Award

King's College London Postgraduate Learning Offer

DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

AwardUpdate

02 Oct 2025 at 11:51

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

19 Sep 2025 at 16:00

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

19 Sep 2025 at 14:58

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The procurement process titled "King's College London Postgraduate Learning Offer" is conducted by the Department for Education, a central government public authority in the United Kingdom, located in London. The direct award contract has been granted to King's College London for the delivery of postgraduate learning opportunities, specifically tailored for mid-career civil servants. The initiative aligns with the policy profession standards and is designed to be modular and flexible, starting in January 2026 with enrolments continuing up to July 2027. The procurement stage is complete, with the contract award issued on 2nd October 2025, and the contract period set between 10th October 2025 and 31st July 2027. The procurement method used is a direct award, chosen for its cost-effectiveness and the supplier’s unique capability to meet the contract specifications.

This tender presents valuable opportunities for educational service providers, particularly those with experience and expertise in higher education services relevant to civil service training. Businesses familiar with the development and delivery of modular learning experiences and those capable of addressing specific professional standards will find themselves well-positioned to engage in similar future procurement exercises. Additionally, other higher education institutions could explore similar contracts as the Department for Education may conduct a full procurement exercise for similar services post-2027, providing an avenue to test their offerings against existing market demands.

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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

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 current Framework. 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 current contract, 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/061685-2025
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award 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
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
2 Oct 20254 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
16 Sep 20255 months ago
Contract Period
9 Oct 2025 - 31 Jul 2027 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Complete
Lots Status
Complete
Awards Status
Pending
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
core.procurement@education.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1P 3BT
Post Town
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

KING’S COLLEGE LONDON

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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