---
title: "Apprenticeships Commissioning Programme Wales Framework Agreement"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-02a770"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-02a770"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02a770.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02a770.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "WELSH GOVERNMENT"
published: "2021-04-19"
---

# Apprenticeships Commissioning Programme Wales Framework Agreement

Buyer: WELSH GOVERNMENT  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-02a770

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## Summary

The Welsh Government has initiated the "Apprenticeships Commissioning Programme Wales Framework Agreement" under the education and training services category. The procurement process is currently at the award stage, having culminated with the signing of the contract on 22 March 2021. This framework agreement is set to commence on 1 August 2021 and will run for four years until 31 July 2025, with the possibility of a two-year extension, which could lead it to last until 31 July 2027. Funded in part by the European Social Fund, the total contract value is anticipated to range from £400 million to £1.05 billion over its duration.

This procurement presents significant opportunities for businesses, particularly those in the education and training sector, to engage in providing apprenticeship services aligned with the needs of the Welsh economy. Companies with expertise in vocational training, skills development, or those that can tailor their offerings to the local business landscape would be well-positioned to compete. Given that this is a quasi-open procedure with no commercial evaluation element, suppliers who excel in delivering quality education and training services will have a greater chance of success in this framework agreement.

## Notice

Through work-based learning the Apprenticeship Programme will deliver to individuals the skills necessary to embark on successful careers and for employers the relevant skilled people to meet the current and future needs of their businesses and the Welsh economy. Commencing on 1 August 2021 the Apprenticeship framework will run for 4 years until 31 July 2025 (with the option of an extension of up to two years until 31 July 2027). The Framework will be procured under the light touch regime, implemented through regulations 74 - 77 as applied to Schedule 3 services of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) using a quasi-open procedure. Please be advised that costs are fixed as set out in the Programme Specification, as such, there is no Commercial evaluation element to this tender.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The purpose of the Apprenticeships Programme is to support people in Wales through high quality learning, in order to provide employers with the relevant skilled people to meet the current and future needs of the Welsh economy. Apprenticeships offer employed learners the opportunity to pursue a Foundation Apprenticeship, Apprenticeship, or Higher Apprenticeship framework. Degree Apprenticeships are excluded from this procurement. Each framework specifies the learning activities, including, qualifications covering occupational competencies, the relevant technical knowledge, Essential Skills Wales and Employment Rights and Responsibilities (ERR). The Client is committed to aligning the Apprenticeship Programme to the needs of the Welsh economy as outlined in its policy and action plan published in February 2017 - Aligning the Apprenticeship model to the needs of the Welsh economy 2017. The focus is on aligning and raising the level of the skills market designed to meet employer needs with a system that is responsive to industry changes, particularly in the sectors that drive growth and prosperity. The policy reflects the step change towards higher level technical and professional skills, promoting efficiency and portability within our priority sectors. The Welsh Government is of the view that the option to extend the framework beyond four years is likely to be desirable. Individual participants may be on a vocational Apprenticeship programme for up to four years. In the event the maximum term of the framework mirrors the maximum duration of a vocational Apprenticeship programme, this is likely to result in many apprentices having their learning disrupted as they may be obliged to transfer from an unsuccessful legacy provider to a successful bidder when a future replacement framework is procured. Adopting a 4 year fixed term framework agreement with the ability to extend up to a maximum of 6 years should provide Welsh Government with the opportunity to limit the number of displaced apprentices that may arise if the procurement process had to be repeated more regularly. Additional information: The value range is anticipated to be Min GBP 400m to Max GBP 1.05 billion over the term of the agreement, further details are included in the tender documents.

Options: Throughout the duration of the Agreement or Programme Commission, the Client may seek to continue to improve the Apprenticeship Programme and to sharpen its focus. To this end, a number of flexibilities and options (including but not limited to varying or introducing new Services and pilot schemes) have been incorporated into the Agreement and the Programme Specification. Priorities will be reviewed regularly by the Client and Welsh Government Officials and may be revised. This will inform future allocations. Changes to the Programme Specification will be implemented in accordance with the terms of the Agreement as per sections 7.4, 26, 30 of the Invitation To Tender; B.10, B.16-B.26 pf the Programme Specification and 4.2 of the Framework Agreement

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/008191-2021 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Framework |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large, SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 19 Apr 2021 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 22 Mar 2021 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £1,050,000,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | WELSH GOVERNMENT |
| Additional buyers | EUROPEAN UNION |
| Locality | CARDIFF |
| Post town | Cardiff |
| Postcode | CF10 3NQ |
| Country | Wales |
| ITL 1 | TLL Wales |
| ITL 2 | TLL5 South East Wales |
| ITL 3 | TLL52 Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan |
| Local authority | Cardiff |
| Electoral ward | Cathays |
| Westminster constituency | Cardiff South and Penarth |
| Delivery location | TLL Wales |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 10 |
| Supplier names | ACT TRAINING; CAMBRIAN TRAINING; CARDIFF & VALE COLLEGE; COLEG CAMBRIA; EDUC8 TRAINING GROUP; GOWER COLLEGE SWANSEA; GRWP LLANDRILLO MENAI; ITEC TRAINING SOLUTIONS; NEATH PORT TALBOT COLLEGE; PEMBROKESHIRE COLLEGE |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 80 - Education and training services

### Codes

- 80000000 - Education and training services
- 80500000 - Training services

## Release History

- 19 Apr 2021 at 10:55 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/008191-2021

## Notice URLs

- http://wales.gov.uk/?skip=1&lang=en
- https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:395340-2020:TEXT:EN:HTML
- https://www.sell2wales.gov.wales/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA0007

## 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-h6vhtk-02a770. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-02a770.json.