procurement | FE Week

Procurement proposals could shake up how colleges go to tender

There are many more freedoms – but also more scrutiny – in the government’s new procurement proposals that would affect how colleges go to tender, write Ben McGirr and Toshif Vally You’d be forgiven for not noticing that in December, the Cabinet Office published a green paper called Transforming Public Procurement. The three-month open consultation […]

Fears over ‘market instability’ in rush to roll out AEB devolution

The rushed timeframe ahead of next year’s devolution of the adult education budget means providers will struggle to “hit the ground running” next August and may lead to “market instability”, an expert has said. The warning comes as the first combined authorities are gearing up to start their tender process this month, with contracts due […]

T-levels tender launched by Department for Education

The highly anticipated and controversial T-levels tender process has now been launched by the Department for Education. Awarding organisations can bid for an “exclusive license” to develop and deliver the new qualifications, in a contract worth £17.5 million. Three separate tenders have been launched – one for each of the first pathways to be delivered […]

How can employers know which providers are good?

The marketplace is changing rapidly, and it’s awash with new standards and providers. Stefano Capaldo explains how to sort the wheat from the chaff Twelve months ago, the levy gave employers control of apprenticeship funding in England. While this is welcome in lots of ways, it has become increasingly difficult for employers to identify a […]

£1.6 billion bids for ‘markedly oversubscribed’ non-levy procurement

The total value of bids lodged through the now-paused procurement for apprenticeship provision allocations for non-levy-paying employers was around £1.6 billion, almost four times more than the sum available, FE Week has learned. The Education and Skills Funding Agency announced on April 12, that the decision over funding allocations relating to this procurement had been be paused, […]