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
- Closed tenderPublished 8 March 2023
Community Accommodation Digital Services
- Closed tenderPublished 7 March 2023
DWP Identity Content Designer
- Expired contract
Award of SGDP 2022/24 - Interim Senior User Researcher
- Awarded contract
(NU/1589-78) National Innovation Centre for Ageing Platform
- Closed tenderPublished 3 March 2023
DWP Senior Agile Delivery Manager 4
- Expired contract
User Research Participants - External Recruitment
- Closed tenderPublished 3 March 2023
DWP Senior Agile Delivery Manager 3
- Expired contract
WP2120
- Open tenderPublished 1 March 2023
Digital Technology and Cyber Services Dynamic Purchasing System
- Closed tenderPublished 1 March 2023
DWP User Researcher Accessibility Technologies
- Awarded contract
(NU/1589-78) National Innovation Centre for Ageing Platform
- Closed tenderPublished 1 March 2023
DWP USS User Researcher
- Awarded contract
National Biosurveillance Network Discovery (Ref C113285)
- Closed tenderPublished 24 February 2023
Social care data access project, user needs discovery - BC16292
- Awarded contract
UK Export Finance - Digital, Data and User Centred Design Support
- Closed tenderPublished 23 February 2023
Designing Data Stewardship Models for Artificial Intelligence (AI) R&D
- Expired contract
Provision of Content Improvement - STA
- Expired contract
WP2094 Recruitment of User Research Participants
- Awarded contract
C21938 Centre for Digital Design (CDD) – Product Centricity Transformation Partner
- Awarded contract
BEIS 281022AG Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) web solution
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 2,132 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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