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Flexible Lifelong Learning

Cardiff University

This public procurement record has 5 releases in its history.

TenderUpdate

21 Oct 2026 at 09:32

UK4 - Tender Notice
Tender

20 Oct 2026 at 10:21

UK4 - Tender Notice
Planning

27 Aug 2026 at 17:34

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
PlanningUpdate

10 Jul 2026 at 11:13

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

10 Jul 2026 at 09:52

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Cardiff University is seeking an online programme management partner to help develop, launch and grow a portfolio of fully online postgraduate programmes. The work supports its Institute for Flexible Lifelong Learning and its aim to offer study that fits around learners’ work, lives and changing career needs. The partner will provide specialist expertise and operational support, covering education and training, administrative education services, and advertising and marketing. Services are expected to support programme development and delivery as well as recruitment and portfolio growth. The programmes are for Cardiff University, with delivery in Cardiff, Wales. This is a services requirement and may suit organisations providing online programme management to universities, including suppliers able to offer a flexible range of operational and specialist services.

The buyer invited offers through an open competitive flexible procedure. There is one lot, and the contract is structured as a framework agreement. The enquiry deadline was 10 November 2026 at 12:00 UTC; bids were due by 17 November 2026 at 12:00 UTC. The contract period is 8 June 2027 to 7 June 2030, with two optional one-year extensions, up to 7 June 2032. The estimated value is £5 million excluding VAT (£6 million including VAT). Evaluation weights written quality responses at 45%, presentations at 20%, responsible procurement at 10%, and price at 25%. Suppliers first pass conditions of participation; the four highest-scoring bidders are then shortlisted for presentations. The preferred bidder proceeds to commercial and contract discussions.

This opportunity is suited to providers with the capability and operational capacity to support a university’s fully online postgraduate portfolio from development through launch and growth. Relevant strengths include online programme management, programme design and delivery, student recruitment and marketing, learner support, retention, and analytics. Cardiff University is seeking a flexible partner able to provide specialist expertise across service areas, rather than a single narrowly defined service, and the service mix may change as the University’s strategy and capabilities evolve. Experience delivering similar contracts and the ability to support portfolio growth will be pertinent. The procurement also assesses responsible procurement, alongside written quality responses, a presentation and price. Small and medium-sized businesses are identified as suitable to compete.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Flexible Lifelong Learning

Notice Description

Cardiff University's new Institute for Flexible Lifelong Learning, established in August 2026, brings together the University's long established lifelong learning and professional development portfolios into a single Institute with an expanded, future-focused approach to flexible study. The Institute builds on our strong foundations with a clear ambition - to make Cardiff University a "learning partner for life", offering education that fits around work, life and changing career needs. To support this ambition, Cardiff University are procuring the services of an Online Programme Management (OPM) as a flexible partner to provide specialist expertise and operational support for the development, launch and growth of a portfolio of fully online postgraduate programmes, with the first programmes expected to commence recruitment from Spring/Summer 2027 with the first cohort of students anticipated to start in academic year 2027/28.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Options: Service area options will be selected and deselected as the University's strategy and competency changes over time.

Renewal: 2 x 1 year extension options available

Planning Information

Cardiff University is commencing early market engagement to inform the development of its upcoming procurement for the supply of Online Programme Management (OPM) services on a pay per service basis. The University is currently undertaking a programme of work to provide the necessary insights and lay the groundwork for a strategic approach to fully online post graduate taught portfolio development and delivery, with a proposed start date for the first phase of the portfolio being September 2027. The pre-market engagement exercise will seek to: • To establish the level of interest in the tender opportunity • Provide suppliers with insights into the proposal for Cardiff University to launch a fully online portfolio. • To gain an understanding of your experience of similar contracts, incorporating any lessons learnt to drive improvements. • Gain insight into the current OPM marketplace and emerging trends. • Understand the range of services available on a modular or pay-per-service basis. • Explore different commercial and contractual arrangements, including alternatives to traditional revenue-share models. • Understand supplier capability and capacity to support online postgraduate portfolio growth. • Understand approaches to student recruitment, marketing, retention, learner support and analytics. • Explore innovative approaches to programme design, development and delivery. • Inform the design, scope and structure of a future procurement exercise. • Ensure that any forthcoming procurement exercise is suitably aligned to institutional priorities and supplier expectations. The pre-market engagement event will be held at 11:00 – 12:00 on Wednesday, 12 August. This will be a presentation delivered by Cardiff University to potential suppliers to provide background to Cardiff University and our expectation of this need. Suppliers interested in attending the pre-market engagement event must complete and return the registration form via the correspondence function on the Universities e-tender portal In-Tend. https://in-tendhost.co.uk/cardiffuniversity/ Suppliers will be limited to 2 attendees. The session will be anonymised so that attendees will remain unknown to other participants. The deadline for registering attendance at the event is 12 noon on Tuesday 4th August 2026. Teams invitations will be issued once this deadline has passed. The University reserves the right to reject an application to attend sent after this time. All presentation documentation, questions and answers will be published on the e-tendering portal following the pre-market engagement event. Following this presentation, a questionnaire will be published on the tendering portal to gain insights from suppliers. The deadline for returning this questionnaire is Friday 21st August 2026. The University reserves the right to reject an application to attend sent after this time. This stage does not formally commence a procurement process. Participation in this pre-market engagement is voluntary and will not provide any advantage or disadvantage in any subsequent tender process. The University anticipates refining the scope, service levels, data requirements, performance metrics, and commercial structure following this Pre Market Engagement. Insights gained will inform the final tender documentation.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06c826
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/099269-2026
Current Stage
Tender
All Stages
Planning, Tender

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK4 - Tender Notice
Procurement Type
Framework
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Competitive flexible procedure
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

75 - Administration, defence and social security services

79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

80 - Education and training services

CPV Codes

75121000 - Administrative educational services

79340000 - Advertising and marketing services

80000000 - Education and training services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£5,000,000 £1M-£10M
Lots Value
£5,000,000 £1M-£10M
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
21 Oct 20266 days ago
Submission Deadline
17 Nov 20263 weeks to go
Future Notice Date
18 Sep 2026Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
8 Jun 2027 - 7 Jun 2030 3-4 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
Cardiff University
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
CARDIFF
Postcode
CF24 4HQ
Postcode Area
Cardiff
Country
Wales
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLL Wales
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLL5 South East Wales
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLL52 Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan
Delivery Location
TLL22 Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan
Local Authority
Cardiff
Electoral Ward
Cathays
Westminster Constituency
Cardiff South and Penarth

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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