UK Public Sector Contracts & Tenders

The contract will provide an app which will meet the core principles and guidelines outlined in the Online Safety Strategy for NI 2020-25 through the provision of timely and evidenced based support for children, parents, carers and school staff including members of the safeguarding team. By incorporating parents/carers and school staff the aim is to give them the knowledge and tools needed to support children to stay safe online. The app is envisaged to be a digital library of safeguarding resources created for local school communities. It is about keeping children and young people safe online. Inside the app, there will be digital safeguarding information, practical advice and guidance, researched and written by online safeguarding experts. It should be interactive, with engaging content which is easy-to-access, simple to understand and intuitive to use, providing age-appropriate, credible, and relevant content and resources for the entire school community. A customised version of the app will be available for the school community. This will include resources and lessons for teachers, parents and carers and access to training for school staff and pupils. For pupils, there will be access to practical advice and tips to stay safe online. It will include guidance on creating strong passwords on devices and setting the best privacy settings on social media and gaming platforms. Young people can get advice about healthy relationships and trusted adults. The app can also provide advice on issues such as bullying, mental health or losing control of an image you have shared. The app will help parents and carers in the digital world that children and young people occupy through giving the tools needed to better protect them. All app users can stay up to date with all the latest safeguarding news and access the latest articles on relevant topics and trends in the online world. Parents and staff will also be sent the latest in safeguarding updates and alerts. Push notifications will ensure notifications go straight to the users phone to make sure they never miss what they need to know. There will be downloadable resources, designed to educate and facilitate conversations on on-line safety topics.

The Department of Education (DE) is working towards standardisation of the DE Pre-school Education Programme (PSEP) throughout Northern Ireland. The overall aim of the contract is to appoint a Contractor to conduct a research study that will: • provide an analysis of the current state of readiness of individual PSEP settings of moving to a minimum of 22.5 hours per week standardised offer, including identifying opportunities for greater alignment of other aspects of PSEP; • examine the current training and qualification requirements within PSEP and provide costed options for a programme of CPD; and • examine the current advice and support available within PSEP and provide costed options for models of delivering advice and support.

The contract is to conduct an outcomes-based evaluation, underpinned by use of Outcomes Based Accountability of the Limavady SEC. It is anticipated that the contract will commence on date award for a period of 5 years with no further options to extend.

The Department of Education (DE) is seeking to engage a Fund Administrator which will efficiently and effectively administer the Pathway Fund on behalf of the Department. Please refer to the Specification Schedule for more details on the services required.

The Northern Ireland Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA “the Buyer”) requires a Supplier for the provision of Confidential Typesetting Services. The Supplier will be required to typeset confidential materials that will be used in and/or to support examinations and assessments. The content of the work may include, however is not limited too - standard prose typesetting, specialist typesetting (i.e. mathematical, scientific, languages), Irish medium, modified versions, scanning of illustrations (and potential re-work), drawing and/or redrawing of illustrations, and creation of barcodes (for question papers marked on-line) and other support materials, where required.

The Department of Education is responsible, under statute, for the provision of education for the children and young people of Northern Ireland and to promote the education system of Northern Ireland needs. The Department commissions evidence-based research including a number of international large-scale assessments of education systems. One such assessment is the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). TIMSS is a world-wide comparative study of the attainment in mathematics and science of pupils aged 9/10 years; primary year six in Northern Ireland. TIMSS is managed internationally by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). To deliver the study in participating countries the IEA, under the conditions of their agreement, require each country to employ the services of a National Study Centre (NSC), this centre is to be led by a National Research Coordinator (NRC). The NSC will be responsible for the delivery of the TIMSS 2027 nationally. The Department therefore wishes to appoint a contractor for the provision of a NSC as well as a NRC to deliver TIMSS 2027 in Northern Ireland. The new contract will commence for the Date of Award, which is anticipated to be in November/December 2025.

The Department of Education (the Buyer) requires a Supplier to undertake an independent evaluation of the RAISE programme. The Supplier must provide ongoing evidence and assessment to assist the Programme Board and Locality Reference Groups in refining the programme throughout its delivery/the delivery of their Strategic Area Plans.

The Department of Education, wishes to appoint an external supplier to develop and deliver a replacement programme for the Professional Qualification for Headship (PQH), in line with the stated commitment in the TransformED Strategy . This is a Ministerial priority with a defined timeline for the development, piloting and delivery of the replacement programme which has been crafted to deliver the Minister’s stated objective and work within the confines of each academic year. The contract duration is anticipated to be from May 2026 until June 2029 with one optional extension until June 2031. The supplier will be required to develop the programme from Contract Award until December 2026, with delivery of the pilot to commence in January 2027 to the end of December 2027(excluding Northern Ireland school holidays), running over 12 months with a cohort of 40 participants(cohort split in two, to allow the two modules to run concurrently and the pilot to be completed within this timeframe. The programme will officially launch January 2028 which will run over an 18-month period. Delivery in subsequent years through agreement with DE, could be split into separate January and September entry points (combining to a total of 100 participants) each year which will provide practical preparation as a key component in the pathway to Principalship through a comprehensive and tailored programme for recently appointed and aspiring Principals. Suppliers should refer to the Specification Schedule for full detail on the deliverables of this Contract