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UK supplier guide

Tender evaluation:
how the most advantageous tender wins

Tender evaluation is how a buyer scores the tenders it receives against the award criteria it published. Under the Procurement Act 2023 it may award to the supplier with the most advantageous tender, which is not the same as the cheapest.

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Checked against primary sources4 sources linked below

  1. Conditions of participation

    This guide’s primary sources

  2. Pass/fail criteria

    This guide’s primary sources

  3. Weighted criteria

    This guide’s primary sources

  4. Abnormally low price check

    This guide’s primary sources

  1. Most advantageous

    Best against the published criteria, not lowest price.

    This guide’s primary sources

  2. Weights are published

    Percentage, ranking or another description.

    This guide’s primary sources

  3. Price at 40%

    The median exact weight in a year of Act tender notices.

    This guide’s primary sources

What is the most advantageous tender?

The tender that satisfies the buyer’s requirements and best satisfies the award criteria, assessed by the published method and weighting.

A contracting authority may award a public contract to the supplier that submits the most advantageous tender (s.19(1)).

That is the tender it considers “satisfies the contracting authority’s requirements” and “best satisfies the award criteria” when assessed by its assessment methodology and the relative importance of the criteria (s.19(2)).

  1. As described in the tender notice and associated documents.

    s.19(7)

  2. Set under section 23 and published in advance.

    s.23(1)

  3. How tenders are assessed, including any pass/fail criterion.

    s.23(3)(a)

  4. Weighting, ranking or another description.

    s.23(3)(b)

What rules apply to award criteria?

They must relate to the subject-matter, be clear, measurable and specific, follow the technical-specification rules and be proportionate.

Section 23(2): the buyer must be satisfied the criteria…What it means for your response
relate to the subject-matter of the contractAnswer what is being bought, how and when it is supplied, the staff who make a difference, and price or value
are sufficiently clear, measurable and specificMirror the wording and evidence each criterion asks for
do not break the rules on technical specifications in section 56Equivalent solutions should be assessable
are a proportionate means of assessing tendersExpect lighter assessment on smaller, simpler contracts
Procurement Act 2023, s.23(2) and (5), read 25 October 2026. The right-hand column is this guide’s reading, not statutory text.

How is a tender scored?

Against published criteria, by a published method and weighting.

  1. Start with the source01

    Conditions of participation

    Fail them and the tender is disregarded.
  2. Define the scope02

    Pass/fail criteria

    The methodology says which ones disqualify.
  3. Read the evidence03

    Weighted criteria

    Quality, price and social value, by published importance.
  4. Make the decision04

    Abnormally low price check

    You get a chance to explain before it is disregarded.
  5. Name the next action05

    Assessment summary

    Your scores and the winner's, before the award notice.

A supplier’s review sequence, based on the primary sources below. It is not a measured outcome or a prescribed buyer timetable.

When can a buyer disregard a tender?

It must disregard a supplier that fails the conditions of participation, and may disregard an abnormally low price or a procedural breach.

  1. Before you start01

    Use the current documents

    Check the primary publication and later changes before using the sequence below.
  2. Check 202

    Conditions of participation

    A tender from a supplier that does not satisfy them must be disregarded (s.19(3)(a)). Conditions must be proportionate and allow equivalent qualifications (s.22(4)–(5)).
  3. Check 303

    Abnormally low price

    The buyer may disregard it, but must first tell you and give you a reasonable opportunity to show you can perform at that price (s.19(3)(c), (4)).
  4. Check 404

    Procedural requirement

    Breaching a procedural requirement in the notice or documents, including failing to provide requested information, can lose the tender (s.19(3)(d), (11)).
  5. Follow through05

    Non-treaty suppliers

    A tender from a supplier that is neither a UK nor a treaty state supplier may be disregarded (s.19(3)(b)).

An editorial order of work, not a buyer's fixed timetable. The current notice and documents determine participation and submission.

How much weight do UK buyers give price?

In Procurement Act tender notices with exact percentage weights, the median price weight was 40%; half sat between 30% and 60%.

Price weight in the first lot’s criteriaTender-stage records
100% (price only)150
50–99%1,034
30–49%1,478
1–29%468
All records with a price criterion and weights totalling 100%3,130
Median price weight40%
Middle half of price weights30% to 60%
RFP Quest corpus: Find a Tender tender-stage records under the Procurement Act (legal basis 2023/54), 1 October 2025 to 30 September 2026, first lot only, where every criterion has an exact percentage weight totalling 100 and at least one is typed price; queried 25 October 2026. Of 7,271 tender-stage records, 5,172 carried structured criteria. Records that state weights only in text or documents are not counted.

What do you learn after evaluation?

An assessment summary of your tender and of the most advantageous tender, before the contract award notice.

Before publishing a contract award notice after a competition, the buyer must give each supplier whose tender was assessed an assessment summary (s.50(3)).

It covers the buyer’s assessment of your tender and, if different, of the most advantageous tender (s.50(4)). Then the standstill period runs.

  1. How it was assessed against each criterion.

    s.50(4)(a)

  2. How the most advantageous tender was assessed.

    s.50(4)(b)

  3. Disregarded tenders do not get one.

    s.50(5)

  4. The award notice starts the standstill.

    s.50(1)

Read the weighting before writing a word: it tells you where the marks are.

  1. Most advantageous

    Best against the published criteria, not lowest price.

  2. Weights are published

    Percentage, ranking or another description.

  3. Price at 40%

    The median exact weight in a year of Act tender notices.
Search UK tenders →

Free: open notices with their buyer, deadline and published award criteria where the notice gives them.

What else should you know about tender evaluation?

Check these points before committing your team’s time.

What is the most advantageous tender?
Under the Procurement Act 2023, the tender the buyer considers satisfies its requirements and best satisfies the award criteria under its published method and weighting (s.19(2)).
Does the cheapest tender win?
Only if price is the sole criterion or the cheapest tender also scores best overall. In our corpus, 150 of 3,130 Act tender notices with exact weights used price only.
Must a buyer publish its evaluation weightings?
Where there is more than one criterion it must indicate their relative importance, by percentage weighting, ranking or another description (s.23(3)(b)).
What is an abnormally low tender?
A price the buyer considers abnormally low for performing the contract. It must tell the supplier and give it a reasonable opportunity to show it can perform at that price before disregarding the tender (s.19(4)).
Can a pass/fail question disqualify my tender?
Yes, if the assessment methodology says failing that criterion disqualifies a tender (s.23(3)(a)). Check the documents for every pass/fail item.
Will I find out why I lost?
After a competition every assessed bidder gets an assessment summary covering its own tender and the most advantageous tender (s.50(3)–(4)).

Where can you check the evidence?

Read the primary publication and the buyer’s current documents before acting.

SourceWhat it supports
Procurement Act 2023, section 19 · legislation.gov.uk ↗Award and the most advantageous tender; read 25 October 2026.
Procurement Act 2023, section 23 · legislation.gov.uk ↗Award criteria and assessment methodology.
Procurement Act 2023, section 22 · legislation.gov.uk ↗Conditions of participation.
Procurement Act 2023, section 50 · legislation.gov.uk ↗Assessment summaries.
Follow the current primary publication for its scope and any later changes. Calculators use your inputs, not measured savings.

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