Career Changer Programme 2022 and 2023 Cohorts

Tender description

The Secretary of State for Education, through the Department for Education (the Authority) has undertaken a procurement to appoint a contractor to deliver a single national (England) contract (the "Contract"), for the provision of the Career Changer Programme ("the Programme"). The Contract will require recruitment of and delivery of transitional support to two cohorts (the "2022 Cohort" and the "2023 Cohort") of career changers. 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 of up to a maximum of 12 months in duration. Lot 1: The Government believes that all pupils, regardless of birth or background, should receive an excellent education wherever they are. Central to this is ensuring all schools throughout England have access to high quality teachers. The Programme will secure a stream of highly experienced career changers into teaching and contribute to the age diversity of new entrants to Initial Teacher Training (ITT). The contractor will attract, recruit and support experienced career changers who have a substantial career, significant previous employment and industry experience and might not otherwise have considered teaching. The contractor will design and develop a national (England) programme that will support participants to make a successful transition into teaching, provide added value in the schools where they are placed drawing on their prior experience and expertise and retain participants in the profession once trained. The key objectives of the Programme are to: - Attract, recruit, support and retain experienced career changers who would not otherwise have joined the profession, into priority subject vacancies in secondary schools throughout England. - Support experienced career changers to realise their potential in regard to the added value they can bring into schools. The Contractor will not be expected to deliver ITT. The solution will wrap around an existing ITT course leading to Qualified Teacher Status delivered by an accredited ITT provider. The Contractor is required to design, develop, and deliver a high quality and bespoke Programme to deliver the following services: - Attraction of Candidates - Candidate Recruitment and Selection - Participant Placement - Participant Retention and Ongoing Support - Contractor Management Information - Programme Evaluation - Continuous Improvement - Data Management and Security - Contractor Performance Management - Contractor Assurance - Implementation and Resourcing - Demobilisation and Exit Planning The Contract will require recruitment of and delivery of transitional support to two cohorts (the "2022 Cohort" and the "2023 Cohort") of career changers. The two cohorts shall commence the training element of the Programme as follows: - The 2022 cohort to start Year 1 of the Programme in September 2022 and Year 2 of the Programme, employed as a newly qualified teacher, by September 2023; and - The 2023 cohort to start Year 1 of the Programme in September 2023 and Year 2 of the Programme, employed as a newly qualified teacher by 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.