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Evidence-Based Early Years Maths Programme

Department for Education

This public procurement record has 4 releases in its history.

Award

25 Mar 2026 at 15:15

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Award

06 Feb 2026 at 12:38

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Tender

04 Nov 2025 at 14:09

UK4 - Tender Notice
Planning

20 Jun 2025 at 14:15

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Department for Education has commissioned an "Evidence-Based Early Years Maths Programme" aimed at enhancing numeracy skills among children in early years settings across England. This procurement process recently concluded the award stage, with the contract signed on 13th March 2026. The programme targets the education and training services industry, falling under the jurisdiction of the Department for Education, a public authority within the central government. Operating from London, the programme is expected to run from 1st April 2026 to 31st August 2029, with potential extension options until January 2030. Utilizing an open procurement method, the contracting process culminated in the award to the National Day Nurseries Association, a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) based in Huddersfield, which also participated in the tendering process as a supplier and tenderer.

This tender offers significant business growth opportunities for organisations focused on the education and training industry, especially those with expertise in early years education and numerical development. Businesses well-suited for competition include SMEs and voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs), as the programme demands robust evaluation processes, including Randomised Controlled Trials (RCT) or Quasi-Experimental Designs (QED), backed by implementation and process evaluation. The contract seeks to improve educational delivery by addressing the gap in maths proficiency at an early stage, thereby offering businesses specialising in educational services a platform to contribute to improving academic and workforce outcomes across England. This programme is set to engage with over 5,000 early years settings, creating numerous collaboration and service provision opportunities for qualified and innovative educational providers.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Evidence-Based Early Years Maths Programme

Notice Description

The Department for Education is commissioning an evidence-based early maths programme aimed at improving numeracy outcomes for children in early years settings across England. Early maths skills are strongly linked to later academic achievement and workforce success, yet many children begin school without the expected level of development in maths. Despite its importance within the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS), maths remains one of the lowest-performing areas, partly due to limited training and confidence among educators. This contract will support the delivery of an evidence-based early maths programme to at least 5,000 settings, with a minimum completion rate of 80%, and requires programmes to be backed by robust evaluation, either a Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) or Quasi-Experimental Design (QED) plus an implementation and process evaluation (IPE).

Planning Information

The purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to notify the market of a potential opportunity to bid for the delivery of an evidence-based early maths programme from April 2026 onwards. Interested parties are invited to a market engagement event on Thursday 10 July from 14:00 to 15:00 to hear further details and share any views or questions relating to this potential opportunity. For information: Attendance at the market engagement events is not a pre-requisite for being able to submit a tender against this opportunity. If you are unable to attend the market engagement event, the slides and any Q&A outcomes will be made available. This notice is a zero value PIN notice for early market engagement. It is for information only and is not a call for competition. The Department reserves the right not to enter a formal procurement process and not proceed with contract award. Accordingly, the Department will not be liable for any bid cost, expenditure, work or effort incurred by any organisation in acting on the basis of this Prior Information Notice. To attend the event you will need to register on the following portal: https://education.app.jaggaer.com Please also email katherine.sargent@education.gov.uk as well as maisie.monroe@education.gov.uk to register your interest.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0550f5
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/027425-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

80 - Education and training services

CPV Codes

80000000 - Education and training services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£4,500,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£4,500,000 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
£4,407,915 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
£4,407,915 £1M-£10M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
25 Mar 20265 months ago
Submission Deadline
5 Dec 2025Expired
Future Notice Date
4 Aug 2025Expired
Award Date
6 Feb 20266 months ago
Contract Period
1 Apr 2026 - 31 Aug 2029 3-4 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active
Contracts Status
Active

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

National Day Nurseries Association

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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