Find a Tender · Forecast
Management Information Systems for Schools in England
Forecast: a planned procurement that is not yet at tender stage.
01/ The notice
Key facts
- Value
- £800,000,000Framework ceiling or programme total, not a contract value
- Deadline (UK time)
- No open deadlineA deadline does not apply to this forecast notice.
- Published
- 29 Sep 2026
- Region
- Not stated
02/ The brief
What the notice says
Not fully read: this is the notice text; attached documents are not read.
This PME does not signify the commencement of any procurement process and does not constitute any commitment by the Department for Education (DfE). If DfE decides to commence any procurement process subject to the Procurement Act 2023 as contemplated by this notice, a separate notice(s) will be published at the relevant time.
DfE would like to encourage all relevant organisations, including Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs), to participate and have made the engagement process as open as possible in order to facilitate this (please see further details in the “Engagement process description” section below). Consideration will be given to consortia and collaborative bids from all forms of organisations subject to confirmation of a competitive tender process.
The Purpose:
Preliminary Market Engagement is being undertaken to refine DfE's requirements as it looks to establish a route to market for schools under the Procurement Act 2023 for management information systems (MIS) that enables them to analyse, use and report on key data with a focus on interoperability. It is currently anticipated that this will be in the form of an open framework as defined in the Procurement Act 2023.
As part of the preliminary market engagement, DfE is keen to work with MIS suppliers in England to explore how we can harness the potential of data to provide new and valuable insights to share with schools, academy trusts, and local authorities in England to improve outcomes for children and young people, parents and carers. This particular initiative has been branded the Data spine and was referenced in the Schools White Paper published in February 2026. It is anticipated that outcomes of this initiative will be included within the remit of aforementioned route to market.
Further information on the link between the MIS route to market project and the Data spine will be shared as part of the engagement process, starting with the market engagement webinar (please see further details in the “Engagement process description” section below).
We will conduct further market engagement during spring 2026 with a view to using the market engagement and stakeholders views to further inform the specifics of the proposed MIS route to market.
By fully engaging in this process, including the Data spine initiative, organisations have the opportunity to feed into the design of the proposed MIS route to market and ensure it is cognizant of market capabilities.
03/ Classification
CPV codes
Common Procurement Vocabulary codes, exactly as the notice lists them. No descriptions are added here.
- 48000000
04/ History
Releases of this notice
9 releases held, oldest first. Dates are UK time.
- 22 Oct 2025Planning notice
Planning notice published 22 October 2025.
Release 067306-2025
View this release on Find a Tender (opens in a new tab) - 26 Mar 2026Planning notice
Planning notice published 26 March 2026. The notice text changed; the source gives no change note.
Release 027607-2026
View this release on Find a Tender (opens in a new tab) - 26 Mar 2026Planning notice update
Planning notice update published 26 March 2026. Stated change: PLEASE NOTE THIS NOTICE HAS BEEN SUPERCEDED BY https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/027607-2026
Release 027608-2026
View this release on Find a Tender (opens in a new tab) - 24 Jun 2026Planning notice update
Planning notice update published 24 June 2026. Stated change: Extended date of engagement period
Release 059272-2026
View this release on Find a Tender (opens in a new tab) - 3 Aug 2026Planning notice update
Planning notice update published 3 August 2026. Stated change: Thank you to everyone who has been working with us on the development of the Data Spine programme. As we move into the next phase of the wider programme, we have decided to pause activities specifically related to the Data Spine initiative while we focus on this new phase. This pause applies only to the Data Spine initiative and does not affect the continuation of the wider programme and associated activities in the original notice. We expect to make a wider announcement on the future of the Data Spine in the autumn and look forward to working with you as the programme develops. If you have provided the Department for Education (DfE) with test data, we will contact you separately regarding data handling arrangements
Release 073140-2026
View this release on Find a Tender (opens in a new tab) - 4 Aug 2026Planning notice update
Planning notice update published 4 August 2026. Stated change: Thank you to everyone who has been working with us on the development of the Data Spine programme. As we move into the next phase of the wider programme, we have decided to pause activities specifically related to the Data Spine initiative while we focus on this new phase. This pause applies only to the Data Spine initiative and does not affect the continuation of the wider programme and associated activities in the original notice. We expect to make a wider announcement on the future of the Data Spine in the autumn of 2026. We look forward to working with you as the programme develops. If you have provided the Department for Education (DfE) with test data, we will contact you separately regarding data handling arrangements 3rd August 2026
Release 073470-2026
View this release on Find a Tender (opens in a new tab) - 4 Aug 2026Planning notice update
Planning notice update published 4 August 2026. Stated change: Thank you to those who have been working with us on the development of the Data Spine programme. We are now ready to move on to a new phase of development. We have decided to pause activity relating to data spine initiative while we focus on this new phase. We expect to make a wider announcement on the future of the Data Spine in the Autumn and look forward to working with you as the programme develops. If you have provided DfE with test data, we will be in touch with you regarding data handling. 3rd August 2026
Release 073692-2026
View this release on Find a Tender (opens in a new tab) - 4 Aug 2026Planning notice update
Planning notice update published 4 August 2026. Stated change: Thank you to those who have been working with us on the development of the Data Spine programme. We are now ready to move on to a new phase of development. We have decided to pause activity relating to data spine initiative while we focus on this new phase. We expect to make a wider announcement on the future of the Data Spine in the Autumn and look forward to working with you as the programme develops. If you have provided DfE with test data, we will be in touch with you regarding data handling. 3rd August 2026
Release 073698-2026
View this release on Find a Tender (opens in a new tab) - 29 Sep 2026Planning notice update
Planning notice update published 29 September 2026. Stated change: In order to give us sufficient time to consider and respond fully to feedback from suppliers, schools and trusts, and to ensure the framework meets the needs of schools and trusts, we have decided to extend the engagement period until 13th November 2026.
Release 092092-2026
View this release on Find a Tender (opens in a new tab)
05/ Limits
What the source does not tell us
- The stated value is a ceiling or programme total.
06/ Questions
About this notice
07/ Related
Where to go next
These links follow a fixed rule applied to this notice’s buyer, text and CPV codes. They are not advice on whether to bid.
- Reference
- ocds-h6vhtk-05d135
- Source
- Find a Tender
- Stage
- planning · planning
- Framework
- Yes, as recorded by the source
- Last verified
- Tue 6 Oct 2026, 08:14 BST
- Read at
- Tue 20 Oct 2026, 23:27 BST
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