--- title: "Adult Skills Fund Course Delivery" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-05f6f3" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05f6f3" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05f6f3.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05f6f3.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Tender" buyer: "EAST DURHAM COLLEGE" published: "2025-12-16" --- # Adult Skills Fund Course Delivery Buyer: EAST DURHAM COLLEGE Current stage: Tender OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-05f6f3 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-05f6f3) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05f6f3.json) ## Summary East Durham College, a public authority under the sub-central government category, has initiated a procurement process for the delivery of adult education courses in the North East Combined Authority area. The tender, titled "Adult Skills Fund Course Delivery," specifically targets adult education within the engineering and construction sectors, aiming to enhance employability or move adults closer to the job market. This tender process is currently in the update stage and follows an open procurement method with submissions required to be sent via email, with a deadline set for 13th January 2026. Interested parties must ensure they submit tenders within the timeline, keeping in mind that there will be no response to queries between 20th December 2025 and 4th January 2026. This tender presents valuable growth opportunities for organisations with experience in education services, particularly those with a history of effective course delivery in North East regions such as County Durham, Sunderland, and Gateshead. With an estimated contract value of £125,000, this procurement seeks providers who can offer quality adult educational services linked to strategic regional aims and possess achievement rates above national averages. Organisations already having a permanent base in the North East are encouraged to bid, while those intending to establish temporary premises are less likely to qualify. This contract values quality and social impact, allowing for potential incremental awards and enhanced contract values based on performance, making it a lucrative prospect for capable educational service providers in the specified regions. ## Notice East Durham College is looking to secure a maximum of 1 organisation 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 PS125,000 - Tenderers are invited to bid for the contract value stated that they can effectively deliver within the specified contract requirements. This may be split as incremental awards throughout the academic year dependent on achievement of deliverables. 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 Combined Authority Strategic Aims for each area. East Durham College is only seeking provision in subject sector areas 4 (Engineering) and 5 (Construction), 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 ASF funded and not Free Courses for Jobs. The training must be delivered in full by the contracted training provider, i.e. only one level of sub-contracting is permitted, 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 North East Combined Authority and OFSTED for programme quality. Financial health and inspection outcomes are mandatory elements of the assessment process which can lead to instant exclusion from the tender process. Where a credit rating shows an above average risk or an Ofsted outcome is less than Good, we will reject a tender unless there are exceptional circumstances given. Where these are given, the college will require a face to face meeting for further investigation of evidence to decide whether the tender can go forward for further review. 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 the North East. We will not accept tenders from organisations based outside of the geographical area who intend to rent premises to undertake his delivery. Checks will be carried out to ascertain longevity of operation in the North East. ### Lot Information Lot 1 Options: There could be scope for additional contract values subject to our requirements, and the successful tenderers performance. This will not exceed the current procurement threshold. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/083481-2025 | | Notice type | UK4 - Tender Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Services | | Procurement method | Open | | Procurement method details | Below threshold - open competition | | Tender suitability | SME | | Awardee scale | Not specified | | All stages | Tender | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 16 Dec 2025 | | Submission deadline | 13 Jan 2026 | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | Not specified | | Contract period | 26 Jan 2026 - 31 Jul 2026 | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | £125,000 | | Lots value | £125,000 | | 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 | EAST DURHAM COLLEGE | | Locality | CO DURHAM | | 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) | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 80 - Education and training services ### Codes - 80400000 - Adult and other education services ## Release History - 16 Dec 2025 at 15:30 - TenderUpdate - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/083481-2025 - 16 Dec 2025 at 15:19 - Tender - UK4 - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/083469-2025 ## Documents - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/083481-2025 16th December 2025 - Tender notice on Find a Tender - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/083469-2025 16th December 2025 - Tender notice on Find a Tender - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/A-9276 ## 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-05f6f3. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-05f6f3.json.