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 16 September 2021
A discovery and alpha for a service that collects data to generate and disclose an energy rating.
£525,000
- Closed tenderPublished 16 September 2021
ADVICE AND SUPPORT TO SET OUT THE REQUIREMENTS FOR A COMPONENTISED CONTENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
Value not stated
- Closed tenderPublished 14 September 2021
FCDO consular digital services delivery partner
£4,500,000
- Closed tenderPublished 14 September 2021
Senior Interaction Designer
GBP/DAY 600
- Awarded contractPublished 13 September 2021
FutureNHS Discovery/Alpha for platform integration, trend analysis and improved search
£232,668
- Closed tenderPublished 10 September 2021
MHCLG CPD4122122 (reissued) Funding Service Design – User Centred Design copy
£790,000
- Closed tenderPublished 10 September 2021
MHCLG CPD4122006 (reissued) Funding Service Design – Technical Development and Support copy
£1,295,000
- Closed tenderPublished 9 September 2021
Providing Support & Structure to UCD workforce in NHS
£500,000
- Closed tenderPublished 9 September 2021
FutureNHS Discovery/Alpha for Integrated Care Systems
£150,000
- Closed tenderPublished 9 September 2021
Providing Support & Structure to UCD workforce in NHS X
£500,000
- Closed tenderPublished 9 September 2021
Agile Project / Delivery Manager for digital product development and contract management
GBP/DAY 600
- Closed tenderPublished 8 September 2021
New business processes and UI mockups for TNA’s catalogue management system editorial workflow
£99,660
- Closed tenderPublished 8 September 2021
Design, develop and deliver a new, cloud version of the PRONOM web service and file format registry
£105,000
- Expired contractPublished 8 September 2021
Award of User Researcher x 2
Value not stated
- Awarded contractPublished 7 September 2021
DVSA Commercial Vehicle Services Digital Delivery Partner
£7,783,530
- Expired contractPublished 6 September 2021
Provision of Conclave Single Sign On User Researchers
£252,000
- Awarded contractPublished 6 September 2021
Housing Repairs online - Beta phase.
£274,711
- Awarded contractPublished 6 September 2021
Police Landscape Mapping
£3,000,000
- Closed tenderPublished 3 September 2021
Beta development of a Regulated Professions Register (RPR)
£500,000
- Closed tenderPublished 3 September 2021
MHCLG CPD4122072 Digital Planning Reform Support Roles
£900,000
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 2,119 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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