Education tenders and the rise of virtual learning

COVID-19 has led to an increase in education tenders thanks to the digitisation of education.

Last year saw the UK government prioritising investment into education and upskilling workers. This is a trend that’s set to continue well into 2021. Here are a few reasons why:

Increased government funding

Britain’s education sector remains one of its most lucrative. The estimated revenue of the industry in 2020 was around £43.6 billion. Moreover, funding for schools is set to increase by £7.1 billion by 2022 – 2023.

It isn’t just school children who will reap the benefits from this boost in spending. The government are increasing investment across the whole educational board. This includes funding for traineeships, adult learning and digital skills bootcamps.

Core funding will be assigned in the following areas of the education sector in 2021 – 2022:

• £1.4 billion to education funding. Including funding to help children catch up on lost learning in schools.
• £291 million for Further Education. This ensures core funding for 16 – 19-year-olds.
• £300 million for school facilities for children with disabilities and special educational needs.
• £2.5 billion for apprenticeships and further improvements for employers, including upskilling.
• £375 million from the National Skills Fund (NSF).

The rise in demand for virtual learning

It’s no surprise that online learning has seen a significant increase over the last decade with the rise of technology. Particularly more so over the last 12 months. The pandemic has forced educational institutions to adapt and adjust to digitisation. Schools, universities and companies have found themselves forced into remote learning, with little to no say in the matter.

Although some might see this as a negative, the plus side is the increase in technology tenders and education tenders. It has become apparent that there is a digital skills shortage. This has become apparent to the government, leading them to invest in digital boot camps. Further investments are also being made into skills training that’s tailored to local communities.

Digital Bootcamps

A recent trend for education tenders is the rise of digital bootcamps. The reason the government is pumping all this money into upskilling local communities is to aid the recovery of COVID-19. The Department for Education (DfE) hopes that investing in educational tenders will get Britain on the road to recovery. With added benefits of aiding the unemployment crisis. They hope 75% of trainees move into a new job or role within six months of completion of training.

The DfE recently launched a massive £36 million tender from the NSF. Two lots worth £18 million each are up for grabs. They’re looking for a flexible training model of digital or technical training. The first lot for digital skills bootcamps in nine regions of England. The second lot will award a number of contracts on a local or national level for technical bootcamps based on demand. Its aims are to meet the skills shortages and needs of local areas and it’s set to start this May. Both are set to last one year, with the possibility of a one-year extension. This is just one recent example of the millions of pounds being pumped into the education sector.

The National Skills Fund also publishes education tenders. They help fund:

• Technical courses for adults that are equivalent to A-levels.
• Employer-led bootcamp training models.
• Traineeships and the National Careers Service.
• Innovative models for local collaboration between skills providers and employers.

They aren’t the only businesses putting out educational contracts.

Here are some more examples past education tenders we have sourced on our Consultancy Tenders portal: 

Tenders Sought For Online Mindfulness Tutor

Relatives For Justice- Northern Ireland- Budget: Undisclosed

01-01-2021

ED-SEND-Independent Non Maintained School Placement Request 853403AS & 511286BN

Bristol City Council- South West- Budget: £480,000

23-12-2020

Primary care training and education on diabetes

Nhs Lewisham Clinical Group- South East- Budget: Undisclosed

22-12-2020

Framework for Spot Purchasing of Activities For Adults With A Learning Disability In Tower Hamlets

Tower Hamlets- London- Budget: Undisclosed

14-12-2020

Alternative Education Provision Request For Information (RFI)

Buckinghamshire Council- South East- Budget: Undisclosed

21-12-2020

APM UK – call for Delivery Partners

Ingeus- London- Budget: £5,000

08-12-2020

Are you just starting to bid for education tenders?

If so, we’re happy to help you get started!

Tendering for education contracts requires a fair bit of preparation. You should consider if you have enough relevant experience and start building up your case studies. The best place to start when tendering is to find contracts on Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) or framework agreements. These are both multi-supplier setups, usually open to smaller contractors. This allows small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to build up their experience. Once you’ve got these banked, you’ll be able to progress to single provider contracts.

Looking for further support with education tenders?

Need support to boost your chances of winning education contacts? Our dedicated team of experienced bid writers at Hudson Succeed can take the burden out of bid writing. With over 40 years of experience and an 87% success rate, you can trust them with your bid. Leaving you time to focus on your business.

They provide four levels of writing support to maximise your bidding success. Whether you’re new to the tendering process or have tendered before, they have a service tailored to your needs:

• Prepare to tender with Tender Ready.
• Outsource a bid with Tender Writing.
• Improve your success rate with Tender Improvement.
• Get feedback on your current bid with Tender Mentor.

Get in touch to learn how you can succeed with us.

Education tenders are one of the most popular types of tenders on our portal.

Consultancy Tenders

Consultancy Tenders streamlines the tendering process to save you valuable time when finding education tenders.

Benefits of becoming a subscriber include:

• Locating public and private sector opportunities in one central portal.
• Receiving daily updates of available tenders, direct to your inbox.
• Filtering your search by relevant keywords, budget, location, and more.
• Access to your own Account Manager, who’ll answer any queries you have.
• Your dashboard will automatically filter tenders to show you relevant opportunities.
• We manually track opportunities from over 1,000 sources daily.
• We host exclusive tenders that will not be posted on any other site.

Want to start finding education contracts with Consultancy Tenders? Book a free live demo today.