Researcher Tenders
See open user research tenders and awarded contracts for the UK public sector.
User research reaches the market two ways: as a standalone commission for research, usability testing or participant recruitment, and as a named workstream inside a larger digital delivery contract. Stotles tracks 4,691 notices on this topic, 1,959 of them awarded and 76 sitting at pre-tender.
Departments, councils, NHS bodies and public broadcasters all buy it, usually to meet the GDS service standard. Volume is thin: expect a couple of notices a week, so the awarded records are where the pattern shows.
4,672 results
- Awarded contract
FCA Market Research Framework
- Closed tenderPublished 15 May 2024
Operations Infrastructure Group (OIG) Portfolio - User Centred Design Services
- Closed tenderPublished 10 May 2024
Strategic Data Transformation Programme - User Centred Design Services
- Closed tenderPublished 8 May 2024
RM1043.8-1-Cabinet Office - FSET Recruitment Platform Development and Enhancement - Lot 2
- Expired contract
GOV.UK Brand Refresh User Research
- Awarded contract
Consultancy Panels 2
- Expired contract
HMPO User Labs for Customer Research
- Expired contract
Provision of Research Participant Recruitment Agency for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
- Awarded contract
Participant Recruitment for DWP Digital Modernisation
- Awarded contract
Zetaview
- Expired contract
UC User research participants
- Awarded contract
Award of RoS - SG Professional Temporary and Interim Staff - Senior User Researcher - HMR (Bid ID...
- Closed tenderPublished 19 April 2024
Data Science Services – Project Delivery and User Centred Design Services
- Stale Pre-tenderPublished 19 April 2024
Strategic software developer and infrastructure partner/s to support regional digital transformation in Greater Manchester
- Expired contract
Provision of Digital Content Support
- Expired contract
Research into the Package Travel and Linked Travel Arrangements Regulations 2018 (PTRs)
- Expired contract
con_24724-Improving social worker experience of the Child Protection Information Sharing service (CP-IS)
- Closed tenderPublished 15 April 2024
UKEB website redevelopment project (Discovery Phase)
- Expired contract
User Research Participants
- Closed tenderPublished 10 April 2024
Teaching Workforce: Software development, security and data architecture
Frequently asked questions
Frequently asked questions about user research, usability testing, design research, user insight, user experience research, ux research, research participant recruitment in the UK public sector.
How do I find user research contracts in the UK public sector?
Two routes. Watch the portals for live notices, or get in earlier by following the buyers who keep commissioning this work. Stotles pulls notices from 100+ portals into one feed, so a research brief published on a Welsh or Scottish portal sits next to a Find a Tender notice. Platform-wide, 0 notices were added in the last seven days and 2,137 are open across every topic.
What sort of user research work do public sector buyers tender for?
Four recognisable shapes in the recent sample: participant recruitment agencies, usability testing on a service being rebuilt, research and design people supplied into a multidisciplinary team, and licences for a user research platform. Recruitment is the most self-contained of them, and the one most often let as a contract of its own.
What CPV codes are used for user research tenders?
There is no dedicated code, which is why this page filters on keywords rather than classifications. The three that come up most alongside the filter are 73110000 (Research services) with 125 matching notices, 79315000 (Social research services) with 43, and 72000000 (IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support) with 257. That last one is the tell: plenty of this work is procured as digital delivery rather than as research.
How many user research tenders are open right now?
Six, against 4,691 notices on record and 1,959 already awarded. That is the honest shape of the topic: a small live pipeline and a long award history. Read the awarded notices anyway. They carry the buyer, the incumbent and the contract dates you would need to time a bid for the retender. Platform-wide, 0 award notices were published in the last seven days.
Is user research bought through frameworks?
Often. The recent sample includes call-offs under the Crown Commercial Service RM6126 Research & Insights agreement and briefs run through the Digital Outcomes route, alongside notices published straight to a portal. Stotles' 2026 Supplier Benchmark Report found 44% of suppliers treat frameworks as their main route to market, so check which agreements a buyer already holds before chasing an open notice.
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