Planning

Contract for services to evaluate the Office for Students regulation of quality

OFFICE FOR STUDENTS

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

Planning

12 Jun 2025 at 13:05

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Office for Students (OfS) is initiating a procurement process for services relating to the evaluation of its quality regulation in English higher education. This contract, currently in the planning stage, focuses on evaluating OfS's approach to enhancing high-quality academic provision. The procurement broadly falls under the services category in the sub-central government authority sector, with a primary classification of evaluation consultancy services. Based in Bristol, the buying organisation intends to conduct a market engagement briefing online on 24 June 2025, with the procurement anticipated to officially commence from 10 September 2025. This tender offers a substantial contract valued at £600,000 over an initial six-year period, with the possibility of extensions. Suppliers interested in participating must register for the briefing event to explore potential collaborations.

This tender presents significant growth opportunities, particularly for businesses with expertise in complex impact evaluations and an understanding of higher education quality standards. Firms specialising in evaluation consultancy services, particularly those with experience in academic environments, will find this contract highly relevant. The opportunity to conduct case studies and surveys offers a platform for thought leadership and sector influence. Businesses capable of collaborating or forming partnerships to deliver high-quality evaluations will have a strategic advantage, as the OfS aims to integrate multifaceted expertise to yield comprehensive insights into its regulatory impacts. The online market engagement event will be a critical avenue for suppliers to align their offerings with OfS requirements and potentially secure a foothold in a complex and rewarding area of public services evaluation.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Contract for services to evaluate the Office for Students regulation of quality

Notice Description

We are seeking a supplier with expertise in complex impact evaluation and an in-depth understanding of leading high quality academic provision to undertake an evaluation of the Office for Students (OfS) approach to regulating and driving up quality in English higher education providers. The initial work order will involve undertaking including 10 case studies and a sector-wide survey exploring how OfS activity influences providers' attitudes and behaviours to providing high quality higher education experiences within a complex system. Future work orders will likely include further case studies and survey responses to explore any changes in providers' approaches to quality, with the possibility of other primary data collection. For more information about this opportunity, please visit the Delta eSourcing portal at: https://www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-UK-Bristol:-Evaluation-consultancy-services./5R37H5KMH2 To respond to this opportunity, please click here: https://www.delta-esourcing.com/respond/5R37H5KMH2

Planning Information

The OfS will be holding a briefing event. The briefing event will be held online (Microsoft Teams) from 11:00-12:00 on Tuesday 24 June 2025. We recognise that the higher education sector is a highly diverse and nuanced space, which means that a successful evaluation is only possible with a combination of methodological and experiential expertise to uncover findings that enable us to see a nuanced picture of how well our quality regulation activities are working to increase high quality for students. Through this event, we will bring together those with significant expertise in both areas, and hope that this facilitates suppliers in developing proposals of the highest quality. The event will introduce the specification and answer questions. Following the event, we will distribute contact details with everyone who has shared details, to enable the formation of partnerships/collaborations for a proposal. Suppliers will need to register to attend the event. Please follow this link to register : https://survey.officeforstudents.org.uk/s/OfS-briefing-event-quality-evaluation/

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0547b6
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/031938-2025
Current Stage
Planning
All Stages
Planning

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Not Specified
Procurement Method Details
Not specified
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

CPV Codes

79419000 - Evaluation consultancy services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£600,000 £500K-£1M
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
12 Jun 20258 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
27 Jun 2025Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
10 Sep 2025 - 9 Sep 2031 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
OFFICE FOR STUDENTS
Contact Name
Sarah Phillips
Contact Email
procurement@officeforstudents.org.uk
Contact Phone
+44 1179317317

Buyer Location

Locality
BRISTOL
Postcode
BS34 8SR
Post Town
Bristol
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLK South West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLK5 West of England
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLK52 Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
South Gloucestershire
Electoral Ward
Stoke Gifford
Westminster Constituency
Filton and Bradley Stoke

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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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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