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 23 August 2022
CDEI Algorithmic Transparency Standard Repository; Discovery and Alpha Phase
- Closed tenderPublished 23 August 2022
CDEI Algorithmic Transparency Standard Repository; Discovery and Alpha Phase
- Expired contract
Further competition for the provision of a Discovery Service
- Awarded contract
Adult Social Care Workforce Data Set (ASC-WDS) Live
- Closed tenderPublished 18 August 2022
Technical Architecture Capability
- Closed tenderPublished 18 August 2022
Apprenticeships Digital Development, principal analysis across digital service build
- Expired contract
Unmoderated Usability Testing for GDS
- Closed tenderPublished 17 August 2022
The design, build and development of a website to support our innovation, research and data offer
- Expired contract
Con_15307: User Research Participants: Recruitment and Incentive Payments
- Closed tenderPublished 17 August 2022
The design, build and development of a website to support our innovation, research and data offer
- Stale Pre-tenderPublished 16 August 2022
Smart Data Challenge Prize Design Research
- Awarded contract
Data Science Services – Project Delivery and User Centred Design Services
- Awarded contract
Project Titan: Enter Learning Data & Verified Credentials
- Awarded contract
User Research Capability
- Expired contract
User Research Capability con_15837
- Closed tenderPublished 12 August 2022
Refer and Monitor
- Expired contract
Award of Digital - User Research Recruitment Partner
- Closed tenderPublished 11 August 2022
Provision of Digital Marketing Services to the University of Birmingham
- Closed tenderPublished 9 August 2022
GB-Bath: GW4 Alliance Website User Research and Development Project
- Closed tenderPublished 9 August 2022
704787450-Project KALEIDOSCOPE -Delivering international information advantage and decision support
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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