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 27 August 2021
MHCLG CPD4122122 Funding Service Design – User Centred Design
£790,000
- Closed tenderPublished 27 August 2021
Website redesign and research
Value not stated
- Expired contractPublished 27 August 2021
NHS Test & Trace User Research Capability
£1,250,000
- Closed tenderPublished 27 August 2021
MHCLG CPD4122006 Funding Service Design – Technical Development and Support
£1,295,000
- Closed tenderPublished 27 August 2021
Digital Child Health and Digital Maternity - Discovery & Alpha
£4,500,000
- Awarded contractPublished 27 August 2021
Digital capability for urgent MHCLG short-term requirements CPD4122038
£202,400
- Awarded contractPublished 26 August 2021
Better Health programme mobile app development delivery partner
£2,500,000
- Expired contractPublished 26 August 2021
HMCTS Civil, Family and Tribunal User Experience (UX) Services Contract
£5,000,000
- Closed tenderPublished 25 August 2021
User research on NHSX Information Governance Web Pages
£35,000
- Closed tenderPublished 25 August 2021
Discovery and Alpha for the electronic monitoring service
£575,000
- Closed tenderPublished 25 August 2021
Delivery Partner for FCDO Digital and Data Transformation copy
Value not stated
- Closed tenderPublished 25 August 2021
Intranet Alpha
£52,500
- Expired contractPublished 25 August 2021
User Research Participants for HMCTS Reform Programme
£200,000
- Closed tenderPublished 24 August 2021
CMA Public Gateway and other Digital Services
£150,000
- Expired contractPublished 24 August 2021
Certification Programme - Covid Pass - Service Design and Product Owners
£1,150,850
- Closed tenderPublished 24 August 2021
CMA Public Gateway and other Digital Services
£150,000
- Closed tenderPublished 23 August 2021
Provision of Advice and Support to ONS for a Review of ONS Web Estate
Value not stated
- Closed tenderPublished 23 August 2021
Invitation to Tender: CDPS Data AI, Cyber and Cloud Technology
Value not stated
- Closed tenderPublished 23 August 2021
Discovery and delivery of digital and data services related to online food sale and online platforms
£550,000
- Closed tenderPublished 23 August 2021
Technical Roadmapping Exercise For ONS Dissemination
Value not stated
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 2,117 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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