - Software package and information systems

CPV Codes

48000000 - Software package and information systems

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
23 Aug 20223 years ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
27 Sep 2022Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
Not specified - Not specified
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Planning
Lots Status
Not Specified
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHAMPTON
Contact Name
Emma Raddon
Contact Email
procurement@soton.ac.uk
Contact Phone
02380 595000

Buyer Location

Locality
SOUTHAMPTON
Postcode
SO17 1BJ
Post Town
Southampton
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLJ South East (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLJ3 Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLJ32 Southampton
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Southampton
Electoral Ward
Portswood
Westminster Constituency
Southampton Test

Further Information

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

Download

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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The new academic engagement policy requires sponsors (University of Southampton) to ensure that all sponsored students are academically engaged for the entirety of their course, including activities they consider would indicate academic engagement such as: * Attending required lectures, seminars, or tutorials * Undertaking required laboratory work * Undertaking research or fieldwork * Submitting essays, assignments and attending examinations The University currently has a number of systems and processes in place for the purposes of monitoring attendance of sponsored students. The University records student engagement through BlackBoard, Eduroam, log on to university workstations, entry access (including Library), PGR Tracker, use of printers, eAssignment and remote study log entries, access to the MySouthampton App and logins to SUSSED. These show electronic and on campus activity, but do not include data on exam, tutorial, seminar, lecture, and practical class attendance. 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