---
title: "ID 1032027/L8 Legal Services for Strategic Partner Services & School Management System Solution Project"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0774c7"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0774c7"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0774c7.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0774c7.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "Education Authority NI"
published: "2026-09-17"
---

# ID 1032027/L8 Legal Services for Strategic Partner Services & School Management System Solution Project

Buyer: Education Authority NI  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0774c7

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## Summary

The Education Authority procured legal services for its Strategic Partner Services and School Management System Solution project. The requirement covers legal advice and support for a complex strategic procurement exercise, including guidance on the procurement environment, associated risks and the development of critical work. It is a services contract in the legal services category (CPV 79100000), structured as one lot under Lot 8 of the CPD Legal Services Framework. The Education Authority is based at Academy Street in Belfast. The selected provider, Carson McDowell LLP, is also based in Belfast and is recorded as an SME. The work supports the Authority’s strategic partner services and school management system solution activity in Northern Ireland.

The procurement has been awarded and the contract is active. Carson McDowell LLP was selected under a call-off from Lot 8 of the CPD Legal Services Framework. The award was made on 24 August 2026 and the contract is valued at £1,850,000. The contract period runs from 10 January 2027 to 31 March 2028. The arrangement is a modification and extension of an existing legal services contract, with an additional £462,500 added to support the ongoing procurement. The modification was made under Regulation 72(1)(b) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The Authority states that changing supplier was not technically possible because of the provider’s established knowledge and that doing so would have caused loss of expertise, disruption and duplicated costs.

This opportunity demonstrates demand for experienced public procurement lawyers able to support complex, high-value strategic procurements involving public-sector services and technology solutions. A credible competitor would need a strong understanding of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, framework call-offs, contract modifications and the legal risks affecting major procurement exercises. The requirement also favours teams able to provide continuity, timely advice and practical support through multiple procurement stages, including pre-qualification and subsequent tender activity. Relevant experience would include advising public authorities on procurement strategy, supplier transition risks, contract extensions, regulatory compliance and the interaction between legal advice and project delivery. The incumbent’s value came from accumulated knowledge of the requirement, so future competitors would need to demonstrate comparable sector experience, senior legal capability and the capacity to support a sustained strategic programme.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Provision of legal services for the Strategic Partner Services and School Management System Solution project.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/088373-2026 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Not Specified |
| Procurement method details | Not specified |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 17 Sep 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 10 Jan 2027 - 31 Mar 2028 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £1,850,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Not specified |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Education Authority NI |
| Locality | BELFAST |
| Postcode area | Northern Ireland |
| Postcode | BT1 2NQ |
| Country | Northern Ireland |
| ITL 1 | TLN Northern Ireland |
| ITL 2 | TLN0 Northern Ireland |
| ITL 3 | TLN06 Belfast |
| Local authority | Belfast |
| Electoral ward | Duncairn |
| Westminster constituency | Belfast North |
| Delivery location | TLN Northern Ireland |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | Carson McDowell LLP |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 79100000 - Legal services

## Release History

- 17 Sep 2026 at 16:24 - AwardUpdate - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/088373-2026

## Notice URLs

- https://carson-mcdowell.com/
- https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
- https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:297736-2017:TEXT:EN:HTML

## 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-0774c7. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0774c7.json.