Notice Information
Notice Title
Careers Support for Young People
Notice Description
The purpose of this preliminary market engagement notice is to inform the market of a forthcoming supplier engagement event regarding future support for schools and colleges to deliver careers education, information, advice and guidance for young people in England. The Department for Education (DfE) will be undertaking an online market engagement event via MS Teams at 13:30 on 4 June 2026 for interested parties. The event is anticipated to last for a duration of 120 minutes. The slide deck will be published on Jaggaer (ssq_747) following the event. If you wish to attend the market engagement event, please use the link below: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/37330634720732?p=0wulXBBrLzFePLzSOX We last carried out supplier engagement regarding future support for schools and colleges to deliver careers education, information, advice and guidance on 31 March 2026. In this event we shared our broad plans for how we want to continue to support schools and colleges to improve careers guidance from the 2027/28 academic year and to support partnership working with strategic and local authorities through careers hubs. We used a supplier survey to test bidder appetite and delivery viability with potential suppliers. The purpose of the follow up supplier engagement webinar on 4 June is to: * Respond to insights and questions gathered in the survey we issued after the supplier engagement event on 31 March, including providing further detail on proposed requirements. * Outline and test a draft service specification and outline Key Performance Indicators and seek supplier views to inform these. This Notice is not a binding statement of intent or a call for competition. It does not signify the commencement of any competitive process and does not constitute any commitment by the DfE. If DfE decides to commence any competitive process(es) as contemplated by this notice, a separate notice(s) will be published at the relevant time. The information contained in this notice, including information relating to the nature and scope of the authority's requirements, and the service classification of this requirement from the list of CPV codes, is only indicative of the authority's current thinking, and is neither exhaustive nor binding and the DfE reserves the right at its absolute discretion to amend this notice at the time of issue or at any other time. The DfE will not be liable for any bid cost, expenditure, work or effort incurred by a provider in acting on the basis of this notice. Any funding estimates referenced are indicative only and subject to change. The Department makes no commitment at this stage to the final scope or funding envelope of any future contractual activity. The current funding estimates are between PS90m and PS180m for a 3-5 year contract, plus a mobilisation period of up to 6 months if required.
Lot Information
Lot 1
Renewal: A mobilisation period of up to six months may be required, starting from March 2027. Following mobilisation, the successful bidder will deliver the contract for an initial three-year term, commencing September 2027, with an option to extend for up to a further two years at the Department for Education's sole discretion. All dates are indicative.
Planning Information
Attend online market engagement event – 31st March 2026 https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/33123569370825?p=7rcZJPhqj0MfP4f5Sn (Meeting ID: 331 235 693 708 25 Passcode: Gr6Pm9RF) Please direct all correspondence via Jaggaer (ssq_747), any correspondence recieved via email will be redirected to Jaggaer. Following the market engagement event on 31st March, DfE launched a survey to test initial thinking around the future offer. The link to the survey is below, and we'd really appreciate responses by 15th April - https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=yXfS-grGoU2187O4s0qC-fpf4k9ksBlHssXHrcIcta1UNU8wSDlJUEJWNFVZUTFZU0JRQzNCNEpUTi4u
Notice Details
Publication & Lifecycle
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-066c17
- Publication Source
- Find A Tender Service
- Latest Notice
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/046368-2026
- Current Stage
- Planning
- All Stages
- Planning
Procurement Classification
- Notice Type
- UK3 - Planned Procurement Notice
- Procurement Type
- Standard
- Procurement Category
- Services
- Procurement Method
- Open
- Procurement Method Details
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Tender Suitability
- SME, VCSE
- Awardee Scale
- Not specified
Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)
- CPV Divisions
79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security
80 - Education and training services
-
- CPV Codes
79634000 - Career guidance services
80000000 - Education and training services
Notice Value(s)
- Tender Value
- £180,000,000 £100M-£1B
- Lots Value
- £180,000,000 £100M-£1B
- Awards Value
- Not specified
- Contracts Value
- Not specified
Notice Dates
- Publication Date
- 20 May 20263 days ago
- Submission Deadline
- 14 Oct 20265 months to go
- Future Notice Date
- 19 Aug 20263 months to go
- Award Date
- Not specified
- Contract Period
- 1 Mar 2027 - 31 Aug 2030 3-4 years
- Recurrence
- Not specified
Notice Status
- Tender Status
- Planned
- Lots Status
- Planned
- 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/046368-2026
20th May 2026 - Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/046353-2026
20th May 2026 - Pipeline notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/030697-2026
2nd April 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender -
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/023991-2026
17th March 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
Notice URLs
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.
