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Online Payments

Education Authority NI

This public procurement record has 3 releases in its history.

TenderUpdate

07 Aug 2026 at 12:19

UK4 - Tender Notice
Tender

18 Jun 2026 at 18:44

UK4 - Tender Notice
Planning

17 Apr 2026 at 17:15

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Education Authority is procuring an online payment solution for schools across Northern Ireland. The service must provide an accessible and secure way for parents and carers to pay electronically for school meals, milk, trips, clubs, equipment and other activities, reducing the risks, costs and administration associated with handling cash and cheques sent with pupils. The solution will support schools controlled by the Education Authority, as well as Catholic maintained, independent, Irish-medium, controlled and voluntary grammar, and nursery schools. These organisations may use the arrangement with the Authority’s permission, but existing school-level agreements are not intended to be replaced. This is an information technology service covering software, integration, reporting, testing, training, user support and payment-system operation, delivered for participating educational bodies throughout Northern Ireland.

The procurement has reached tender: the Education Authority invited offers through an open procedure, with electronic submissions via eTendersNI. It is a single-lot competition using a dynamic purchasing system technique. The deadline for tender clarifications is 19 August 2026 at 15:00 BST, and the tender submission deadline is 28 August 2026 at 15:00 BST. The contract is planned to run from 8 January 2027 to 7 January 2032, with renewal options of up to 24 months, potentially until 6 January 2034, subject to the Authority’s discretion, funding and business-case approval. The estimated value is £15 million excluding VAT, or £18 million including VAT. Evaluation is 50% price and 50% quality: implementation 12%, integration 8%, reporting 2%, testing 5%, training 5%, ongoing support 8% and social value 10%.

This opportunity suits an established online payments provider or IT services supplier able to design, implement, integrate, test and operate a secure, accessible payment platform for a distributed education estate. Strong candidates will need practical capability in onboarding schools, supporting parent and carer payments, handling variable transaction volumes, producing management information and providing ongoing technical and user support. The evaluation gives substantial weight to implementation, integration, testing, training and support, so suppliers should be able to evidence a controlled rollout and effective service transition. The technical conditions of participation assess capability and expertise through the procurement documents’ scoring method and matrix. The requirement is marked as suitable for SMEs and voluntary, community or social enterprises, making it relevant to smaller specialists as well as larger providers with appropriate delivery capacity.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Online Payments

Notice Description

The EA invites tenders for a Provision of an Online Payment Solution. The scope of this procurement is to provide an accessible, secure Online Payment Solution (OLP) for schools, minimising the need for and risks and costs associated with cash handling in these schools. The legacy process of schools receiving monies from parents is one that involves sending cash or cheques with pupils to school. Payments cover a range of items and activities e.g. school meals, milk, school trips, clubs, and equipment purchase. The OLP system will facilite usage by parents to pay for a range of activities for the duration of the Contract. The Contract will be valid for a period of five years, with the option to extend for period / s up to 24 months, subject to funding. At the time of tender issue (June 2026) there is no formal EA wide contract to provide online payment facilities to the schools by the EA, however, some schools have independently procured and implemented their own solutions over recent years. This Contract is let by the Northern Ireland Education Authority ("EA") and is open to the EA, including the NI educational bodies listed below. At some point during the life of the Contract these bodies may wish to utilise the Contract (though they are not obligated to do so) and must have access, at any point, with the permission of EA. This Contract is not intended to replace any current agreements that participating or non-participating institutions may already have in place. These bodies include; Primary, Post Primary and Special schools under the control of the EA, Catholic Maintained Schools, Independent Schools in NI, Irish Medium Schools in NI, both Controlled and Voluntary Grammar Schools, Nursery School for NI (both controlled and Catholic Maintained) (https://www.education-ni.gov.uk/services/schools-plus)

Lot Information

Lot 1

Renewal: For period/s up to 24 months at EA's sole discretion and subject to business case approval.

Planning Information

The Education Authority Northern Ireland (EANI), in preparation for a procurement process, wish to engage with the market to seek supplier views and feedback on potential approaches for an Online Payment System. Suppliers who wish to participate in the pre market engagement exercise should complete the pre-market engagement questionnaire on eTendersNI under the CfT CA Unique ID EANI-5236. Further information including the questionnaire can be downloaded from the CfT Documents section of the project on eTendersNI. Suppliers also have the opportunity to submit queries regarding the project via the eTendersNI messaging function. The questionnaire must be completed and submitted no later than 3 pm 08th May 2026 There are no documents to be completed other than the questionnaire. Any information gathered through this market consultation exercise will inform internal business planning and any possible subsequent procurement process and will NOT be appraised in any future tender evaluation exercise. Please note that participation or nonparticipation in this preliminary market consultation exercise shall not prevent any supplier from participating in any potential procurement process, nor is it intended that any information supplied shall place any supplier at an advantage or disadvantage in any forthcoming procurement process. For the avoidance of doubt, this is the scoping phase of the project and is not part of a formal procurement process.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-0685c1
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/075260-2026
Current Stage
Tender
All Stages
Planning, Tender

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK4 - Tender Notice
Procurement Type
Dynamic
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

48 - Software package and information systems

50 - Repair and maintenance services

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

CPV Codes

48000000 - Software package and information systems

50324000 - Support services of personal computers

72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£15,000,000 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
£15,000,000 £10M-£100M
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
7 Aug 20262 months ago
Submission Deadline
28 Aug 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
8 Jan 2027 - 7 Jan 2032 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Active
Lots Status
Active
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Education Authority NI
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
BELFAST
Postcode
BT1 2NQ
Postcode Area
Northern Ireland
Country
Northern Ireland
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLN Northern Ireland
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLN0 Northern Ireland
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLN06 Belfast
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Belfast
Electoral Ward
Duncairn
Westminster Constituency
Belfast North

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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