Notice Information
Notice Title
Content Management System
Notice Description
Direct Award of Headless Content Management System on urgency grounds
Lot Information
Lot 1
This is a VEAT notice to notify the market that SQA intends to enter into a contract following a negotiated procedure without prior publication on the grounds that for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority, the time limits for open procedure, restricted procedure or competitive procedure with negotiation cannot be complied with (regulation 33(1)(c)). SQA requires to receive the contract services in time for a 1 December 2025 launch date for Qualifications Scotland which is set by government following the passage of the Education Scotland Act 2025. Implementation time requirements mean that even with immediate contract award, the development timeline is at the minimum of industry standards for enterprise-level headless CMS implementations. There is accordingly no time available for a procedure following even minimum timescales under procurement regulations. The urgency arises following a failure of established procurement procedures. Specifically SQA attempted to use an established Scottish Government framework to procure the required products but this process was vitiated by supply chain failure. That failure was unforeseeable by and unattributable to SQA.
Procurement Information
SQA is applying regulation 33(1)(c)
Notice Details
Publication & Lifecycle
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-055d31
- Publication Source
- Find A Tender Service
- Latest Notice
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/046214-2025
- Current Stage
- Award
- All Stages
- Award
Procurement Classification
- Notice Type
- Award Notice
- Procurement Type
- Standard
- Procurement Category
- Goods
- Procurement Method
- Limited
- Procurement Method Details
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Tender Suitability
- Not specified
- Awardee Scale
- Large
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
- £340,000 £100K-£500K
Notice Dates
- Publication Date
- 5 Aug 20256 months ago
- Submission Deadline
- Not specified
- Future Notice Date
- Not specified
- Award Date
- 9 Jul 20257 months ago
- Contract Period
- Not specified - Not specified
- Recurrence
- Not specified
Notice Status
- Tender Status
- Complete
- Lots Status
- Cancelled
- Awards Status
- Active
- Contracts Status
- Active
Buyer & Supplier
Contracting Authority (Buyer)
- Main Buyer
- SCOTTISH QUALIFICATIONS AUTHORITY
- Contact Name
- Elizabeth Cunningham
- Contact Email
- procurement@sqa.org.uk
- Contact Phone
- +44 03452136720
Buyer Location
- Locality
- MIDLOTHIAN
- Postcode
- EH22 1FD
- Post Town
- Edinburgh
- Country
- Scotland
-
- Major Region (ITL 1)
- TLM Scotland
- Basic Region (ITL 2)
- TLM1 East Central Scotland
- Small Region (ITL 3)
- TLM11 East Lothian and Midlothian
- Delivery Location
- TLM73 East Lothian and Midlothian
-
- Local Authority
- Midlothian
- Electoral Ward
- Dalkeith
- Westminster Constituency
- Midlothian
Further Information
Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)
View full OCDS Record for this contracting process
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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