---
title: "Always-on' partnership with UCAS 26/27"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06df8f"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06df8f"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06df8f.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06df8f.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "NHS England"
published: "2026-08-08"
---

# Always-on' partnership with UCAS 26/27

Buyer: NHS England  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06df8f

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[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06df8f.json)

## Summary

NHS England procured targeted marketing and recruitment support to raise awareness of NHS careers and encourage applications and acceptances to nursing and allied health profession degree programmes. The service covers targeted communications, management of NHS health careers webpages, audience segmentation, admissions data insights and campaign reporting for the recruitment cycle. This is a public-sector healthcare recruitment and higher-education marketing requirement, delivered through a national higher education admissions context. The buying organisation is NHS England, a central government public authority. The procurement has one service lot and the named supplier is UCAS Media Limited, based in Cheltenham. Businesses operating in healthcare workforce recruitment, student marketing, higher-education communications, digital campaign management or admissions-data analysis would find the requirement most relevant.

The procurement is complete and was awarded by direct award to UCAS Media Limited. The award date was 6 August 2026. The awarded value is £533,409 including tax, for a 12-month contract running from 20 August 2026 to 19 August 2027. A contract signature was scheduled for 20 August 2026, following a standstill period ending on 19 August 2026. NHS England used a direct award under Schedule 5, Paragraph 6 of the Procurement Act 2023. The stated basis was that UCAS is uniquely placed through its national higher-education admissions platform and is the only supplier with direct access to higher-education applicant data; the stated rationale classification is single-supplier technical reasons. The award was above the relevant threshold.

For a future requirement of this type, a credible competitor would need to combine targeted marketing with recruitment outcomes in nursing and allied health education. Relevant capability includes audience segmentation, campaign planning and delivery, digital communications, management of careers webpages, admissions or applicant-data analysis, and clear reporting on campaign performance. Experience working across the NHS, higher education and student or graduate audiences would be important, as would the ability to turn admissions insights into communications that encourage applications and acceptances. The selected approach also shows the value placed on access to national higher-education applicant data and an established admissions platform. Suppliers without that platform would need to demonstrate an equivalent lawful data position, comparable reach and evidence that their insights and campaigns can support NHS workforce recruitment at national scale.

## Notice

NHS England intends to award a 12 month contract to UCAS for the delivery of targeted marketing and recruitment support services to increase awareness of NHS careers and encourage applications and acceptances to nursing and allied health profession (AHP) degree programmes for the 2026/27 recruitment cycle. The contract includes targeted communications, management of NHS health careers webpages, audience segmentation, admissions data insights, and campaign reporting. The award is being made via a Direct Award under Schedule 5, Paragraph 6 of the Procurement Act 2023, as UCAS is uniquely placed to deliver these services through its national higher education admissions platform and is the only supplier with direct access to higher education applicant data.

### Procurement Information

The direct award is permitted under Schedule 5, Paragraph 6 of the Procurement Act 2023, as both statutory conditions applicable to the contract have been met,

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/075491-2026 |
| Notice type | UK6 - Contract Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Direct award |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 8 Aug 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 6 Aug 2026 |
| Contract period | 20 Aug 2026 - 19 Aug 2027 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £533,409 |
| 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 | NHS England |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Postcode area | South East London |
| Postcode | SE1 8UG |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI4 Inner London - East |
| ITL 3 | TLI45 Lambeth |
| Local authority | Lambeth |
| Electoral ward | Waterloo & South Bank |
| Westminster constituency | Vauxhall and Camberwell Green |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | UCAS Media Limited |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 79 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

### Codes

- 79342000 - Marketing services

## Release History

- 8 Aug 2026 at 17:11 - Award - UK6 - Contract Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/075491-2026
- 8 Aug 2026 at 16:28 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/075490-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/075491-2026
  8th August 2026 - Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/075490-2026
  8th August 2026 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.england.nhs.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-06df8f. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06df8f.json.