RFP QuestBeta
OpenStage · planning

Ofsted

VPN Provision

IT ServicesCPV 72000000
Value£408,333
Deadline
Published29 Jan 2026
RegionNationwide

£408,333 — stated in the notice

Who to contact
info-contracts@ofsted.gov.uk

The procurement contact named on the official notice.

Contract value in context
£408ktotal contract value
median £120k
this tender£0£3.5m

This sits in the upper-middle of the IT Services band — a substantial contract for the sector. Based on 36,449 valued IT Services tenders in our corpus.

When this comes round again

Ofsted publishes IT Services work continuously — 17 notices, roughly one every 18 days. This is a stream to watch, not a cycle to wait for.

44% of Ofsted’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 Ofsted publishes IT Services work again. One email per notice, unsubscribe in one click. We don’t use your address for anything else.

Match for your company
Sign up free to see how well this tender matches your company — the score, the signals that align, and where the gaps are.
The brief

The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is issuing this notice to notify the market to that we are engaging with suppliers on the Technology Services 4 (RM6190) to help shape a pending tender process for the provision of a fully managed VPN service.

The current contract that Ofsted has for providing this service is due to end in October 2026 and Ofsted are looking to start the process of procuring a new contract now.

Ofsted intends to appoint a supplier to deliver a fully managed VPN service that provides secure, encrypted network connectivity across the organisation.

The appointed supplier will be responsible for the end‑to‑end design, implementation, operation, monitoring, and support of the VPN service.

This approach will remove the requirement for in‑house management and ensure that the service is proactively maintained and supported by a specialist provider.

Ofsted is therefore looking at running a procurement exercise, starting as soon as is practicable in 2026, for a supplier to provide this service.

Our chosen route to market will be via CCS Framework Technology Services 4 (RM6190) - Lot 4: Infrastructure Management Services and engagement is currently limited to suppliers on this Framework.

Requirements

What the notice asks for

01

The appointed supplier will be responsible

The appointed supplier will be responsible for the end‑to‑end design, implementation, operation, monitoring, and support of the VPN service.

02

This approach will remove the requirement

This approach will remove the requirement for in‑house management and ensure that the service is proactively maintained and supported by a specialist provider.

03

Ofsted is therefore looking at running

Ofsted is therefore looking at running a procurement exercise, starting as soon as is practicable in 2026, for a supplier to provide this service.

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

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

Crown Commercial Service frameworkFrameworks & routes to market
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is issuing this notice to notify the market to that we are engaging with suppliers on the Technology Services 4 (RM6190) to help shape a pending tender process for the provision of a fully managed VPN service.
Ofsted registrationRegulator registrations
The Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills (Ofsted) is issuing this notice to notify the market to that we are engaging with suppliers on the Technology Services 4 (RM6190) to help shape a pending tender process for the provision of a fully managed VPN service.

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

Make the case to bid

Reveal who to approach at Ofsted, and generate a go-to-market strategy from their news, accounts and people.

Sign up free to unlock buyer intelligence

Free to start. Named contacts come from published notices; the strategy is generated from the buyer’s news, accounts and people.

Deep dive · beta

The full intelligence dossier

Our agent reads Ofsted’s accounts, hunts live signals, finds the people who decide — and hands you a bid strategy plus a go-to-market influence plan, including what your team should post this week. You approve every paid step.

Sign up free to run a deep dive

Five included while we’re in beta, and the agent asks before it spends on any paid step.

Source & provenance
OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-061223
Stage
planning · Planning
Source
Find a Tender
Buyer ref
008083-2026
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 IT Services

This view needs WebGL, which this browser has turned off.

Ofsted’s tender network

This view needs WebGL, which this browser has turned off.
Also open now

Similar open tenders

DN Colleges Group - ITT for the Provision of Website Development Services

DN Colleges Group

Closes 29 Sept 2026IT Services
£25,000Value

Furze Down School - Managed IT Services Provision

Furze Down School

Closes 29 Sept 2026IT Services
£400,000Value