Education and training services

Tender description

The Department for Education is considering undertaking a procurement exercise to find a supplier(s) to implement an Alpha project for online training that will form part of the National Retraining Scheme. This would mean working with DfE to build, test and iterate a prototype(s) of online learning and the related service for the Scheme’s users. DfE wishes to invite potential service providers to an early market engagement Webinar. We wish to learn from potential service providers and explore market potential, appetite and best practice. At the event the Department will outline its aims and objectives for online training. This event will be an opportunity for potential service providers to share their opinion and expertise on how we could deliver the scheme’s online training alpha and to help the Department to understand how its aims could be achieved. We are interested in organisations (including consortia and partnerships) that have expertise and experience across all of the following essential areas: — pedagogy and learning design (particularly for adults with low to medium skills [from entry level to level 5]), — user research and service design, including passing relevant Government Digital Service assessments, — learning management system design and optimisation, — learning technology use and design, — working in an agile user-centred approach and through agile project/product management. We will not accept requests for invite from organisations where both of the following are true: (a) they do not have experience across all of these essential areas individually; (b) they are unwilling to form a partnership or consortia to cover all of these essential areas collectively. We would also be interested in organisations (including consortia and partnerships) with pedagogical and learning design expertise in the context of adult basic skills (English, Maths and Digital) but this is not essential. We will support organisations who are interested in potential delivery through consortia or partnerships to join up and consider how they might bid to deliver. The Department is committed to delivery through agile methodologies for all digital outputs. This is in line with the Government Digital Service. We would like to apply agile Alpha methodology for any potential next stage. This would involve further user testing in order to iteratively build a prototype training product that meets the needs of National Retraining Scheme’s users in, for instance, the following areas: — learning design — content, media, pedagogical approach, (formative) assessment, etc., — tutor support — intensity, level of sychronousness, delivery channel, cost effectiveness, etc., — learning technology use and design, — implications for requirements of a Learning Management System, — integration with the broader national retraining service. It is expected that the successful supplier(s) would be required to take the service through a GDS Alpha assessment. We are keen to hear from organisations who can work in consortium or partnership to meet the range of inputs to the deliverables we need. We would encourage organisations of any size with the necessary expertise to come to our event. We anticipate that any successful provider(s) may start to deliver in spring/summer 2019 and that delivery will last approximately 12 weeks (which will include any relevant service assessment). The indicative estimated value range will be between 500 000 GBP to 1 000 000 GBP including VAT. Background: The National Retraining Scheme is an ambitious, far-reaching programme to drive adult retraining, in order to respond to changes in the economy and support people to redirect their careers and secure the high-paid, high-skilled jobs of the future. At the 2018 autumn budget, the Government announced 100 000 000 GBP of new funding to continue testing and development of the National Retraining Scheme, which will give individuals the skills they need to progress in work, redirect their careers and secure the high-paid, high-skilled jobs of the future. This will include state-of-the-art courses combining online learning with traditional classroom teaching to help people develop key transferable skills.