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OpenAI Sector AI Evaluation Pilot

Jisc Services Limited

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

18 Sep 2026 at 10:45

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

26 Aug 2026 at 15:54

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Jisc Services Limited procured a time-limited evaluation service for OpenAI’s enterprise artificial intelligence environment. The service covers access to ChatGPT Edu, Codex, OpenAI proprietary models, application programming interfaces, GPTs, agentic and research capabilities, enterprise administration and governance, security controls, data-residency options, support and associated services. Jisc is coordinating access for multiple UK further and higher education institutions on consistent terms. The evaluation is intended to produce evidence on onboarding, engagement, adoption, governance, security, technical integration, institutional value, commercial models and consumption across institutions with different cloud, productivity, identity, data and application estates. The procurement is categorised as software and information technology services, including software packages and information systems. Delivery is across participating UK further and higher education institutions.

The procurement is complete and one lot was awarded to OpenAI OpCo, LLC following a direct award. The award date was 7 September 2026, with a standstill period ending on 29 September 2026 and a scheduled contract signature date of 30 September 2026. The contract period is 1 October 2026 to 30 March 2029. The awarded value is USD 7,560,000 excluding tax and USD 9,072,000 including tax; the authority describes this as a high estimate of possible spend based on research from a single cohort of orders, with dates also estimated from expected cohort intakes. The direct award was justified by OpenAI’s exclusive rights and the technical distinctiveness of evaluating its proprietary environment, rather than alternative AI services.

This requirement indicates substantial education-sector demand for enterprise AI evaluation, rather than a general software purchase. A credible future competitor would need a mature first-party AI environment, including conversational AI, coding tools, models, APIs, GPT or agent capabilities and supporting research functions. It would also need enterprise-grade administration, governance, security controls, data-residency options, technical support and integration across varied institutional cloud, identity, productivity, data and application estates. Experience working with further and higher education institutions, coordinating participation across multiple organisations and generating evidence on onboarding, adoption, consumption, institutional value and commercial models would strengthen the proposition. Suppliers would need to demonstrate that their environment could be evaluated consistently across institutions and governed safely at sector scale.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

OpenAI Sector AI Evaluation Pilot

Notice Description

JSL has concluded negotiations with the supplier and now intends to sign a contract, pending the observation of the required 8 working day standstill period. The provision of a time-limited evaluation service comprising access to OpenAI's proprietary enterprise AI environment, including ChatGPT Edu, OpenAI models, APIs, GPTs and associated enterprise platform capabilities. The evaluation includes ChatGPT Edu, Codex, OpenAI proprietary models, APIs, GPTs, agentic and research capabilities, enterprise administration and governance functionality, security controls, data residency options, support arrangements and associated services made available within the contracted OpenAI environment during the evaluation period. This evaluation will be made available to multiple UK further and higher education institutions with Jisc facilitating a coordinated, sector-wide approach that enables participation on consistent terms. The objective of this evaluation is to generate evidence on the onboarding, engagement needs, adoption, governance, security, technical integration, institutional value, commercial models and consumption of OpenAI's first-party AI environment across institutions with different underlying cloud, productivity, identity, data and application estates.

Procurement Information

As these capabilities are owned and operated exclusively by OpenAI and are not available from other providers, the contracting authority considers that the requirement engages exclusive rights within the meaning of Schedule 5, paragraph 5. In addition, because the purpose of the contract is to evaluate OpenAI's specific proprietary environment, alternative AI providers would constitute materially different services and would not meet the defined requirement; accordingly, there is an absence of reasonable competition for technical reasons within the meaning of Schedule 5, paragraph 6.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06ecf0
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/088540-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Goods
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

48 - Software package and information systems

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

CPV Codes

48000000 - Software package and information systems

72222300 - Information technology services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£7,560,000 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
18 Sep 20261 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
7 Sep 20261 months ago
Contract Period
1 Oct 2026 - 30 Mar 2029 2-3 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
Jisc Services Limited
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
BRISTOL
Postcode
BS1 6NB
Postcode Area
Bristol
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLK South West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLK5 West of England
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLK51 Bristol, City of
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Bristol, City of
Electoral Ward
Central
Westminster Constituency
Bristol Central

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

OpenAI OpCo, LLC

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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