Education and training services

Tender description

This contract is for the Teacher Recruitment Support Service (TRSS), an advisory service that supports both candidates to apply to initial teacher training (ITT) and teachers to return to the profession. The Provider will offer a personalised service based on the specific needs of each enquirer, to be delivered through inbound calls, webchats, outbound calls, one-to-one advisory services, and via an email and SMS CRM programme. Each enquirer will be encouraged to convert their initial interest in teaching to an application for teacher training or returning to teaching. The service will provide information on routes into initial teacher training and returning to teaching, and recommend activities that may increase the chance of a successful application. The service requirements may change over time in response to Government policy. Estimated value exc VAT: 9 000 000 GBP to 12 000 000 GBP across the 3 year primary contract term (15 000 000 GBP to 20 000 000 GBP including any extension period). The National College for Teaching and Leadership (NCTL) is an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Education (DfE). Its purpose is to improve the quality of the education and early years workforce and to help schools to help each other improve. NCTL is responsible for ensuring that enough high quality trainees enter initial teacher training (ITT) and early years teacher training to meet the needs of the sector. It also supports qualified teachers returning to the profession or those who have been awarded qualified teacher status and not gone into teaching. The new contract. NCTL is seeking one national provider (or consortium) to support and motivate people to enter teaching careers, either through ITT or through returning to the profession, by providing: — A first point of contact and advice for anyone interested in a teaching career, via telephone and webchat. — One-to-one support from dedicated advisors for eligible candidates who want to train to teach shortage subjects. — A targeted advisory service for qualified teachers looking to return to the profession in designated subjects. — A database of those who have registered their interest in training or returning to teaching. NCTL will issue targeted emails and request outbound calls to registered candidates as part of its marketing campaign, delivered through the service provider. — Support for the School Experience Programme (SEP) through an online portal that gives potential trainee teachers easy access to schools offering classroom experience. — Social media support for NCTL recruitment and marketing activity, responding to online enquiries and encouraging candidates to register with the service. — Support to school leaders for applications to become designated as a Teaching School or System Leader The service will give NCTL a means of providing accurate, impartial and consistent messages about ITT and teaching; this enables candidates to then explore which ITT provider or school they wish to apply to. It also enables NCTL to highlight government priorities and messaging to drive teacher recruitment, particularly in shortage subjects. The indicative value range for the primary contract term (3 years) is 9 000 000 GBP to 12 000 000 GBP inclusive of all expenses but exclusive of VAT. It is anticipated that the contract would be awarded in June 2016, with delivery of the contract commencing from 1.9.2016. The primary term would run from September 2016 to August 2019. Subject to satisfactory contractor performance; ministerial agreement; and availability of funding, there will be an option to extend the contract for up to 2 academic years. Any extension would run from September 2019 to August 2020 for 1 year, and from September 2020 to August 2021 for a further year. The service is provided to support candidates who are interested in applying for teacher training at English training providers and schools, and teachers who are looking to return to the English state school sector. This includes taking enquiries from candidates who are not domiciled in England. The service does not support recruitment to teacher training outside of England. The annual volume of people using the service is high; detailed indicative volumes are listed in the Specification document. Channel Indicative volumes Inbound Calls 81 000 Decision Maker Contacts 61 000 Webchats Handled 34 000 The service makes an important contribution to boosting the number of successful applicants in shortage subject areas. From September 2014 to August 2015 it enabled 4 027 candidates to gain school experience prior to submitting an application to ITT. Over the same period, one-to-one advisors supported 7 761 candidates in hard to fill subjects. NCTL will be looking for innovative proposals in line with government expectations in securing greater value for money.