{
"tag": [
"compiled"
],
"id": "ocds-h6vhtk-066c17-2026-05-20T13:27:41+01:00",
"date": "2026-05-20T13:27:41+01:00",
"ocid": "ocds-h6vhtk-066c17",
"initiationType": "tender",
"parties": [
{
"id": "GB-PPON-PDZG-3487-DPVD",
"name": "Department for Education",
"identifier": {
"scheme": "GB-PPON",
"id": "PDZG-3487-DPVD"
},
"address": {
"streetAddress": "Sanctuary Buildings, 20 Great Smith Street",
"locality": "London",
"postalCode": "SW1P3BT",
"country": "GB",
"countryName": "United Kingdom",
"region": "UKI32"
},
"contactPoint": {
"email": "CommercialDelivery.SKILLS@education.gov.uk"
},
"roles": [
"buyer"
],
"details": {
"url": "https://education.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html",
"classifications": [
{
"id": "publicAuthorityCentralGovernment",
"scheme": "UK_CA_TYPE",
"description": "Public authority - central government"
}
]
}
}
],
"buyer": {
"id": "GB-PPON-PDZG-3487-DPVD",
"name": "Department for Education"
},
"planning": {
"milestones": [
{
"id": "engagement",
"type": "engagement",
"description": "Attend online market engagement event - 31st March 2026 https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/33123569370825?p=7rcZJPhqj0MfP4f5Sn (Meeting ID: 331 235 693 708 25 Passcode: Gr6Pm9RF) Please direct all correspondence via Jaggaer (ssq_747), any correspondence recieved via email will be redirected to Jaggaer. Following the market engagement event on 31st March, DfE launched a survey to test initial thinking around the future offer. The link to the survey is below, and we'd really appreciate responses by 15th April - https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=yXfS-grGoU2187O4s0qC-fpf4k9ksBlHssXHrcIcta1UNU8wSDlJUEJWNFVZUTFZU0JRQzNCNEpUTi4u",
"dueDate": "2026-08-14T23:59:59+01:00",
"status": "scheduled"
}
],
"documents": [
{
"id": "023991-2026",
"documentType": "marketEngagementNotice",
"noticeType": "UK2",
"description": "Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender",
"url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/023991-2026",
"datePublished": "2026-03-17T12:14:29Z",
"format": "text/html"
},
{
"id": "030697-2026",
"documentType": "marketEngagementNotice",
"noticeType": "UK2",
"description": "Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender",
"url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/030697-2026",
"datePublished": "2026-04-02T10:05:31+01:00",
"format": "text/html"
},
{
"id": "046353-2026",
"documentType": "plannedProcurementNotice",
"noticeType": "UK1",
"description": "Pipeline notice on Find a Tender",
"url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/046353-2026",
"datePublished": "2026-05-20T13:05:41+01:00",
"format": "text/html"
},
{
"id": "046368-2026",
"documentType": "plannedProcurementNotice",
"noticeType": "UK3",
"description": "Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender",
"url": "https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/046368-2026",
"datePublished": "2026-05-20T13:27:41+01:00",
"format": "text/html"
}
]
},
"tender": {
"id": "project_10249 / ssq_747",
"legalBasis": {
"id": "2023/54",
"scheme": "UKPGA",
"uri": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents"
},
"title": "Careers Support for Young People",
"description": "The purpose of this preliminary market engagement notice is to inform the market of a forthcoming supplier engagement event regarding future support for schools and colleges to deliver careers education, information, advice and guidance for young people in England. The Department for Education (DfE) will be undertaking an online market engagement event via MS Teams at 13:30 on 4 June 2026 for interested parties. The event is anticipated to last for a duration of 120 minutes. The slide deck will be published on Jaggaer (ssq_747) following the event. If you wish to attend the market engagement event, please use the link below: https://teams.microsoft.com/meet/37330634720732?p=0wulXBBrLzFePLzSOX We last carried out supplier engagement regarding future support for schools and colleges to deliver careers education, information, advice and guidance on 31 March 2026. In this event we shared our broad plans for how we want to continue