---
title: "Reading Fluency Peer Tutoring"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06e26e"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06e26e"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e26e.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e26e.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "North East Combined Authority"
published: "2026-08-12"
---

# Reading Fluency Peer Tutoring

Buyer: North East Combined Authority  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06e26e

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## Summary

North East Combined Authority commissioned an education and training service to extend its Fast Forward to reading Fluency project across 20 schools in the North East. The delivery partner will provide a peer-mediated reading-aloud intervention, with 20-minute in-school sessions twice weekly. The service includes sequenced anthologies covering reading fluency, vocabulary and background knowledge across history, geography, science, the arts and other curriculum-rich areas. It also includes support for schools to review attainment data, diagnostic assessment, structured reading improvement, trained Year 10 or Year 12 peer tutors, an impact study, an introductory session and later network events. Each school will identify 20 pupils for intervention and control groups. The buyer is North East Combined Authority, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, with delivery across its North East footprint.

The procurement is complete and used a direct award below the threshold without competition. One lot was awarded to North East Learning Trust for £85,000 including VAT. The award is recorded as pending, with the contract scheduled to run from 1 September 2026 to 30 July 2027 and signature due on 1 September 2026. Evaluation was therefore based on the buyer’s direct-award route rather than a competitive tender. The selected supplier is expected to deliver across up to 20 schools, provide twice-weekly sessions, support pupil assessment and randomised intervention arrangements, and produce an impact study. The requirement is classified as education and training services. The contract is intended to extend an existing programme into the 2026/27 academic year, with a narrower focus on schools expected to benefit most.

This outcome indicates demand from North East Combined Authority for a specialist partner able to design and deliver evidence-led reading-fluency interventions in schools. A credible future competitor would need experience of peer-mediated reading aloud, structured literacy improvement and working with secondary pupils who act as trained tutors. It would also need the capacity to coordinate delivery across as many as 20 schools, work with school attainment data, conduct diagnostic assessment and manage intervention and control groups. Relevant capability includes producing sequenced, curriculum-rich reading materials, evaluating programme impact and running in-person launch and networking events. Providers with established education partnerships, practical school-delivery infrastructure and the ability to support consistent implementation across the North East would be well placed for similar demand from this buyer.

## Notice

We propose to extend the North East MSA's current Fast Forward to reading Fluency project into the next Academic Year (2026/27), building upon the success of the current cohort, but narrowing the focus to 20 of our schools that will benefit the most from this approach. Over the past year, work has demonstrated that targeted investment in reading fluency can deliver measurable gains for pupils across the North East. Hundreds of pupils have become more confident, fluent readers, with consistent improvements across standardised assessments. These outcomes matter, not only for attainment, but for pupils' ability to access the full curriculum and improve their life chances. The delivery partner will be expected to design and deliver a peer mediated reading aloud intervention providing: * 20 minute in-school sessions, twice weekly * Carefully sequenced anthologies designed to develop reading fluency, vocabulary and background knowledge * Texts spanning a wide range of curriculum rich domains, including history, geography, science and the arts, supporting both literacy and wider knowledge building * A structured approach to improving reading * Delivery through trained peer tutors, typically Year 10 or Year 12 pupils Schools should be supported to review existing attainment data, and the delivery partner should undertake diagnostic assessment to identify pupils most in need. Each participating school will identify 20 pupils, randomly assigned to: * Intervention group, n equals 10, who receive FFA immediately * Control group, n equals 10, who receive FFA following the trial period The Delivery Partner should have capacity to deliver to up to 20 schools across the North East MSA footprint, and: * Provide an impact study to evaluate the effectiveness of the programme. * Provide an in person introductory session to bring together representatives of participating schools to launch the initiative, and subsequent additional network events.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/076674-2026 |
| Notice type | UK5 - Transparency Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Below threshold - without competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 12 Aug 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 12 Aug 2026 |
| Contract period | 1 Sep 2026 - 30 Jul 2027 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £85,000 |
| 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 | North East Combined Authority |
| Locality | NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE |
| Postcode area | Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Postcode | NE4 5BZ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLC North East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLC4 Northumberland, Durham and Tyne & Wear |
| ITL 3 | TLC43 Tyneside |
| Local authority | Newcastle upon Tyne |
| Electoral ward | Arthur's Hill |
| Westminster constituency | Newcastle upon Tyne Central and West |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | NORTH EAST LEARNING TRUST |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 80 - Education and training services

### Codes

- 80000000 - Education and training services

## Release History

- 12 Aug 2026 at 11:54 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/076674-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/076674-2026
  12th August 2026 - Transparency 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-06e26e. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e26e.json.