---
title: "Essex Music Services E-Learning"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-05047a"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05047a"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05047a.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05047a.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL"
published: "2025-06-09"
---

# Essex Music Services E-Learning

Buyer: ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-05047a

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## Summary

The procurement process titled "Essex Music Services E-Learning" has been initiated by Essex County Council, located in Chelmsford, UK. This procurement falls under the education and training services industry category and is funded through Arts Council England. The process has followed an open procedure and is now at the award stage, with Charanga Limited chosen as the supplier. The project consists of two lots, supporting a digital curriculum tool and an online platform, each offering substantial growth opportunities. The key procurement activities commenced with the tender notice published on 17th April 2025, followed by the award announcement on 9th June 2025. Contracts are set to start on 1st July 2025, lasting until 31st August 2029, with potential extension until August 2030.

This tender creates significant opportunities for businesses specialising in digital learning solutions, particularly within educational and training services. Firms that provide innovative online curriculum support and digital platforms are well-positioned to compete, with the potential to collaborate with Essex County Council's Greater Essex Music Hub. The contract provides an annual funding cap, with Lot 1 valued at £125,000 and Lot 2 at £50,000, totalling an estimated value of £875,000 excluding VAT. SMEs may particularly benefit as Charanga Limited, an SME, underscored the success SMEs can achieve in this domain. Additionally, suppliers offering scalable digital solutions that can adapt to increased usage requirements may find compelling opportunities in this initiative. The project emphasizes leveraging digital resources to deliver high-quality music education across numerous locations in Essex, which includes supporting transitions between educational stages, thus requiring consistent engagement and adaptability.

## Notice

This procurement is grant funded through Arts Council England. ECC on behalf of the Greater Essex Music Hub are looking to procure the provision of an online curriculum support tool and an online digital platform with an experienced and innovative digital learning partner to replace its existing contract. ECC is keen to continue with this methodology of delivering this Service to our schools. Greater Essex Music Hub has developed a strong portfolio of both local and national partnership organisations to support the work of the Music Hub across the county, and ECC are looking to continue to work with an experienced and innovative digital learning partner. As a geographically large music Hub area, a strong online music resource offer is essential in helping maintain the engage and support of schools, enabling good quality music provision to be delivered consistently and to support musical transition between key stages. This digital offering will help compliment the other services and opportunities offered to schools, such as instrumental learning, access to high quality singing, instrumental hire and is a tangible way of offering virtual support to teachers and pupils when face-to-face contact is not always possible. There is a proven demand for digital learning resources across the whole Music Hub region with strong historical engagement within the curriculum resources offered to schools in each local authority area. Greater Essex Music Hub will not require the successful bidder to interact with any other interfaces or contracted providers, however, there may be introduction to other partners who are developing or providing work as a Hub partner, that may benefit the on-going provision of this contract holder. With the publication of the Model Music Curriculum in 2021 and a New National Plan for Music Education in 2022, it is expected that the provider of this service will support schools both to deliver the Model Music Curriculum as a minimum standard, and to support the wider delivery of the National Plan for Music Education. The digital learning platform should be able to provide resources for at least 667 locations, allowing specialist and non-specialist teachers to deliver a high-quality music curriculum and to focus their time on quality delivery and musical progression for their pupils. The project will be in two lots: curriculum support tool and an online digital platform. Each lot has a maximum level of funding per annum as follows: - Lot 1: max value PS125k - Lot 2: max value PS50k Total value (estimated): PS875,000 excluding VAT.

### Lot Information

Curriculum

ECC on behalf of Greater Essex Music Hub are looking to procure the provision of an online curriculum support tool with an experienced and innovative digital learning partner to replace its existing contract. The successful bidder will be required to provide a digital-based learning environment which contains a breadth and depth of resources to support the delivery of music to all key-stages, with detailed content to support EYFS, Key-stage 1 and Key-stage 2 teachers where there are a greater number of non-specialist teachers delivering music curriculum lessons. A library of resources is expected for key-stage 3 delivery to support both the specialist and non-specialist. These should be flexible in their use and include access to resources for instrumental teaching. We also expect there to be resource to support the various SEND and alternative settings across the county and support transition of young people between primary and secondary settings. All users (both teachers/tutors and pupils) will need individual logins which can easily be reset and to which content can be saved. Managers throughout the Greater Essex Music Hub also require administrative access. The bidder should supply information for licences for all 667 locations across the Greater Essex Music Hub and give details of the rate per location. Essex County Council will be looking to purchase licences for 75% of locations. Should further demand this prove necessary in the future ECC would expect to be able to purchase additional licences at a pro rata rate. There will be a need and expectation for the successful bidder to provide an on-going CPD programme for schools to benefit from, to enable generalist teachers to fully understand how to best use the resources that are on offer. This digital learning requirement will require two separate elements of work to be provided for a resource for the whole delivery of the Music Curriculum and support materials for instrumental teachers. As well as supporting teachers to deliver high quality music lessons within school, there is also an expectation that the resource offered will engage with all young people and provide an interactive music-focused digital learning resource that is accessible for the student user beyond the classroom. The digital resources produced need to be accessible on all platforms (Windows/Apple/Linux) and should not require any installation or additional equipment to be purchased by the end users. It is expected that all resources will work through a standard browser, with the expectation that the browser is kept up to date by the end user. The digital resource should have on-going refresh adapting to any identified needs, or changes in requirements. Should there be an increase in engagement and the need for more licenses that is covered in this contract, these will be paid in addition per year on a pro-rata basis. The preferred bidder must be able to provide the entire requirement, variations and/or options are not allowed. Bids maybe submitted by a consortium (legal entity) or through sub-contracting. Sub-Contracting - Bidders may sub-contract elements of the services, however they must ensure that they provide such detail in the relevant section(s) of the tender. If a bidder wishes to use a sub-contractor following award of contract, then they will need approval from the Authority before proceeding.

