--- title: "Digital and Technical Skills Training" ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-2b8fd142-2ba7-4b05-8ada-80c5cdb239c2" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-2b8fd142-2ba7-4b05-8ada-80c5cdb239c2" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-2b8fd142-2ba7-4b05-8ada-80c5cdb239c2.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-2b8fd142-2ba7-4b05-8ada-80c5cdb239c2.json" source: "Contracts Finder" current_stage: "Planning" buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION" published: "2020-08-07" --- # Digital and Technical Skills Training Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION Current stage: Planning OCID: ocds-b5fd17-2b8fd142-2ba7-4b05-8ada-80c5cdb239c2 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-2b8fd142-2ba7-4b05-8ada-80c5cdb239c2) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-2b8fd142-2ba7-4b05-8ada-80c5cdb239c2.json) ## Summary The Department for Education is currently planning a public procurement process titled "Digital and Technical Skills Training," aimed at addressing the digital skills shortage across the United Kingdom. This procurement falls under the Education and Training Services category and seeks proposals from partnerships that include local employers, training providers, local authorities, and the Further Education sector in regions such as Leeds City Region, East Midlands, and the South West. An engagement deadline is set for 31 August 2020, and a virtual supplier event will take place on 21 July 2020, providing an opportunity for potential bidders to gain insights into the process. Up to three contracts will be awarded, one for each area identified. This tender presents significant opportunities for businesses, particularly those specialising in digital and technical training, workforce development, and engagement with underrepresented groups. Businesses that can effectively collaborate with local employers to design and deliver training programmes will be well-positioned to succeed. Companies involved in recruitment, workforce development, or educational services catering to adults 19+ are encouraged to participate, especially those with a history of flexible and high-quality training delivery. Successful bids will demonstrate cash or in-kind contributions from employers, showcasing how their training aligns with industry needs and prepares individuals for guaranteed job interviews. ## Notice DfE is considering procurement of organisations including employers, local authorities and providers in Leeds City Region, Heart of the South West and D2N2, to test the delivery of a new training model to provide specialist digital skills training in the first instance to fill digital skills shortage vacancies. The partnerships should design and deliver approximately 12 week training courses to provide a pipeline of individuals linked to guaranteed interviews with employers. As part of the proposal, employers will be expected to show what cash or in-kind contribution (including guaranteed interviews as a minimum) they will make. We anticipate that at least 75% of all trainees will move into a new job or role. A virtual supplier event will be held on 21 July to provide more detail and a chance to ask questions about the opportunity. We aim to award up to 3 contracts (1 per area) to partner organisations consisting of local employers, digital/ICT training providers, local authorities and the FE sector to evidence digital skills shortage vacancies and design and deliver approximately 12 week training courses to provide a pipeline of individuals to fill those roles (when possible we will expand to include other technical skills). The partnership will be linked into local networks and intelligence; if these links are not demonstrated bids will not be successful. A successful bid will show how: * Employers are represented and leading on what training is delivered * Employers have set out their recruitment needs * Guaranteed interviews are secured as an outcome * There is cash and/or in-kind support from recruiting employers * How underrepresented groups and those with protected characteristics will be engaged and recruited to the training programmes * Participants recruited will be adults 19+ in work or recently unemployed * Proposed costs of training are determined, including how costs could be reduced through scaling up, whilst maintaining quality * % alignment with apprenticeship occupational standards where available * Training will be delivered flexibly around other commitments including work, job seeking and caring * Participating organisations and individuals will commit to participate in user research and evaluation. Bids must detail the cash and/or in-kind contribution that employers will make, examples could include work experience or support with CVs, interview skills and other interpersonal skills - we are interested in ideas around this. This model will deliver training that meets employer's immediate needs in a pre-employment phase, de-risking the recruitment process for them. Additional information: **IMPORTANT** Mandatory Requirement: Partnership working is important to us, we expect bidders to form a partnership including representatives from all of the following organisations: employers, digital/ICT training providers, local authorities and the publicly funded Further Education sector. If there is no evidence of this partnership working, bids will not be successful. Any one of the partners can be the lead organisation. The lead organisation will submit the bid on behalf of the partnership and will act as the co-ordinating body; partners will determine the roles they all play as part of the bidding process. **IMPORTANT** The procurement will be run using DfE's Education and Children's Social Care (ECSC) Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). Please ensure that you are fully registered on the Redimo2 system and accepted onto the DPS in order to see the opportunity. Registration may take up to two weeks. If you are not FULLY registered onto the DPS and have selected your category codes by the publication date (Aug 2020) you will not be able to bid. We will be using the following Category Codes: ECSC02, ECSC 04, ECSC08, ECSC09, ECSC10, ECSC14, ECSC15. Only suppliers who have selected one or more of those codes PRIOR TO OPPORTUNITY LAUNCH will be able to view and bid on this opportunity. We are interested in partnerships that have expertise and experience across all the following qualifying criteria: - building and maintaining employer networks - designing training solutions that meet employer requirements (expected level 3-5 equivalent) - Able to demonstrate a track record of high-quality training delivery - Track record of recruiting suitable trainees using open, transparent and fair methods - flexible delivery to suit individual needs and current conditions - management practises to track and report trainee destination at various time points for evaluation purposes - management practises to co-ordinate employer's guaranteed interviews and report on outcomes for evaluation purposes We will not accept bids from organisations where both of the following are true: (a) they do not have experience across all of these essential areas individually; (b) they are unwilling to form a partnership or consortia to cover all of these essential areas collectively. We are keen to understand how these training courses align with Occupational Standards where available and encourage bids to describe the alignment. We anticipate that any successful provider(s) will deliver from December/January 2021 expect delivery to last approximately 12 weeks. The funding available to each area will depend on proposals from bidders, it will be calculated on how many people they would train to meet the demand they have identified. We anticipate that at least 75% of all trainees will move into a new job or role. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Contracts Finder | | Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/4262bd63-e132-40f9-8a86-0a72ef8feca1 | | Notice type | Market Engagement Notice | | Procurement type | Dynamic | | Procurement category | Not specified | | Procurement method | Not Specified | | Procurement method details | Not specified | | Tender suitability | SME, VCSE | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Planning | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 7 Aug 2020 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | 31 Aug 2020 | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | Not specified | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | Not specified | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | Not specified | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Planning | | Lots status | Not specified | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION | | Locality | LONDON | | Post town | South West London | | Postcode | SW1P 3BT | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLI London | | ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West | | ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London | | Local authority | Westminster | | Electoral ward | St James's | | Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster | | Delivery location | TLE Yorkshire and The Humber, TLF East Midlands (England), TLK South West (England) | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 80 - Education and training services ### Codes - 80000000 - Education and training services ## Release History - 7 Aug 2020 at 08:36 - Planning - Market Engagement Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/4262bd63-e132-40f9-8a86-0a72ef8feca1 - 13 Jul 2020 at 13:58 - Planning - Market Engagement Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/4262bd63-e132-40f9-8a86-0a72ef8feca1 ## Documents - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/4262bd63-e132-40f9-8a86-0a72ef8feca1 7th August 2020 - Early engagement notice on Contracts Finder - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/db987548-9c78-4581-ad0b-fabda89bbfec Redimo 2 Guidance - https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/procurement#redimo2 DFE registration/ECSC DPS application process - https://supplierlive.proactisp2p.com/Account/Login/?cid=DFE Redimo2 Portal ## Provenance This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-2b8fd142-2ba7-4b05-8ada-80c5cdb239c2. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-2b8fd142-2ba7-4b05-8ada-80c5cdb239c2.json.