---
title: "Soft Market Testing - Provision of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Education for Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Young people"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0519d5"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0519d5"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0519d5.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0519d5.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "NOTTINGHAMSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL"
published: "2025-05-21"
---

# Soft Market Testing - Provision of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Education for Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Young people

Buyer: NOTTINGHAMSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0519d5

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## Summary

Nottinghamshire County Council is currently in the planning stage of a procurement process titled "Soft Market Testing - Provision of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Education for Unaccompanied Asylum-seeking Young People." This initiative, categorised under youth education services and language courses, aims to address the educational needs of young asylum seekers in Nottinghamshire who are unable to access traditional educational settings. The key milestone includes a deadline for response submissions by 12 noon on Friday, 13th June 2025. This market engagement is part of a broader effort to establish a new service provision with the potential contract period beginning on 6th October 2025 and concluding on 5th October 2029.

This procurement offers significant opportunities for businesses, particularly those with experience in youth education or language course provision. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as well as voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs) are encouraged to participate, given the suitability requirements. The soft market testing approach allows potential providers to influence the design of the tender, ensuring the service is effective and tailored to the needs of unaccompanied young asylum seekers. Engaging in this process could help businesses broaden their service offerings, establish new community ties, and contribute meaningfully to the educational landscape within Nottinghamshire.

## Notice

The Council is undertaking a soft market testing exercise and is asking organisations to submit comments & ideas to support and shape the development of the ESOL Education offer to unaccompanied asylum-seeking young people. We have included some questions at the end of this document that should be completed on the response form and returned to us by 12 noon on Friday, 13th June 2025. The information and insight we obtain from this will then support the development of a tendering exercise later in the year. The Virtual School and local authority have a statutory duty to ensure children who are looked after have access to appropriate education provision up to the age of 18 years old and this include children and young people who are unaccompanied and seeking asylum. The objective is to commission roll on roll off ESOL educational provision for unaccompanied young people seeking asylum who are unable to access a college setting due to local further education and small provider courses already being full. Children and young people who are unaccompanied and seeking asylum can arrive in Nottinghamshire at any time during the year and this means that some young people arrive part way through the academic year when local colleges and settings are full. In order to enable our young people who are post-16 (aged 16-18 years) and arriving in Nottinghamshire part way through a year, additional ESOL education provision is required as locally courses are full within the autumn term. Therefore, there is a requirement for roll on roll off ESOL course to provide education to post-16 new arrivals until the end of the academic year when they will then be able to transition to a college setting the following September.

### Planning Information

Responses should be sent via the portal by 12 noon on Friday, 13th June 2025.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/023591-2025 |
| Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice |
| Procurement type | Framework |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Not Specified |
| Procurement method details | Not specified |
| Tender suitability | SME, VCSE |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Planning |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 21 May 2025 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 1 Sep 2025 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 5 Oct 2025 - 5 Oct 2029 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Planning |
| Lots status | Planning |
| Awards status | Not specified |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | NOTTINGHAMSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL |
| Locality | NOTTINGHAM |
| Post town | Nottingham |
| Postcode | NG2 7QP |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLF East Midlands (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLF1 Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire |
| ITL 3 | TLF16 South Nottinghamshire |
| Local authority | Rushcliffe |
| Electoral ward | Trent Bridge |
| Westminster constituency | Rushcliffe |
| Delivery location | TLF15 North Nottinghamshire, TLF16 South Nottinghamshire |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 80 - Education and training services

### Codes

- 80310000 - Youth education services
- 80580000 - Provision of language courses

## Release History

- 21 May 2025 at 08:53 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/023591-2025

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/023591-2025
  21st May 2025 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- 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-0519d5. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0519d5.json.