Options: Bidders have the option to provide pricing for additional licences in the event that additional schools over the identified number at the beginning of the contract wish to use the services.

Renewal: Six months prior to the expiry of the contract, a decision will be made based on funding as to whether or not take up the extension option.

Digital

Essex County Council as the Lead Organisation of the Greater Essex Music Hub are looking to procure the provision of an online platform with an experienced and innovative digital learning partner to replace its existing contract. The successful bidder will be required to provide a digital-based learning environment which contains a breadth and depth of resources to support the delivery of music at key-stages 2-4. We also expect there to be resource to support the various SEND settings across the county and support transition of young people between primary and secondary settings. All users (both teachers/tutors and pupils) will need individual logins which can easily be reset and to which content can be saved. Identified managers within the Greater Essex Music Hub also require administrative access. The bidder should supply information for licences for all 667 locations across Essex and give details of the rate per location. Essex County Council will be looking to purchase licences for 50% of locations. Should further demand this prove necessary in the future ECC would expect to be able to purchase additional licences at a pro rata rate. There will be a need and expectation for the successful bidder to provide an on-going CPD programme for schools to benefit from, to enable generalist teachers to fully understand how to best use the resources that are on offer. This digital learning requirement will require a resource for students to use to explore multi-track and sequencing techniques and creativity using music technology. As well as supporting teachers to deliver high quality music lessons within school, there is also an expectation that the resource offered will engage with all young people and provide an interactive music-focused digital learning resource that is accessible for the student user, beyond the classroom. The digital resources produced need to be accessible on all platforms (Windows/Apple/Linux) and should not require any installation or additional equipment to be purchased by the end users. It is expected that all resources will work through a standard browser, with the expectation that the browser is kept up to date by the end user. The digital resource should have on-going refresh adapting to any identified needs, or changes in requirements. Should there be an increase in engagement and the need for more licenses that is covered in this contract, these will be paid in addition per year on a pro-rata basis. Provision will be made for the successful bidder to be able to import user profiles from the incumbent solution. The method for this will be discussed during the implementation phase. It is expected that this will be a 48-month contract with an option to extend for up to 12 months. The preferred bidder must be able to provide the entire requirement, variations and/or options are not allowed. Bids maybe submitted by a consortium (legal entity) or through sub-contracting. Sub-Contracting - Bidders may sub-contract elements of the services, however they must ensure that they provide such detail in the relevant section(s) of the tender. If a bidder wishes to use a sub-contractor following award of contract, then they will need approval from the Authority before proceeding.

Options: Bidders have the option to provide pricing for additional licences in the event that additional schools over the identified number at the beginning of the contract wish to use the services.

Renewal: Six months prior to the expiry of the contract, a decision will be made based on funding as to whether or not take up the extension option.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/031049-2025 |
| Notice type | UK7 - Contract Details Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | SME |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 9 Jun 2025 |
| Submission deadline | 8 May 2025 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 21 May 2025 |
| Contract period | 30 Jun 2025 - 31 Aug 2029 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £875,000 |
| Lots value | £875,000 |
| Awards value | £875,000 |
| Contracts value | £875,000 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | ESSEX COUNTY COUNCIL |
| Locality | CHELMSFORD |
| Post town | Chelmsford |
| Postcode | CM1 1QH |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLH East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLH3 Essex |
| ITL 3 | TLH36 Heart of Essex |
| Local authority | Chelmsford |
| Electoral ward | Moulsham and Central |
| Westminster constituency | Chelmsford |
| Delivery location | TLH3 Essex |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | CHARANGA |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 80 - Education and training services

### Codes

- 80000000 - Education and training services

## Release History

- 9 Jun 2025 at 15:17 - Award - UK7 - Contract Details Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/031049-2025
- 27 May 2025 at 09:43 - Award - UK6 - Contract Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/027627-2025
- 17 Apr 2025 at 08:19 - Tender - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/015743-2025

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/031049-2025
  9th June 2025 - Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/027627-2025
  27th May 2025 - Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/015743-2025
  17th April 2025 - Tender notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.procontract.due-north.com/opportunities/index
  Select Essex County Council in the organisation dropdown and select CO0525 Essex Music Services E-Learning Resource DN768166. Registration on ProContract is free, once registered bidders will be able to access all tender documents.
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/A-709
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/A-710

## Notice URLs

- http://www.charanga.com
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents
- https://www.procontract.due-north.com

## 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-05047a. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05047a.json.