---
title: "What Works Centre for Children and Families"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-04fbf4"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04fbf4"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04fbf4.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04fbf4.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Tender"
buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION"
published: "2026-02-20"
---

# What Works Centre for Children and Families

Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION  
Current stage: Tender  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-04fbf4

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## Summary

The Department for Education is spearheading an open procurement initiative for establishing a "What Works Centre for Children and Families" starting in April 2027. Located in London, this tender, categorised under research and welfare services for children, is set to provide grant funding for up to 10 years, with an annual budget of £8.5 million. The procurement is in the tender stage with key dates including submission due by 18 May 2026 and enquiries allowed until 5 May 2026. An online engagement session with potential bidders is scheduled for 26 February 2026 to clarify the competition specifics.

This tender presents a significant opportunity for organisations specialising in evidence-based interventions and evaluation consultancy services. Ideal candidates would be those capable of independently operating within the What Works Network, coupled with expertise in high-quality evaluations and evidence dissemination. SMEs and VCSEs are encouraged to participate, as the contract aims to enhance services improving outcomes for vulnerable children, leveraged by robust evidence. With anticipated research and trial opportunities, businesses focusing on social care, policy-making, and early intervention stand well-positioned to grow by aligning their offerings with government objectives.

## Notice

This is a Competition Notice for 10 years of Grant Funding for a What Works Centre for Children and Families to start in April 2027. This funding will be provided under Section 14 Grant of the Education Act 2003 Terms and Conditions. This competition is not in scope of the Procurement Act 2023. There is also a Find a Grant notice relating to this competition which can be found here: https://find-government-grants.service.gov.uk/grants/what-works-centre-for-children-and-families---competition-launch-1 ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ The Department for Education (the Department) are looking for an organisation to act as a What Works Centre for Children and Families (WWCCF) from April 2027. This grant funding will be issued for a maximum of 10 years, with a maximum available funding of PS8.5m per year. Reforming children's social care to keep children safe and give them the best start in life is an important part of the Governments opportunity mission. Improving the evidence base on interventions that work is vital to the success of the reform programme. The Department anticipate this grant to be used to generate and champion robust actionable evidence (i.e. deliver research, programmes and evaluations) that will help shape decision making in policy and practice, and enable the sector to improve services and outcomes to protect and support vulnerable and disadvantaged children. This should include: * becoming a What Works Network member, operating independently and setting a strategy alongside the Department * having access to a range of expertise in conducting high-quality evaluations, translating and disseminating evidence * establishing relationships with policy makers and local leaders to establish and support delivery of interventions that work based on high quality evidence * detailed knowledge and understanding of the children's social care and early intervention sector We are looking for an organisation to build a strategy which would deliver the following objectives: * collating existing evidence on the effectiveness of programmes and practices * collaborating with and engaging the sector to help the development of materials and reports * producing high-quality synthesis reports and systematic reviews in areas where they do not currently exist * assessing the effectiveness of policies and practices against an agreed set of outcomes * Identifying and filling gaps in the evidence base by commissioning new trials and evaluations * proactively sharing findings in an accessible way (that is free to access) * supporting practitioners, commissioners and policymakers to use these findings to inform their decisions * undertaking research and evaluation projects that meet Government Social Research standards We would expect that Cabinet Office's requirement of What Works Centre membership to be met in full: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-works-network-membership-requirements. An online competition launch engagement session will be held 14:00 - 15:00 pm, 26th February 2026 via teams to allow the Department to explain relevant competition documentation to potential bidders and allow an opportunity for Q&A. If you would like an invite to this session, please use the messaging function on Jaggaer to request an invite, including the roles and email addresses of all those who would like to attend. Any slides and Q&A from this session will be uploaded and shared with all potential bidders for future reference.

### Planning Information

The purpose of this Preliminary market engagement notice is to inform the market on the progress towards the competition for the continuation of the What Works Centre for Children and Families. It is not being used as a call for competition. 
The Preliminary market engagement notice is intended to:
1. Raise awareness with the market of a potential future competition process, share provisional timelines and to enable organisations to begin early discussions with the Department and each other as to how they may be able to deliver any future grant.
2. To share with the market early drafts of the grant Statement of Outcomes and invite suppliers to discuss with DfE any thoughts on the grant, set up costs, hand over period or any other aspects relevant to the grant period. 
3. A set of focused questions will be shared during the session and we would encourage suppliers to respond to feedback their thoughts either during, or shortly after the session is completed. 
Market engagement will consist of a virtual event via MS Teams. This session will give an opportunity to discuss, clarify and highlight what aspects of the competition may be most attractive as well as anything that might be a barrier to bidding.
An MS Teams event will take place Thursday 8th January 2026, 13:00 – 14:00pm. If you are interested in attending, please contact emilie.wilkinson@education.gov.uk and james.drew@education.gov.uk to arrange an invitation to the event.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/015744-2026 |
| Notice type | UK4 - 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 | Planning, Tender |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 20 Feb 2026 |
| Submission deadline | 18 May 2026 |
| Future notice date | 19 Jan 2026 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 31 Mar 2027 - 31 Mar 2037 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £85,000,000 |
| Lots value | £85,000,000 |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Active |
| Lots status | Active |
| 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 | Not specified |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services
- 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security
- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 73110000 - Research services
- 73210000 - Research consultancy services
- 79419000 - Evaluation consultancy services
- 85311300 - Welfare services for children and young people

## Release History

- 20 Feb 2026 at 14:43 - Tender - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/015744-2026
- 19 Dec 2025 at 13:06 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/084909-2025
- 29 Sep 2025 at 09:49 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/060399-2025
- 11 Apr 2025 at 07:24 - PlanningUpdate - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/014424-2025
- 2 Apr 2025 at 12:29 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/012514-2025

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/015744-2026
  20th February 2026 - Tender notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/084909-2025
  19th December 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/060399-2025
  29th September 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/014424-2025
  11th April 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/012514-2025
  2nd April 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://education.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html
- https://education.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.htmlAlltendersmustbesubmittedviaJaggaerabove.Interestedbidderscancreateanaccountiftheydon'talreadyhaveone.
- https://find-government-grants.service.gov.uk/grants/what-works-centre-for-children-and-families---competition-launch-1
- https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/what-works-network-membership-requirements
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## 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-04fbf4. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04fbf4.json.