---
title: "Education Network for Northern Ireland - \"Education Network (NI)\""
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0788dd"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0788dd"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0788dd.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0788dd.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "Education Authority NI"
published: "2026-10-15"
---

# Education Network for Northern Ireland - "Education Network (NI)"

Buyer: Education Authority NI  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0788dd

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## Summary

The Education Authority (EA) is continuing education network and IT services for schools in Northern Ireland. The wider service covers managed ICT infrastructure for post-primary and special schools, connectivity and online services for educational establishments, and systems supporting school administration, teaching and learning. The proposed continuity work is narrower: continued NovaT6 timetabling software licences and support for up to 193 post-primary schools, with an option to transfer the licence to the EA. The service includes software implementation and support (CPV 72263000). Existing systems have been configured for the EA’s requirements. The EA says the wider managed-service transition has been disrupted after the replacement provider’s contract was terminated; some services are moving to a service management provider, while procurement of a new managed service provider is under way. Delivery is across Northern Ireland.

The process is recorded as complete, and the contract modification has been awarded to Capita Managed IT Solutions. This is a limited, non-competitive modification to the existing contract, made without a prior call for competition; the EA relies on the modification being non-substantial and permitted by the contract. The stated contract value is £721 million. The modification covers continued NovaT6 licences and associated support for up to 193 post-primary schools for one additional year, from 1 April 2029 to 31 March 2030, plus an option to novate the licence to the EA at any time. The wider contract began on 1 April 2012 and had previously been extended to 31 March 2027, with two further one-year extension options through 31 March 2029. The award is active; the contract is also recorded as active.

For suppliers targeting future education-network work with the EA, this award shows demand for integrated, configured ICT services across Northern Ireland’s schools, including network infrastructure, connectivity, online services and school-management systems. The immediate continuity requirement depends on maintaining the existing NovaT6 timetable service and supporting its established users, configurations, data and interfaces while a wider service transition proceeds. A credible competitor would need the ability to sustain a live education service without disruption, provide specialist software licensing and support, and work with school systems and existing technical arrangements. The wider requirement also calls for capacity to manage and maintain ICT infrastructure and deliver services to post-primary and special schools as well as online provision for educational establishments. Experience in complex, multi-school managed services and controlled migration between providers would be directly relevant.

## Notice

The purpose of this VEAT notice is to give prior notice to the market that the Education Authority ("EA") intends to modify the Contract. The EA considers this is a modification under Regulation 72(1)(e) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015. The modification is not substantial.

### Lot Information

Lot 1

The supply of a broad range of computer and related services (including, without limitation, on-going management, operation and maintenance services), information technology consultancy services and the supply of computer hardware, software and associated products.The overall scope of the services can be summarised as follows: -- a fully integrated end to end service to meet the management/administration and learning/teaching needs of educational establishments, -- ICT infrastructure and associated services for post primary and special educational establishments, -- connectivity to, and provision of a range of online services for all educational establishments. The systems and services provided via the current contract have been uniquely configured to reflect the varying requirements of the Education Authority.

Options: 2 x 1 year additional optional extensions.

### Procurement Information

The EA entered into the Education Network (Northern Ireland) contract with Northgate Managed Services limited (subsequently Capita IT Solutions Limited) on 6 March 2012 (the "Contract" and "Contractor"). The Contract originally commenced on 1 April 2012 and has subsequently been modified, including through the modifications identified in notices - 2019/S 046-106361, 2022/S 000-006649, 2024/S 000-006005 and 2025/S000-009957.The modification identified in the modification notice 2025/S000-012429 provided for a contract extension until 31/03/2027 with a further 2 x 1 year additional extension options until 31/03/2029.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/097633-2026 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 15 Oct 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £721,000,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| 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 | Capita Managed IT Solutions |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

### Codes

- 72263000 - Software implementation services

## Release History

- 15 Oct 2026 at 16:18 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/097633-2026

## Notice URLs

- https://etendersni.gov.uk/epps
- https://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:085884-2012:TEXT:EN:HTML
- https://www.capita-mits.co.uk/

## 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-0788dd. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0788dd.json.