to support schools and colleges to improve careers guidance from the 2027/28 academic year and to support partnership working with strategic and local authorities through careers hubs. We used a supplier survey to test bidder appetite and delivery viability with potential suppliers. The purpose of the follow up supplier engagement webinar on 4 June is to: * Respond to insights and questions gathered in the survey we issued after the supplier engagement event on 31 March, including providing further detail on proposed requirements. * Outline and test a draft service specification and outline Key Performance Indicators and seek supplier views to inform these. This Notice is not a binding statement of intent or a call for competition. It does not signify the commencement of any competitive process and does not constitute any commitment by the DfE. If DfE decides to commence any competitive process(es) as contemplated by this notice, a separate notice(s) will be published at the relevant time. The information contained in this notice, including information relating to the nature and scope of the authority's requirements, and the service classification of this requirement from the list of CPV codes, is only indicative of the authority's current thinking, and is neither exhaustive nor binding and the DfE reserves the right at its absolute discretion to amend this notice at the time of issue or at any other time. The DfE will not be liable for any bid cost, expenditure, work or effort incurred by a provider in acting on the basis of this notice. Any funding estimates referenced are indicative only and subject to change. The Department makes no commitment at this stage to the final scope or funding envelope of any future contractual activity. The current funding estimates are between PS90m and PS180m for a 3-5 year contract, plus a mobilisation period of up to 6 months if required.",
"items": [
{
"id": "1",
"additionalClassifications": [
{
"scheme": "CPV",
"id": "80000000",
"description": "Education and training services"
},
{
"scheme": "CPV",
"id": "79634000",
"description": "Career guidance services"
}
],
"deliveryAddresses": [
{
"region": "UK",
"country": "GB",
"countryName": "United Kingdom"
},
{
"region": "UK",
"country": "GB",
"countryName": "United Kingdom"
},
{
"region": "UK",
"country": "GB",
"countryName": "United Kingdom"
},
{
"region": "UK",
"country": "GB",
"countryName": "United Kingdom"
}
],
"relatedLot": "1"
}
],
"value": {
"amountGross": 180000000,
"amount": 180000000,
"currency": "GBP"
},
"mainProcurementCategory": "services",
"aboveThreshold": true,
"lots": [
{
"id": "1",
"suitability": {
"sme": true,
"vcse": true
},
"contractPeriod": {
"startDate": "2027-03-01T00:00:00+00:00",
"endDate": "2030-08-31T23:59:59+01:00",
"maxExtentDate": "2032-08-31T23:59:59+01:00"
},
"hasRenewal": true,
"status": "planned",
"value": {
"amountGross": 180000000,
"amount": 180000000,
"currency": "GBP"
},
"renewal": {
"description": "A mobilisation period of up to six months may be required, starting from March 2027. Following mobilisation, the successful bidder will deliver the contract for an initial three-year term, commencing September 2027, with an option to extend for up to a further two years at the Department for Education's sole discretion. All dates are indicative."
}
}
],
"communication": {
"futureNoticeDate": "2026-08-19T23:59:59+01:00"
},
"status": "planned",
"amendments": [
{
"id": "030697-2026",
"description": "Added a link to a survey published post market engagement event."
}
],
"procurementMethod": "open",
"procurementMethodDetails": "Competitive flexible procedure",
"submissionMethodDetails": "https://education.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html",
"submissionTerms": {
"electronicSubmissionPolicy": "allowed",
"languages": [
"en"
]
},
"tenderPeriod": {
"endDate": "2026-10-14T23:59:00+01:00"
},
"awardPeriod": {
"endDate": "2027-01-29T23:59:59+00:00"
},
"documents": [
{
"id": "future",
"documentType": "biddingDocuments",
"accessDetails": "The Invitation to Tender will be published on Jaggaer, and all relevant documentation will be attached."
}
]
},
"language": "en"
}