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King's College London Postgraduate Learning Offer

Department for Education

This public procurement record has 4 releases in its history.

Award

16 Sep 2026 at 15:41

UK7 - Contract Details Notice
AwardUpdate

02 Oct 2025 at 12:51

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

19 Sep 2025 at 17:00

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

19 Sep 2025 at 15:58

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Department for Education commissioned King’s College London to provide a postgraduate learning offer for mid-career UK civil servants working at level 2 of the policy profession standards. The service provides flexible, modular and accredited learning designed with the UK Civil Service, including standalone postgraduate modules and progression towards postgraduate certificates and diplomas. It is a higher education service, covering learner enrolment, course delivery and continuity of provision while the department develops a wider accredited learning requirement. Delivery is associated with the Department for Education and King’s College London in London, with the learning intended for civil servants across government. The requirement is focused on policy-profession development rather than general training or conventional undergraduate education.

The procurement has been awarded through a direct award and is complete. King’s College London was selected as the supplier for the single lot. The award date was 17 September 2025, with a standstill period ending on 30 September 2025. The contract was signed on 4 December 2025 and runs from 4 December 2025 to 31 July 2027. Its value is £2,751,328 gross. The department’s stated rationale was that King’s College London was the only supplier able to continue the existing provision without disrupting the 2025 diploma cohort or the January 2026 cohort, following the termination assistance period for the previous learning framework. The direct award also allows time for a future full procurement and is expected to save £145,070 against the framework based on historic student volumes.

This requirement suits a higher education provider with accredited postgraduate provision, modular course design and the ability to align teaching with professional standards developed with a government employer. A credible competitor would need to support learners across standalone modules and longer postgraduate certificate or diploma routes, while maintaining continuity between cohorts and accommodating varied learner needs. Relevant capability includes curriculum design for mid-career policy professionals, enrolment and learner administration, academic delivery, assessment and course completion management. Providers should also be able to demonstrate reliable reporting against learner satisfaction, completion rates and public access to academic expertise, including annual public-facing academic events. Experience working with central government, accredited learning frameworks and large public-sector learner groups would strengthen a future response.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

King's College London Postgraduate Learning Offer

Notice Description

This Direct Award is to King's College London for the delivery of the King's College London Postgraduate Learning Offer (KCL PGL2) from January 2026. This will include enrolment on standalone modules up until July 2027, with the final enrolment point for the postgraduate certificate/ diploma in March 2027. Designed with the UK Civil Service, the KCL PGL2 is designed for mid-career civil servants, to support their development at level 2 of the policy profession standards. This offer is designed to be flexible and modular. This direct award aims to provide learners continuity of service and provision, ensuring that there is no break in our ability to deliver mid-career accredited learning whilst we undertake a full procurement. If this Direct Award were not to proceed, we would have a gap in learning provision at this level, as KCL are the only supplier available to provide flexible, modular learning explicitly aligned to the policy profession standards. Proceeding via a direct award is the favourable option in comparison to other available contracting vehicles , as it represents a significant saving in comparison to the current per student cost The Direct Award will also allow us to undertake a full procurement exercise for delivery of Accredited Learning from September 2027, allowing us to test the requirements of the policy profession against the wider higher education market This notice was originally published on 5 January 2026 which was incorrectly linked to ocds-h6vhtk-059e77. This was a mistake due to a linkage error. This notice is to correct the error and clearly show the contract was awarded. The notice this record replaces can be found here 2026/S 000-000407

Procurement Information

KCL is the only supplier that could deliver the conclusion of 2025 diploma cohort without disruption to learners, due to the conclusion of the Learning Frameworks Termination Assistance Period. Due to recruitment timelines (beginning October 2025), it will be impossible to have a new supplier in place for the delivery of the January 2026 cohort. A quotation from the supplier indicates an estimated saving of PS145,070 across government when compared to the learning framework, based off historic average student volumes. This extension would allow time for us to test requirements against the open market through a full procurement exercise.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-059e5d
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/087893-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK7 - Contract Details Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

80 - Education and training services

CPV Codes

80300000 - Higher education services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£2,751,328 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
£2,751,328 £1M-£10M

Notice Dates

Publication Date
16 Sep 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
17 Sep 20251 years ago
Contract Period
4 Dec 2025 - 31 Jul 2027 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Active, Pending
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

Kings College London

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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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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