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Online peer-to-peer and student-to-staff asynchronous chat platform, and virtual community platform

University of South Wales

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

10 Sep 2026 at 09:32

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Tender

15 Jul 2026 at 11:51

UK4 - Tender Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The University of South Wales procured software services for an online peer-to-peer and student-to-staff asynchronous chat platform, together with a virtual community platform. The requirement is intended to support online interaction between students and staff and to provide a shared virtual community environment. The procurement covers software supply and is for use by the university in South Wales. It was structured as a single requirement rather than separate service lots. The buyer is a Welsh public authority, and the procurement is above the relevant threshold. The selected service is a specialist digital platform rather than general IT consultancy, infrastructure or hardware, so relevant suppliers are providers of managed online community, student engagement or education technology platforms.

The procurement is complete and has reached the award stage. It used an open procedure, with tenders due by 12 August 2026, enquiries closing on 7 August 2026 and the award period ending on 21 August 2026. Six bids were received, including two from SMEs. Unibuddy Limited was selected for the single lot on 10 September 2026, subject to a standstill period ending on 21 September 2026. The award is worth £192,808 excluding VAT (£231,369.60 including VAT). The awarded contract is scheduled to run from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2029, with a one-year extension option to 29 September 2030. Evaluation weighted price at 30% and quality at 70%: analytics, reporting and innovation 20%; data protection 15%; implementation, scalability and performance 15%; integration and interoperability 10%; and social value 10%.

This award shows that the university values suppliers able to deliver a dependable digital student-community service rather than a standalone messaging tool. A credible competitor for a future requirement would need a mature platform supporting asynchronous peer-to-peer and student-to-staff communication, virtual communities, analytics and reporting, and demonstrable continuous innovation. Strong evidence on data protection and secure handling of student and staff information would be important, alongside proven integration and interoperability with university systems. Suppliers should be able to demonstrate implementation capability, scalability and sustained performance in an education environment, supported by service management and meaningful performance evidence. The evaluation also gave material weight to social value, so bidders would need a clear, deliverable social-value offer alongside competitive pricing.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

Online peer-to-peer and student-to-staff asynchronous chat platform, and virtual community platform

Notice Description

To award the Online peer-to-peer and student-to-staff asynchronous chat platform, and virtual community platform for 3 years + 12 months extension

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06cbc6
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085656-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

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

CPV Codes

72268000 - Software supply services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£240,000 £100K-£500K
Lots Value
£240,000 £100K-£500K
Awards Value
£192,808 £100K-£500K
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
10 Sep 20266 days ago
Submission Deadline
12 Aug 2026Expired
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
10 Sep 20266 days ago
Contract Period
1 Oct 2026 - 30 Sep 2029 3-4 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
University of South Wales
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
PONTYPRIDD
Postcode
CF37 1DL
Postcode Area
Cardiff
Country
Wales
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLL Wales
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLL5 South East Wales
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLL51 Central Valleys and Bridgend
Delivery Location
TLL15 Central Valleys
Local Authority
Rhondda Cynon Taf
Electoral Ward
Treforest
Westminster Constituency
Pontypridd

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

Unibuddy Limited

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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