RFP QuestBeta
OpenStage · planning

Department for Education

General Qualifications Logistics Service

Telecoms & PostCPV 64120000
Value£49.0m
Deadline
Published10 Aug 2026
RegionNationwide
Who to contact
PolicyAssurance.COMMERCIALQUERIES@education.gov.uk

The procurement contact named on the official notice.

Contract value in context
£49.0mtotal contract value
median £200k
this tender£0£52.9m

This is a large award for Postal & Telecommunications — above three-quarters of comparable contracts. Based on 2,074 valued Postal & Telecommunications tenders in our corpus.

When this comes round again

Department for Education has published 11 Postal & Telecommunications notices, about every 5 months. On that rhythm the next one is expected around December 2026.

55% of Department for Education’s awards go to a supplier it has used before.

Which is the argument for getting on the list rather than winning this one. The incumbent is rarely the last winner — it is the roster. See the retention odds by category →


You'll hear when Department for Education publishes Postal & Telecommunications work again. One email per notice, unsubscribe in one click. We don’t use your address for anything else.

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The brief

The Department for Education (DfE) is preparing to re-procure its General Qualifications Logistics Service.

The Standards and Testing Agency (The Authority) is an executive agency of the Department for Education (DfE).

The Authority is responsible for primary assessments and the General Qualifications Logistics Service (GQLS).

The GQLS covers all secondary and further education establishments in England and provides a single means for Examination Officers to despatch packages of completed exam scripts for marking.

There is activity in all months, but the major peak is the annual summer examination series which runs across May and June.

We intend to utilise the Crown Commercial Service Courier, Distribution, Storage and Specialist Solutions Framework (RM6354), Lot 3c - Secure Collection and Delivery of Examination Test Papers and Materials.

You are receiving this email because you are a registered supplier on this framework lot.

Before launching the Invitation to Tender (ITT), we would like to engage with the market to gather supplier feedback and insights that will help us shape the procurement approach and ensure our requirements reflect current market capability and best practice.

To support this activity, we are inviting suppliers to attend a one-to-one market engagement session with the DfE project team.

These sessions will provide an opportunity to: • Understand DfE's high-level requirements and objectives • Provide feedback on the proposed service requirements. • Share views on market developments, innovation and opportunities. • Identify potential risks, challenges and dependencies.

The engagement sessions are intended solely for information gathering and market research purposes.

Participation in these sessions will not form part of any future procurement evaluation process and will not provide any supplier with an advantage in any subsequent competition.

The estimated value of the contract for the initial 5 years is currently being determined and is anticipated to fall within the range of £40 million to £49 million.

Requirements

What the notice asks for

01

The Authority is responsible for primary assessments

The Authority is responsible for primary assessments and the General Qualifications Logistics Service (GQLS).

02

Before launching the Invitation to Tender (ITT)

Before launching the Invitation to Tender (ITT), we would like to engage with the market to gather supplier feedback and insights that will help us shape the procurement approach and ensure our requirements reflect current market capability and best practice.

03

These sessions will provide an opportunity

These sessions will provide an opportunity to:.

04

Provide feedback on the proposed service requirements

Provide feedback on the proposed service requirements.

05

Participation in these sessions will not form

Participation in these sessions will not form part of any future procurement evaluation process and will not provide any supplier with an advantage in any subsequent competition.

Sentences from the notice that state an obligation, surfaced automatically and shown in the order they appear. Not an exhaustive list — always confirm against the tender documents.

The gates

What this notice demands of you

1 named, none in explicit obligation language. Each one is quoted from the notice.

Crown Commercial Service frameworkFrameworks & routes to market
We intend to utilise the Crown Commercial Service Courier, Distribution, Storage and Specialist Solutions Framework (RM6354), Lot 3c - Secure Collection and Delivery of Examination Test Papers and Materials.

Matched against the notice text, so this is a floor — the tender pack will demand things the notice never mentions. “Says must” means the quoted sentence itself used obligation language; anything ambiguous is left as a mention.

Buyer intelligence

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Source & provenance
OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06e07d
Stage
planning · Planning
Source
Find a Tender
Buyer ref
075872-2026
View the original notice on Find a Tender

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source data © Crown copyright.

Market context

Who wins this kind of work

The suppliers and buyers around this opportunity — drawn from official award data. Drag to orbit; click a node to explore.

Top suppliers & buyers in Postal & Telecommunications

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Department for Education’s tender network

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