Award

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

OFFICE FOR STUDENTS

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

Award

09 Oct 2025 at 13:05

Award

22 Aug 2025 at 09:05

Tender

27 Jun 2025 at 11:05

Summary of the contracting process

The Office for Students (OfS), a central government public authority based in Bristol, has completed the procurement process for a key contract focusing on evaluating its regulation of quality within the education sector. The procurement, identified by the tender ID PRN2371, involved a call-off contract approach requiring evaluation services, such as case studies and surveys to assess engagement with current regulatory approaches. Conducted through an open procedure procurement method, the procurement stage progressed from tendering to the awarding of a contract to Ecorys UK Ltd. The contract, valued at £500,000 with a possible total gross amount of £600,000, was officially signed on 5th September 2025, with services commencing from 10th September 2025 and continuing until at least 9th September 2031, with potential extending options based on future work orders.

This tender offers significant opportunities for businesses specialised in evaluation consultancy services, particularly for those keen on expanding into the field of quality regulation within higher education. SMEs, like the successful bidder Ecorys UK Ltd, stand to benefit given the ability to offer agile and detailed consultancy services tailored to public sector needs. Businesses involved can leverage this contract to enhance their portfolios, gain strategic insights into regulatory frameworks, and establish long-term relationships with public authorities. The focus on repeated case studies and surveys suggests continuous business opportunities across future phases, well-suited to companies able to adapt to ongoing evaluative processes and data collection requirements.

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Notice Title

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

Notice Description

The Office for Students (OfS) is embarking on evaluating our approach to regulating and driving up quality. As part of a wider programme of evaluation activity, the OfS requires a contract with a single supplier to deliver evaluation services on a call-off basis. To establish a baseline, an initial piece of work will involve provider case studies and a provider survey. The case studies will give a deep exploration of providers' understanding and engagement with the OfS's current approach to regulating quality. The survey will expand on the case studies with a broad and representative understanding of the same issues. To understand the effect of changes to our current approach, we anticipate that there will be future work orders for further rounds of case studies, further repeated rounds of the survey, and other primary data collection may also be required. To view this notice, please click here: https://www.delta-esourcing.com/delta/viewNotice.html?noticeId=985874782

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: This is entirely dependent on future decisions to award further work orders and there is no guaranteed level of spend under this contract.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-055504
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/063750-2025
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
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

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


CPV Codes

79419000 - Evaluation consultancy services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£500,000 £500K-£1M
Lots Value
£500,000 £500K-£1M
Awards Value
£500,000 £500K-£1M
Contracts Value
£500,000 £500K-£1M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
9 Oct 20254 months ago
Submission Deadline
23 Jul 2025Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
20 Aug 20256 months ago
Contract Period
9 Sep 2025 - 9 Sep 2031 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
OFFICE FOR STUDENTS
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
procurement@officeforstudents.org.uk
Contact Phone
0117 931 7149

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

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

ECORYS

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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