---
title: "UK05 - Validation and Review of the Army's Physical Employment Test"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06f5cf"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06f5cf"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f5cf.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06f5cf.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "Ministry of Defence"
published: "2026-09-09"
---

# UK05 - Validation and Review of the Army's Physical Employment Test

Buyer: Ministry of Defence  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06f5cf

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## Summary

The Ministry of Defence is procuring specialist research and validation services to review the Army’s Physical Employment Test, formerly called the Role Fitness Test (Soldier). The work will assess whether the test remains operationally relevant, scientifically valid, legally defensible, proportionate and practical against current military tasks and employment demands. It includes re-validating findings from earlier Army contracts and reviewing the evidence, methodology, technical reports, assumptions and development history underpinning the existing test. The procurement is for services, classified under medical education services. The work is for the Ministry of Defence and relates to the Army’s physical employment assessment arrangements. The requirement is a single lot and is identified as suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises, although the selected supplier is the University of Chichester.

The procurement is complete and the University of Chichester has been selected for the contract. It was awarded through a direct award under the Procurement Act 2023, using the absence of competition for technical reasons route. The Ministry of Defence stated that the university holds the relevant background, technical knowledge, original testing work, research materials and development history, including comparable work for the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and NATO. The award date is 9 September 2026. The gross awarded value is £360,000, including VAT, with a net value of £300,000. The contract period is from 30 September 2026 to 1 April 2028. A contract signature milestone is scheduled for 30 September 2026.

This procurement indicates demand for suppliers able to carry out rigorous occupational fitness and military human-performance research, rather than routine training or general consultancy. A credible competitor for a future requirement would need expertise in designing and validating physical employment tests, analysing evidence against real operational tasks, and producing findings that are scientifically robust, proportionate and legally defensible. Relevant experience with defence organisations, military roles or comparable high-performance employment settings would be valuable, particularly where work involves re-validating established assessment systems. The requirement also shows the importance of being able to manage historic research evidence, methodologies, technical reports, assumptions and development records, and to translate them into a defensible contemporary assessment. Organisations with academic, medical education, exercise science or applied military research capability may be well placed to compete.

## Notice

This requirement is to conduct a validation and review of the Army's Physical Employment Test, formally known as the Role Fitness Test (Soldier), to ensure it remains fit for purpose, evidence-based, and legally defensible.

### Procurement Information

The Ministry of Defence are seeking to place a direct award contract under PA23 with the University of Chichester. The purpose of the contract will be to re-validate the findings produced by University of Chichester under previous Army contracts to determine whether the Army's Physical Employment Test and Role Fitness Test (Soldier) remain operationally relevant, scientifically valid, legally defensible, proportionate, and practicable against contemporary military tasks and employment demands. The University possesses the required background and technical knowledge/experience to undertake the work required and have conducted similar work for the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and NATO. They also conducted the original testing which underpins the current PES and RFT(S) and hold the existing research, methodology, technical reports, assumptions and development history for the requirement. As such the MOD have opted to utilise Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023: Abscence of competition for technical reasons for this procurement.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085460-2026 |
| Notice type | UK5 - Transparency 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 | 9 Sep 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 30 Sep 2026 - 1 Apr 2028 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £300,000 |
| 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 | Ministry of Defence |
| Locality | ANDOVER |
| Postcode area | Salisbury |
| Postcode | SP11 8HJ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLJ South East (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLJ3 Hampshire and Isle of Wight |
| ITL 3 | TLJ36 Central Hampshire |
| Local authority | Test Valley |
| Electoral ward | Andover Millway |
| Westminster constituency | North West Hampshire |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | University of Chichester |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 80 - Education and training services

### Codes

- 80320000 - Medical education services

## Release History

- 9 Sep 2026 at 14:53 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085460-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/085460-2026
  9th September 2026 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## Provenance

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