Education and training services

Tender description

This PIN is to notify the market that the Department intends to issue an Invitation to Tender (ITT) for NTP P2 in early February 2021. The NTP aims to deliver high quality tutoring services to schools to support disadvantaged pupils. NTP P2 will provide for the provision of tutoring services to schools from 1 September 2021. The Department will be holding a market engagement event on 18 January 2021 to present its vision for NTP P2, and provide an engagement opportunity for interested suppliers. The Department would encourage the attendance of suppliers or consortia interested in the role of Prime Delivery Partner for NTP P2, or from suppliers who may be interested in delivering either of the pillars (detail below) of the NTP individually as either a subcontractor or part of a consortium. The department is especially interested in suppliers with experience of similar scale delivery in education settings. To register go to www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ntp-phase-2-tickets-133863869437 The NTP was launched in November 2020 to address the impact of Covid-19 on the educational outcomes of disadvantaged children. Evidence shows that tutoring is one of the most effective tools to support learning, and the NTP was setup to leverage that tool by providing schools with access to high quality, cost-effective tutoring services (National Tutoring Programme | NTP). Procurement of Phase 2 of the NTP is currently slated to begin in early February 2021. For NTP P2, the Department intends to seek the services of a Prime Delivery Partner (PDP) who will deliver all outputs described below: 1) Pillar 1: ‘Tutoring Partners’, for which the PDP shall: (a) establish and maintain a panel of high quality tutoring suppliers, ensuring that tutoring provision for schools is quality-assured and of a high standard; (b) agree with tutoring suppliers their cost rates for the provision of tutoring services to schools; (c) monitor performance of all tutoring suppliers (by gathering feedback from schools etc) and manage under-performance by tutoring suppliers; (d) administer programme cashflows in accordance with an agreed budget profile, including administration of the NTP subsidy to the cost of tutoring provision; (e) develop the market, including establishing national coverage by addressing cold spots, while aiming to build an enduring legacy of quality mentoring and tutoring provision; (f) build and develop a digital platform to enable schools to quickly and easily call-off tutoring services and which monitors demand for and confirmation of the delivery of, tutoring services; 2) Pillar 2: ‘Academic Mentors’, for which the PDP shall: (a) recruit suitably qualified and experienced people wanting to work as academic mentors; (b) provide training to those recruited to ensure they meet minimum quality standards; (c) match and place Academic Mentors with schools in the most disadvantaged areas to provide intensive support to pupils. The PDP shall provide programme governance and reporting on all activities undertaken under either pillar of the NTP, and monitor the effectiveness of the NTP as a whole in supporting schools to narrow the disadvantage gap. In addition, the PDP shall adopt a ‘One NTP’ approach, ensuring a flexible, joined-up approach, and a single point of contact for schools and the Department for the NTP. The advertised value of this PIN is for year one (academic year 2021/22) of NTP P2 only. A further 2 years of the NTP are planned but are subject to the outcome of future Spending Reviews. The NTP P2 ITT will be advertised via both the find a tender service and Contracts Finder in February 2021 and will be managed via the Department’s Jaggaer e-Procurement platform. Suppliers will need to register on Jaggaer in order to access this opportunity.