---
title: "Fostering Recruitment Digital Solutions"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06530c"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06530c"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06530c.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06530c.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION"
published: "2026-05-21"
---

# Fostering Recruitment Digital Solutions

Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06530c

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[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06530c.json)

## Summary

The Department for Education (DfE) is planning a procurement process for a project titled "Fostering Recruitment Digital Solutions", which focuses on IT and welfare services for children and young people. This initiative aims to develop an end-to-end digital solution to streamline the onboarding of prospective foster carers and enhance data management related to fostering recruitment. Located in London, the procurement is currently at the planning stage. Key dates include the publication of a planned procurement notice on 21 May 2026, with future project components being developed in accordance with preliminary market engagement findings. The expected contract period is scheduled to start on 1 April 2027 and end on 31 March 2028.

This project presents substantial business growth opportunities, particularly for firms specialising in IT services, digital solutions, or welfare services targeted at children and young people. Businesses adept at providing scalable and user-focused digital platforms that comply with government standards will find this tender particularly relevant. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs) are encouraged to participate. Engaging with the DfE in developing a robust digital infrastructure for fostering recruitment will not only aid in driving innovations but also contribute to increasing the number of foster carers, ultimately supporting societal wellbeing.

## Notice

As announced in Renewing Fostering: homes for 10,000 more children, the Department for Education (DfE) is exploring how digital solutions can support the successful onboarding of prospective foster carers, to minimise drop-off points caused by delays in communication about progress and outcomes, and enable richer data on fostering recruitment through to approvals to support decision-making at a local and national level. To deliver on the ambitious plan, we have engaged with the market to seek the development of an end-to-end digital solution that can: * Provide clear expectations of a standardised recruitment process across data and operating expectations. * Enable the gathering of rich and consistent data on the Hub fostering recruitment process and pipeline, supporting effective data sharing between DfE, Hubs, local authorities and other relevant agencies, and helping to better target interventions and efforts where they are most needed. * Create platforms and infrastructure to allow prospective foster carers to make an application and manage it throughout the fostering application process, from initial enquiry to approval (this may include making contact with their fostering service, booking appointments and monitoring the progress of their application online). * Provide a solution to help Fostering Hubs and local authorities to manage prospective foster carers through the application process through real-time insights and by engaging relevant agencies to support the onboarding process. * Provide a simple and secure customer journey that allows for interoperability where necessary, enabling improved data sharing and portability of applications across fostering services, while also strengthening the overall digital and data capability across the system. Following the preliminary market engagement, DfE will be taking forward development of the end-to-end recruitment service in-house. This will enable us to define key requirements and expectations, while working closely with Regional Care Co-operatives, Fostering Hubs and Local Authorities to develop the necessary infrastructure. We do, however, intend to continue engaging with the sector as we develop key components of the service. At this stage, the precise scope, scale and timing of any future procurement activity remain under consideration.

### Planning Information

The purpose of this preliminary market engagement notice is to inform the market that DfE is considering procuring a digital solution that supports fostering recruitment and to consult on current thinking to help inform our approach. It is not being used as a call for competition. 
The preliminary market engagement is intended to: 
• help DfE gauge the market’s interest, capability and capacity for delivering a digital solution that supports recruitment of more foster carers by enabling a simpler and supportive journey
• share further information about DfE’s ambition and invite the market to share early thoughts to inform the shaping of our requirements, timelines, commercial approach and any other aspects relating to this opportunity 
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. 
The virtual MS Teams event will be held on 24 February at 13:00 – 14:00pm. We will outline key questions and areas of interest during the session, and interested suppliers will be invited to complete a survey and schedule a 1:1 meeting to discuss their thoughts and the suitability of existing platforms in further detail. 
To arrange an invite to the team session, please contact fostering.PROGRAMME@education.gov.uk. Details about how to sign-up for a 1:1 session will be shared during the event on 24th February.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/047368-2026 |
| Notice type | UK1 - Pipeline Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| 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 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 2 Nov 2026 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 31 Mar 2027 - 31 Mar 2028 |
| 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 | Planned |
| Lots status | Planned |
| 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

- 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
- 85 - Health and social work services

### Codes

- 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
- 85311300 - Welfare services for children and young people

## Release History

- 21 May 2026 at 15:40 - Planning - UK1 - Pipeline Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/047368-2026
- 12 Feb 2026 at 15:35 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/013055-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/047368-2026
  21st May 2026 - Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/013055-2026
  12th February 2026 - 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-06530c. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06530c.json.