---
title: "Provision of Online Graduate and Postgraduate Educational Services"
ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-62756f92-e999-4a02-913f-6d811a4e4584"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-62756f92-e999-4a02-913f-6d811a4e4584"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-62756f92-e999-4a02-913f-6d811a4e4584.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-62756f92-e999-4a02-913f-6d811a4e4584.json"
source: "Contracts Finder"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "ASTON UNIVERSITY"
published: "2023-12-22"
---

# Provision of Online Graduate and Postgraduate Educational Services

Buyer: ASTON UNIVERSITY  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-b5fd17-62756f92-e999-4a02-913f-6d811a4e4584

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## Summary

Aston University has awarded a contract for the provision of online graduate and postgraduate educational services through a negotiated procedure without prior publication (above threshold). The contract value is £230,000,000. The tender period ended on December 14, 2023, with the contract set to start on December 15, 2023, and end on September 30, 2036. The buying organisation, Aston University, is based in Birmingham, England, and the industry category is Higher Education Services.

This tender presents business growth opportunities for service providers in the online education sector, particularly those capable of making a significant upfront investment in infrastructure. Suitable businesses would need to offer online teaching services from undergraduate to doctorate levels, marketing courses to prospective students, providing admissions, and student support services. The award was made to Online Education Services Limited, indicating the type of business that can succeed in this competitive procurement process.

## Notice

A services contract for the provision of online educational services at graduate and post graduate level. These services include acting as a college of Aston University by: - Creating and adapting Aston University materials in order to ensure that they are appropriate for online teaching; - Delivering online teaching in respect of courses from undergraduate to doctorate level; - Marketing the courses to prospective students; - Providing an admissions service; and - Providing student support services. The University sought to appoint a provider through which to secure its online education offering. The University's objective requirements for its provider included (1) the provision of online education services; and (2) the ability to make a significant (multimillion pound) upfront investment in infrastructure to support the contract. The University is of the view that that there is no reasonable commercial alternative through which to achieve its online education offering. It also considers that its requirements are driven by commercial positions and are not aimed at the artificial narrowing of competition. Recognising that its requirements were more extensive than many online education contracts, the University directly engaged with the market to ascertain the market's ability to meet the University's requirements and its appetite for doing so. Following that engagement the University identified only one party who had the capability to deliver the requirements and who was willing to contract with the University on this basis. Indeed, the engagement did not reveal any other provider with a viable solution and who would be willing to put forward the significant multi-million pound upfront investment for the infrastructure required under the contract. Therefore, following a review of the commercial case put forward, the University has made the commercial decision to enter into the contract with OES, who satisfies all of the criteria under Regulation 57 of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Contracts Finder |
| Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/cc13b761-5d12-4b13-9b90-208c48bc9b1f |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Negotiated procedure without prior publication (above threshold) |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 22 Dec 2023 |
| Submission deadline | 14 Dec 2023 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 15 Dec 2023 |
| Contract period | 15 Dec 2023 - 30 Sep 2036 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £230,000,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £230,000,000 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | ASTON UNIVERSITY |
| Locality | BIRMINGHAM |
| Post town | Birmingham |
| Postcode | B4 7ET |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLG West Midlands (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLG3 West Midlands |
| ITL 3 | TLG31 Birmingham |
| Local authority | Birmingham |
| Electoral ward | Nechells |
| Westminster constituency | Birmingham Ladywood |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | ONLINE EDUCATION SERVICES |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 80 - Education and training services

### Codes

- 80300000 - Higher education services

## Release History

- 22 Dec 2023 at 11:09 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/cc13b761-5d12-4b13-9b90-208c48bc9b1f

## Documents

- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/cc13b761-5d12-4b13-9b90-208c48bc9b1f
  22nd December 2023 - Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder

## 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-b5fd17-62756f92-e999-4a02-913f-6d811a4e4584. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-62756f92-e999-4a02-913f-6d811a4e4584.json.