--- title: "GB-Bristol: Feasibility study for a more consistent local offer for care experienced students" ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-5771ad09-5b81-472c-9b2d-d2ea99f3e5d4" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-5771ad09-5b81-472c-9b2d-d2ea99f3e5d4" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-5771ad09-5b81-472c-9b2d-d2ea99f3e5d4.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-5771ad09-5b81-472c-9b2d-d2ea99f3e5d4.json" source: "Contracts Finder" current_stage: "Tender" buyer: "OFFICE FOR STUDENTS" published: "2020-09-10" --- # GB-Bristol: Feasibility study for a more consistent local offer for care experienced students Buyer: OFFICE FOR STUDENTS Current stage: Tender OCID: ocds-b5fd17-5771ad09-5b81-472c-9b2d-d2ea99f3e5d4 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-5771ad09-5b81-472c-9b2d-d2ea99f3e5d4) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-5771ad09-5b81-472c-9b2d-d2ea99f3e5d4.json) ## Summary The Office for Students is currently seeking proposals for a feasibility study aimed at establishing a more consistent local offer for care experienced students, with a focus on ensuring they receive adequate support in terms of information, advice, guidance, and accommodation. The procurement falls under the industry category of market research services and is closer to the Planning stage, having been published on 10th September 2020. The tender period will end on 8th October 2020, while the contract is expected to commence on 23rd October 2020 and run until 9th December 2020. This open procedure invites submissions from potential providers located within the South West region of the United Kingdom. This tender presents a significant opportunity for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary community social enterprises (VCSEs) that specialise in market research, educational support, or similar areas. By participating in this feasibility study, businesses have the potential to engage with key stakeholders, including local authorities and educational institutions, thereby not only contributing to the development of a national support framework but also enhancing their visibility and credibility within the higher education sector. This could ultimately lead to future contracts and partnerships that help grow their operations in such social-focused initiatives. ## Notice Provider commitments to care experienced students in access and participation plans are variable, and stakeholder engagement has highlighted inconsistency of provider and local authority support to care leavers in terms of information, advice and guidance, admissions (academic offer), financial and pastoral support and accommodation. Care leavers report that academic pathways and support offers are unclear and unhelpful, which can be a deterrent to access, and impact upon successful participation in higher education. To further support our work in identifying and promoting effective practice we are commissioning a feasibility study to identify options for piloting a national common framework of support for care experienced students in local areas across the country. Should the framework prove to be effective, the OfS would seek to encourage all registered providers to adopt it. This would provide care experienced students with a clearer pathway in terms of academic requirements and the support provided in terms of information, advice and guidance, financial and pastoral support and accommodation. This will be phase one of a two phase project. The commission is for a desk-based research project involving engagement with providers, Uni Connect partnerships, local authorities and regional networks to unpick the complexities and opportunities of developing such a framework. The required output from this phase will be a report to the OfS which maps out the current environment with regard to support for care experienced students and sets out options for how a national framework might be developed. The report will inform the shape and scope of phase two. Additional information: The contracting authority considers that this contract may be suitable for economic operators that are small or medium enterprises (SMEs). However, any selection of tenderers will be based solely on the criteria set out for the procurement. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Contracts Finder | | Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/b1a88bc5-78a0-4346-819b-2fe2a7f7ffb4 | | Notice type | Tender Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Open | | Procurement method details | Open procedure | | Tender suitability | SME, VCSE | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Tender | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 10 Sep 2020 | | Submission deadline | 8 Oct 2020 | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 22 Oct 2020 - 9 Dec 2020 | | 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 | Active | | Lots status | Not specified | | Awards status | Not specified | | Contracts status | Not specified | ## Buyer | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Main buyer | OFFICE FOR STUDENTS | | Locality | BRISTOL | | Post town | Bristol | | Postcode | BS34 8SR | | Country | England | | ITL 1 | TLK South West (England) | | ITL 2 | TLK5 West of England | | ITL 3 | TLK52 Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire | | Local authority | South Gloucestershire | | Electoral ward | Stoke Gifford | | Westminster constituency | Filton and Bradley Stoke | | Delivery location | TLK South West (England) | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security ### Codes - 79310000 - Market research services ## Release History - 10 Sep 2020 at 11:10 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/b1a88bc5-78a0-4346-819b-2fe2a7f7ffb4 ## Documents - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/b1a88bc5-78a0-4346-819b-2fe2a7f7ffb4 10th September 2020 - Opportunity notice on Contracts Finder - https://www.delta-esourcing.com/tenders/UK-GB-Bristol:-Feasibility-study-for-a-more-consistent-local-offer-for-care-experienced-students/5R9ZA84GA8 Please follow this link to view the notice. ## 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-b5fd17-5771ad09-5b81-472c-9b2d-d2ea99f3e5d4. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-5771ad09-5b81-472c-9b2d-d2ea99f3e5d4.json.