Notice Information
Notice Title
Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Inclusion Continuing Professional Development (CPD) March 2026
Notice Description
The DfE is keen to maximise opportunities to participate in procurement for Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs). Consideration will also be given to consortia and collaborative bids from all forms of organisations.
Planning Information
Open early engagement - This means that a procurement idea is currently active, it is in the early stage of development and judging interest from potential suppliers. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/200-million-landmark-send-teacher-training-programme On 16th January 2026, the government announced a £200 million investment in SEND teacher training. This landmark programme will develop and deliver continuing professional development (CPD) available to all education professionals. The CPD will deepen their knowledge of how to adapt their practice and improve inclusion in their educational setting, to better meet the needs of children and young people with SEND within the mainstream educational system. The package was described as including: •A package of high-quality training materials to be shared with every school and further education setting to support the delivery of training to all staff on SEND and inclusion. •New, free CPD courses for teachers and leaders in schools and further education settings. •Investment in training for teaching and learning support assistants ensuring support staff feel equipped and confident to support learners with SEND. •A new Early Years CPD programme, providing free, accessible training focused on inclusive practice, child development, and practical strategies for supporting children with SEND – available to all early years practitioners. The Department for Education (DfE) is commencing market engagement and seeking feedback to inform strategy and broad programme thinking currently in development across early years, schools and colleges. The projects are at various stages in development and have distinct requirements. This could include: Content development Materials production (primarily in relation to national training programmes, but also looking at materials to support schools and colleges to develop in-house professional development) Course development Participant recruitment and onboarding Developing digital platforms / hosting materials Training facilitation Policy areas in scope for this exercise are: Early years (course delivery commencing April 2027) Schools (materials for in-house professional development delivery launching September 2026; course delivery launching Autumn 2027) Further education (materials for in-house professional development delivery launching September 2026; course delivery launching Autumn 2027) Including School Teaching Assistants and FE support staff (course delivery launching Autumn 2027) We look to consult the market on how the provision could address the following audiences: Teachers (at all phases) Leaders (at all phases) School Teaching Assistants and FE support staff Early years practitioners Key commercial objectives of the engagement event are: Understand market capacity, capability and appetite for each requirement Obtain feedback on prospective commercial approaches Interested parties are invited to attend an online market engagement event to be held Tuesday 10th March, to hear further details about this opportunity and share thoughts and questions about the future programme through a feedback questionnaire. Please note, in the interest of fairness, attendance will be limited to 2 people per organisation. Follow up 1-2-1 interviews may be scheduled at the discretion of the Department, and further information on this will be shared during the event. DfE may also decide to host further engagement events prior to the launch of a formal tender process. Further details will be provided in due course. This market engagement notice does not signify the commencement of any competitive process, nor does it constitute a commitment to any future procurement activity. To participate in this Market Engagement, participants must first be registered on the Department for Education eSourcing Portal Jaggaer. If you have not yet registered on the eSourcing Portal, this can be done online at https://education.app.jaggaer.com by following the link 'To register click here'. Navigate to ssq_736 and express your interest. For technical assistance on use of the eSourcing Portal, please contact the Jaggaer Supplier Helpdesk at customersupport@jaggaer.com or 0800 069 8630 (0800 - 1800hrs). If you are unable to attend the market engagement event, the slides and Q&A outcomes will be made available to you, provided you have registered your interest on Jaggaer prior to the event. All communication should be via the Jaggaer platform.
Notice Details
Publication & Lifecycle
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-066174
- Publication Source
- Find A Tender Service
- Latest Notice
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/019184-2026
- Current Stage
- Planning
- All Stages
- Planning
Procurement Classification
- Notice Type
- UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
- Procurement Type
- Standard
- Procurement Category
- Services
- Procurement Method
- Not Specified
- Procurement Method Details
- Not specified
- Tender Suitability
- SME, VCSE
- Awardee Scale
- Not specified
Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)
- CPV Divisions
80 - Education and training services
-
- CPV Codes
80000000 - Education and training services
80340000 - Special education services
80400000 - Adult and other education services
80500000 - Training services
80530000 - Vocational training services
80570000 - Personal development training services
Notice Value(s)
- Tender Value
- Not specified
- Lots Value
- Not specified
- Awards Value
- Not specified
- Contracts Value
- Not specified
Notice Dates
- Publication Date
- 3 Mar 20261 months ago
- Submission Deadline
- Not specified
- Future Notice Date
- 13 Apr 20261 day to go
- Award Date
- Not specified
- Contract Period
- 31 Aug 2026 - 30 Aug 2030 3-4 years
- Recurrence
- Not specified
Notice Status
- Tender Status
- Planning
- Lots Status
- Planning
- Awards Status
- Not Specified
- Contracts Status
- Not Specified
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
- 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
Further Information
Notice Documents
-
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/019184-2026
3rd March 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
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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