---
title: "Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Inclusion Continuing Professional Development (CPD) March 2026"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-066174"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-066174"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-066174.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-066174.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION"
published: "2026-04-23"
---

# Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Inclusion Continuing Professional Development (CPD) March 2026

Buyer: DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-066174

[View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-066174)  
[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-066174.json)

## Summary

The Department for Education is actively involved in planning a procurement process for the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and Inclusion Continuing Professional Development (CPD) programme. This initiative, located within the UK, emphasises adult and vocational education services, personal development training services, and more. As part of an early market engagement stage, the DfE is seeking input and participation from potential suppliers to help shape the programme's development across early years, schools, and colleges. Key dates include an online market engagement event scheduled for 10th March 2026, with further details and follow-up possible. The procurement planning phase is scheduled to conclude with a formal tender launch on 1st September 2026, aiming for contracts lasting until 30th August 2030.

This tender presents significant opportunities for Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs), and consortia of different organisations. The scope for collaboration and consortia bids invites diverse business types to engage across multiple aspects like content development, materials production, digital platform development, and training facilitation. With attention to market capacity, capability, and appetite, this procurement process encourages innovation and broad participation, possibly leading to business expansion and increased market presence for successful bidders. More details, including participation requirements, can be accessed via the Department for Education's eSourcing Portal.

## Notice

The DfE is keen to maximise opportunities to participate in procurement for Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs). Consideration will also be given to consortia and collaborative bids from all forms of organisations.

### Planning Information

Open early engagement - This means that a procurement idea is currently active, it is in the early stage of development and judging interest from potential suppliers. 
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/200-million-landmark-send-teacher-training-programme 
On 16th January 2026, the government announced a £200 million investment in SEND teacher training. This landmark programme will develop and deliver continuing professional development (CPD) available to all education professionals. The CPD will deepen their knowledge of how to adapt their practice and improve inclusion in their educational setting, to better meet the needs of children and young people with SEND within the mainstream educational system. 
The package was described as including: 
•A package of high-quality training materials to be shared with every school and further education setting to support the delivery of training to all staff on SEND and inclusion. 
•New, free CPD courses for teachers and leaders in schools and further education settings. 
•Investment in training for teaching and learning support assistants ensuring support staff feel equipped and confident to support learners with SEND. 
•A new Early Years CPD programme, providing free, accessible training focused on inclusive practice, child development, and practical strategies for supporting children with SEND – available to all early years practitioners. 
The Department for Education (DfE) is commencing market engagement and seeking feedback to inform strategy and broad programme thinking currently in development across early years, schools and colleges. The projects are at various stages in development and have distinct requirements. 
This could include: 
Content development 
Materials production (primarily in relation to national training programmes, but also looking at materials to support schools and colleges to develop in-house professional development) 
Course development 
Participant recruitment and onboarding 
Developing digital platforms / hosting materials 
Training facilitation 
Policy areas in scope for this exercise are: 
Early years (course delivery commencing April 2027) 
Schools (materials for in-house professional development delivery launching September 2026; course delivery launching Autumn 2027) 
Further education (materials for in-house professional development delivery launching September 2026; course delivery launching Autumn 2027) 
Including School Teaching Assistants and FE support staff (course delivery launching Autumn 2027) 
We look to consult the market on how the provision could address the following audiences: 
Teachers (at all phases) 
Leaders (at all phases) 
School Teaching Assistants and FE support staff 
Early years practitioners 
Key commercial objectives of the engagement event are: 
Understand market capacity, capability and appetite for each requirement 
Obtain feedback on prospective commercial approaches 
Interested parties are invited to attend an online market engagement event to be held Tuesday 10th March, to hear further details about this opportunity and share thoughts and questions about the future programme through a feedback questionnaire. Please note, in the interest of fairness, attendance will be limited to 2 people per organisation. 
Follow up 1-2-1 interviews may be scheduled at the discretion of the Department, and further information on this will be shared during the event. 
DfE may also decide to host further engagement events prior to the launch of a formal tender process. Further details will be provided in due course. 
DfE reserve the right to utilise the below referenced SSQ and the suppliers registered to ciruclate additional questionnaires related to some or all of the projects detailed in this notice.
This market engagement notice does not signify the commencement of any competitive process, nor does it constitute a commitment to any future procurement activity. 
To participate in this Market Engagement, participants must first be registered on the Department for Education eSourcing Portal Jaggaer. If you have not yet registered on the eSourcing Portal, this can be done online at https://education.app.jaggaer.com by following the link 'To register click here'. 
Navigate to ssq_762 and express your interest.
For technical assistance on use of the eSourcing Portal, please contact the Jaggaer Supplier Helpdesk at customersupport@jaggaer.com or 0800 069 8630 (0800 - 1800hrs). 
If you are unable to attend the market engagement event, the slides and Q&A outcomes will be made available to you, provided you have registered your interest on Jaggaer prior to the event.
All communication should be via the Jaggaer platform.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/037266-2026 |
| Notice type | UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement 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 | 23 Apr 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 1 Sep 2026 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 31 Aug 2026 - 30 Aug 2030 |
| 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 | 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

- 80 - Education and training services

### Codes

- 80000000 - Education and training services
- 80340000 - Special education services
- 80400000 - Adult and other education services
- 80500000 - Training services
- 80530000 - Vocational training services
- 80570000 - Personal development training services

## Release History

- 23 Apr 2026 at 15:28 - PlanningUpdate - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/037266-2026
- 3 Mar 2026 at 16:34 - Planning - UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/019184-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/037266-2026
  23rd April 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/019184-2026
  3rd March 2026 - Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://education.app.jaggaer.com
- https://www.gov.uk/government/news/200-million-landmark-send-teacher-training-programme
- 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-066174. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-066174.json.