---
title: "Adult Skills Course Delivery"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-048731"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-048731"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-048731.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-048731.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "EAST DURHAM COLLEGE"
published: "2025-10-01"
---

# Adult Skills Course Delivery

Buyer: EAST DURHAM COLLEGE  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-048731

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## Summary

East Durham College, a public law body located in Peterlee, UK, conducted a procurement process for the delivery of adult skills courses within the North East Combined Authority area. With a focus on educational services, particularly adult and other education services, the tender invited proposals for a contract valued up to £450,000, with an 80/20 split in funding allocation. This open procurement procedure progressed to the award stage, with contracts signed on 7th October 2024. The procurement aimed to secure up to two organisations to provide part-time courses aligning with strategic aims of regional skill boards, emphasising employment pathways for adults 19 years and older residing in specific postcodes. The tender, now complete, awarded contracts to Learning Curve Group and Utraining Limited, with a combined contract value of £450,000.

This tender opens significant opportunities for businesses in the educational sector, particularly those with a local presence in County Durham, Sunderland, or Gateshead. It seeks providers with a successful track record in delivering adult education, demonstrated by achievement rates above national averages and positive employment progression outcomes. Organisations capable of meeting local skills demands and offering a strong financial standing, as indicated by inspection outcomes, are well-suited to compete. The tender restricts subcontracting layers to maintain quality assurance, offering business growth potential for firms capable of directly delivering AEB-funded courses and adapting to strategic employment and skills development goals in the North East.

## Notice

East Durham College is looking to secure a maximum of two organisations to deliver adult education courses to people aged 19 years and over who live in postcodes within the North East Combined Authority area. The contract value will be based on an 80/20 split. The full contract value will be a maximum of PS450,000 - Tenderers are invited to bid for the contract amount they can effectively deliver within the specified contract requirements, it will then be at the discretion of the College to determine the split of the contract award. Adults must live in an address with a North East Combined Authority postcode, it is not the delivery location. Provision is expected to be part-time and must be linked to the North East LEP or LSIP Strategic Aims for each area. East Durham College is seeking provision which moves adults either directly into jobs or closer to the employment market. We will not accept large volumes of employability provision or distance learning. We would expect all the funded provision to be AEB funded and not Skills for Jobs. The training must be delivered in full by the contracted training provider, i.e. only one level of sub-contracting is permitted, and no second level subcontracting is permitted. The quality of provision and subcontractor financial health will be paramount as the College will retain responsibility to the ESFA and OFSTED for programme quality. Financial health and inspection outcomes will form important parts of the assessment process, where a credit rating is above average we may reject their tender. The estimated contract value reflects the funding value of learning to be delivered and will be subject to a management fee which will not exceed 20%. Providers must have experience of delivering provision to meet local skills needs and be able to provide verified data in the following areas: * Achievement rates which are above national averages * High levels of positive progression into employment * History of achieving contracts in the last two years The positive progression must be into employment, further learning or improved prospects. We are not looking to deliver generic employability programmes. We will only look to contract with providers who have a history of delivering in the North East and they must have a permanent base in County Durham, Sunderland or Gateshead.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

You are invited to tender for the provision of Adult Skills Course Delivery, commencing September 2024 to 31st July 2025. Tenderers are asked to confirm their intention to Tender for this Contract by 'Registering their Intent' to Joanne Wilson at joanne.wilson@eastdurham.ac.uk, procurement@eastdurham.ac.uk East Durham College is looking to secure a maximum of two organisations to deliver adult education courses to people aged 19 years and over who live in postcodes within the North East Combined Authority area. The contract value will be based on an 80/20 split. The full contract value will be a maximum of PS450,000 - Tenderers are invited to bid for the contract amount they can effectively deliver within the specified contract requirements, it will then be at the discretion of the College to determine the split of the contract award. Adults must live in an address with a North East Combined Authority postcode, it is not the delivery location. Provision is expected to be part-time and must be linked to the North East LEP or LSIP Strategic Aims for each area. East Durham College is seeking provision which moves adults either directly into jobs or closer to the employment market. We will not accept large volumes of employability provision or distance learning. We would expect all the funded provision to be AEB funded and not Skills for Jobs. The training must be delivered in full by the contracted training provider, i.e. only one level of sub-contracting is permitted, and no second level subcontracting is permitted. The quality of provision and subcontractor financial health will be paramount as the College will retain responsibility to the ESFA and OFSTED for programme quality. Financial health and inspection outcomes will form important parts of the assessment process, where a credit rating is above average we may reject their tender. The estimated contract value reflects the funding value of learning to be delivered and will be subject to a management fee which will not exceed 20%. Providers must have experience of delivering provision to meet local skills needs and be able to provide verified data in the following areas: * Achievement rates which are above national averages * High levels of positive progression into employment * History of achieving contracts in the last two years The positive progression must be into employment, further learning or improved prospects. We are not looking to deliver generic employability programmes. We will only look to contract with providers who have a history of delivering in the North East and they must have a permanent base in County Durham, Sunderland or Gateshead.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/061226-2025 |
| Notice type | Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large, SME |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 1 Oct 2025 |
| Submission deadline | 28 Aug 2024 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 6 Oct 2024 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £450,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £450,000 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | EAST DURHAM COLLEGE |
| Locality | PETERLEE |
| Post town | Sunderland |
| Postcode | SR8 2RN |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLC North East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear |
| ITL 3 | TLC41 Durham |
| Local authority | County Durham |
| Electoral ward | Peterlee West |
| Westminster constituency | Easington |
| Delivery location | TLC North East (England) |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 2 |
| Supplier names | LEARNING CURVE GROUP; UTRAINING |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 80 - Education and training services

### Codes

- 80400000 - Adult and other education services

## Release History

- 1 Oct 2025 at 10:21 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/061226-2025
- 2 Aug 2024 at 12:47 - Tender - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/024313-2024

## Notice URLs

- https://issuu.com/eastdurhamcollege/docs/itt_aeb_subcontracting_24-25
- https://www.edc.ac.uk

## 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-048731. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-048731.json.