Education and training services

Tender description

The Secretary of State for Education, through the Department for Education (‘the Authority’) is undertaking a procurement to appoint a contractor to deliver a single national (England) contract (the ‘Contract’), for the provision of the high potential initial teacher training and leadership development programme (‘the Programme’). The contract will require recruitment of and delivery of teacher training to two cohorts (the ‘2022 Cohort’ and the ‘2023 Cohort’) of high-quality graduates and career changers. The contractor will be required to commence the recruitment activities for the 2022 Cohort on or before October 2021. The initial contract period shall commence on the date on which the contractor begins to deliver the services and shall expire in October 2025, subject to earlier termination in accordance with the provisions of the contract with an option, at the authority’s discretion, to extend the contract for a further period or periods of up to a maximum of 24 months in duration. The authority is seeking to appoint a contractor to deliver a single national contract for the provision of the Programme. The Programme aims to support the Government’s ambition that all schools in England must have access to high-quality teachers, especially those schools serving disadvantaged areas, by recruiting and developing high-quality graduates and career changers (Participants) who might not otherwise have considered teaching or working in a school serving economically disadvantaged pupils. These participants will supplement the supply of new teachers into primary and secondary schools and early years settings serving low income communities, with high numbers of disadvantaged and low attaining pupils (Eligible Schools). The Programme is intended to attract participants with a 2:1 degree or above into teaching and place them in Eligible Schools. The contractor is expected to provide a Programme that will successfully compete with other high profile and well-respected graduate recruitment Programmes and to attract participants into teaching. Participants will be employed to fill vacancies, undertake employment-based initial teacher training and contribute to the schools’ overall improvement. The key objectives of the Programme are to: • recruit the best and brightest graduates and career changers who have the potential to be highly skilled teachers and leaders and who would be otherwise unlikely to join the profession or work in an Eligible School; • train them to be highly skilled teachers and emerging leaders and fill teacher vacancies at Eligible Schools in England to help close the attainment gap between deprived pupils and their peers. The Programme should also prepare, support, inspire and encourage participants to consider the range of career progression pathways in education and promote the longer-term benefits of progressing a career in teaching or education sector. The contractor is required to design and develop a high-quality and innovative Programme to deliver the following services which are described further in the procurement documents: • attraction of candidates, • candidate recruitment and selection, • initial teacher training, • leadership development, • participant retention and ongoing support, • school recruitment and placements, • contractor management information, • programme evaluation, • continuous improvement, • data management and security, • contractor performance management, • contractor assurance, • implementation and resourcing, • demobilisation and exit Planning. The authority expects to award the contract at the end of March 2021, with the activities to attract, recruit and select candidates for the Programme to commence on or before October 2021. The two cohorts shall commence the training element of the Programme as follows: • the 2022 Cohort shall start year 1 of the Programme by the 30 September 2022 and year 2 of the Programme by 30 September 2023; and • the 2023 Cohort shall start year 1 of the Programme by 30 September 2023 and year 2 of the Programme by 30 September 2024. The 2022 Cohort shall complete the Programme by August 2024 and the 2023 Cohort by August 2025. The authority anticipates that contract exit activity for the initial contract period shall be completed by October 2025. The estimated contract value of the contract (including any possible extension period) is anticipated to be one hundred and sixty-four million eight hundred thousand pounds (GBP 164 800 000) (excluding VAT). Further detail in relation to the estimated contract value of the contract is set out in the introduction and overview of the procurement document. The estimated total contract value set out in this notice is not guaranteed and is based on the best information available to the authority at this time. Interested organisations are referred to the procurement documents for further information on the description of the procurement, the contract and the authority’s needs and requirements.