---
title: "Implementing and Testing a Single Unique Identifier for Children within school MIS - Alpha"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-078f1c"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-078f1c"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078f1c.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078f1c.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Planning"
buyer: "Department for Education"
published: "2026-10-27"
---

# Implementing and Testing a Single Unique Identifier for Children within school MIS - Alpha

Buyer: Department for Education  
Current stage: Planning  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-078f1c

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## Summary

The Department for Education plans an Alpha trial of a single unique identifier for children in schools, appointing up to two suppliers of school management information systems (MIS). The work is to integrate participating MIS platforms with the Department’s Get an Identifier service, enabling authorised access to NHS numbers and GP details held by NHS England’s Personal Demographics Service. Suppliers will work with selected schools to design, develop, implement and test the integration in live systems, and support onboarding and operation. Up to 10 schools are expected to participate. The services cover software development, implementation, configuration and consultancy. Delivery is across the United Kingdom.

This is at the planning stage: the Department has signalled its intention to procure, but has not invited tenders or committed to awarding a contract. It expects to use an open competitive procedure. A further notice is expected on 9 November 2026; this is the buyer’s planned publication date, not a bid deadline. The planned contract is from 24 December 2026 to 31 March 2027, with a possible extension to 30 September 2027. The stated total value is £300,000 excluding VAT (£360,000 including VAT); funding is capped at £150,000 excluding VAT per supplier, with up to two suppliers envisaged. There is one lot. The scope, timetable, value and approach may change before tender publication.

The work is suited to established school MIS providers able to integrate their platforms with a Department-hosted service and support implementation in live school environments. A key eligibility condition is an active contractual relationship with schools as their core MIS supplier, including processing pupil demographic data for those schools under that contract; suppliers that do not meet it will be excluded. Participants will need to support schools through recruitment, onboarding and testing, resolve defects, and undertake NHS England onboarding, security and assurance activities. The Department is seeking evidence on feasibility, delivery complexity, supplier readiness, operational impact, user value, costs and scalability. Suppliers should be prepared to gather and report technical, operational and user evidence, including costs, timescales, data quality, match and error rates, technical barriers, and indicative plans for possible wider rollout.

## Notice

The Department for Education intends to undertake a competitive procurement to appoint up to two school Management Information System suppliers to participate in the Alpha phase of the Single Unique Identifier programme. The Alpha will test the integration of participating suppliers' Management Information System platforms with the Department for Education-hosted Get an Identifier service. This will enable authorised access to retrieve NHS numbers and GP details obtained through NHS England's Personal Demographics Service. Each supplier will be expected to support the recruitment and participation of existing school customers, with up to 10 schools participating across the Alpha. Suppliers will work with selected schools to plan, develop, implement, onboard, test and support the required capability within live school Management Information System environments. The required services are expected to include: * designing and developing the required system integration; * completing relevant NHS England onboarding, security and assurance activities; * supporting participating schools through onboarding and testing; * resolving defects and supporting operation during the Alpha; * collecting technical, operational and user evidence; * reporting on implementation effort, costs, timescales, data quality, match rates, error rates and technical barriers; and * producing indicative roadmaps, costs, assumptions and implementation considerations for any potential future national rollout. The Alpha is intended to generate evidence on technical feasibility, implementation complexity, supplier readiness, operational impact, user value, costs and scalability. The findings will inform future decisions concerning any subsequent Beta phase or wider national implementation. The Department expects to appoint up to two suppliers, with funding of up to PS150,000 excluding VAT available per supplier. This pipeline notice provides advance information only. It does not commence a procurement process and does not constitute a commitment by the Department for Education to award a contract. The scope, dates, value and procurement approach may be amended before publication of a tender notice. Essential eligibility criterion: Suppliers must have an active contractual relationship with schools as their core MIS supplier and must process pupil demographic data on behalf of those schools under that contract. Suppliers that do not meet this requirement will be excluded from the procurement.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/101402-2026 |
| Notice type | UK1 - Pipeline Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure |
| Tender suitability | SME, VCSE |
| Awardee scale | Not specified |
| All stages | Planning |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 27 Oct 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | 9 Nov 2026 |
| Award date | Not specified |
| Contract period | 24 Dec 2026 - 31 Mar 2027 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £300,000 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Department for Education |
| Locality | LONDON |
| Postcode area | South West London |
| Postcode | SW1P 3BT |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLI London |
| ITL 2 | TLI3 Inner London - West |
| ITL 3 | TLI35 Westminster and City of London |
| Local authority | Westminster |
| Electoral ward | St James's |
| Westminster constituency | Cities of London and Westminster |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 72262000 - Software development services
- 72263000 - Software implementation services
- 72265000 - Software configuration services
- 72266000 - Software consultancy services

## Release History

- 27 Oct 2026 at 10:56 - PlanningUpdate - UK1 - Pipeline Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/101402-2026
- 23 Oct 2026 at 14:11 - Planning - UK1 - Pipeline Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/100538-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/101402-2026
  27th October 2026 - Pipeline notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/100538-2026
  23rd October 2026 - Pipeline 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-078f1c. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-078f1c.json.