---
title: "Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM)"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06aac1"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06aac1"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06aac1.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06aac1.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "CARDIFF COUNCIL"
published: "2026-06-04"
---

# Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM)

Buyer: CARDIFF COUNCIL  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06aac1

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## Summary

Cardiff Council has completed the procurement process for the Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM) contract, directly awarding it to Inclusion Quality Mark (IQM), located in Londonderry. This direct award, which involved a comprehensive evaluation framework for schools, aligns with the Cardiff Education Inclusion Strategy. The contract falls under the services category for education and training, with a gross value of GBP 263,687.50. It is set to commence on 16th June 2026 and will conclude on 17th May 2030. The procurement process was conducted under Welsh devolved regulations, employing a direct procurement method, with the award being facilitated due to the exclusive intellectual property rights held by IQM.

This tender presents substantial opportunities for providers involved in educational services, specifically those specialising in inclusive practices and school evaluation frameworks. Although the procurement method was a direct award due to IQM's unique framework, other businesses can take note of potential collaborations or service expansions aligned with Cardiff Council's strategic objectives. Companies experienced in educational accreditation and those capable of offering complementary services may find opportunities in similar future tenders where public authorities require specialised and nationally recognised accreditation systems.

## Notice

The partnership with IQM will provide a single, coherent, city-wide approach for evaluating, improving and evidencing inclusive practice in every school. This aligns to Cardiff Education Inclusion Strategy and provides a framework for all schools to follow to ensure consistency across the city.

### Procurement Information

The Council's requirement is for a recognised whole school equality, inclusion and safeguarding accreditation framework designed specifically for education settings, providing external validation, nationally recognised accreditation, and a structured evidence framework aligned to leadership, curriculum delivery, learner wellbeing, safeguarding and inclusion. The accreditation must support continuity of improvement planning, comparability over time and consistency of standards across participating schools. IQM is the sole owner and provider of the Inclusion Quality Mark framework, methodology, assessment model and associated accreditation marks. IQM retains exclusive intellectual property rights in relation to its standards, moderation processes and accreditation system. As a result, only IQM is legally and technically able to deliver IQM assessments or confer IQM accreditation. No alternative supplier is able to provide the same service, accreditation or outcomes. While other equality or inclusion support tools exist in the market, these do not constitute reasonable alternatives for the purposes of this procurement, as they employ different frameworks, standards and assessment methodologies and do not provide IQM accreditation. Procuring an alternative provider would result in the Council receiving materially different services, leading to loss of continuity, comparability and established improvement evidence. Schedule 5 makes clear that the existence of other solutions does not prevent direct award where those alternatives would not meet the specific requirement or would cause disproportionate technical or operational difficulty. The Council also notes that a change of supplier would disrupt existing accreditation cycles, invalidate prior assessments and introduce unnecessary burden and cost for schools. Schedule 5 explicitly recognises incompatibility with existing systems and arrangements, where this would result in disproportionate technical difficulty in operation or maintenance, as a lawful basis for direct award to a single supplier.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/052594-2026 |
| Notice type | UK6 - Contract Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Direct award |
| Tender suitability | SME |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 4 Jun 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 20 May 2026 |
| Contract period | 15 Jun 2026 - 17 May 2030 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £217,542 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Pending |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | CARDIFF COUNCIL |
| Locality | CARDIFF |
| Post town | Cardiff |
| Postcode | CF10 4UW |
| Country | Wales |
| ITL 1 | TLL Wales |
| ITL 2 | TLL5 South East Wales |
| ITL 3 | TLL52 Cardiff and Vale of Glamorgan |
| Local authority | Cardiff |
| Electoral ward | Butetown |
| Westminster constituency | Cardiff South and Penarth |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | INCLUSION QUALITY MARK (IQM |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 80 - Education and training services

### Codes

- 80000000 - Education and training services

## Release History

- 4 Jun 2026 at 08:38 - Award - UK6 - Contract Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/052594-2026
- 1 Jun 2026 at 15:33 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/051571-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/052594-2026
  4th June 2026 - Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/051571-2026
  1st June 2026 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- http://www.cardiff.gov.uk
- 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-06aac1. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06aac1.json.