Published date: 9 March 2023

This notice was replaced on 11 April 2023

This notice does not contain the most up-to-date information about this procurement. The most recent notice is:

Opportunity (published 11 April 2023)

Closed early engagement


Contract summary

Industry

  • Education and training services - 80000000

Location of contract

Any region

Procurement reference

tender_312937/1189419

Published date

9 March 2023

Closing date

30 April 2023

Contract is suitable for SMEs?

Yes

Contract is suitable for VCSEs?

Yes

Description

This PIN is for the purpose of initiating the direct engagement with the market with regards to the supply of a support package for employers who are interested or preparing to engage with the delivery of T Level industry placements.

This PIN is for market engagement only. It does not signify the commencement of any procurement process and does not constitute any commitment by the Department for Education. If the Department for Education decides to commence any procurement process as contemplated by this notice, a separate notice will be published at the relevant time.

We will be holding a virtual supplier event on Thursday 23rd March at 13:00. Please see below for details.

The delivery of the employer support package will begin in September 2023. The contract will cover support until 31st August 2025, with the possibility of a 1 year extension to 31st August 2026.


Required services:

The purpose of the employer support package is to promote the benefits of industry placements to employers, and to provide them with the knowledge, skills and materials to help them structure and deliver high-quality placements. It will also explain what T Levels are and how they fit into the wider educational landscape, and how they differ from work experience and apprenticeships. This will be a single-lot procurement comprising multiple workstrands.

Support wider employer engagement, to raise awareness of T Levels, and support employers directly in preparing to deliver industry placements, including:
- Continue to deliver on the support to private sector employers, which the current employer support package focuses on
- Conduct employer engagement and awareness raising with public sector employers, including Local Government Authorities
- Conduct employer engagement and awareness raising with Other Government Departments (OGDs) and Arm's Length Bodies (ALBs)
- Create new and relevant guidance materials for employers across all sectors, whilst analysing existing guidance materials to determine updates and amendments where necessary.
- Provide intelligence reporting on patterns of employment and on work and training in the workplace, as well as monitoring and reporting on progress against objectives.

More information

Links

Additional text

Background:
T Levels are 2-year technical qualifications launched in September 2020. They are taken after GCSEs and are broadly equivalent to studying three A Levels. They have been developed in collaboration with employers and education providers and combine classroom-based learning with a substantial industry placement. The first cohort graduated in August 2022 with a pass rate of 92%.

Every 16-19-year-old student undertaking a T Level will be required to complete a high-quality industry placement. Industry placements are structured periods in employment that are expected to last a minimum of 315 hours. A student cannot complete a T Level without having completed their industry placement. Industry placements are integral to classroom-based technical education routes as they provide students with the opportunity to develop the specific technical and practical skills, knowledge, and behaviours required for skilled employment in their field of study, ensuring they are 'work ready'.
For this reason, successful completion of a relevant, substantial industry placement is a requirement for full certification of the T Levels. This makes ensuring employers are supported to deliver high-quality placements a top priority.

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This PIN is for market engagement only. It does not signify the commencement of any procurement process and does not constitute any commitment by the Department for Education. If the Department for Education decides to commence any procurement process as contemplated by this notice, a separate notice will be published at the relevant time.

We will be holding a virtual supplier event on 23rd March 2023, 13:00-14:00, via Microsoft Teams. The purpose of the event is to give you more information about our expectations for each of the three lots in this contract and give you the opportunity to ask questions. The Department would encourage the attendance of interested suppliers at the market engagement event as we are keen to speak to as many organisations as possible.

All communication and information will be released through Jaggaer. All information from the day, including Q&A, will be made available via Jaggaer to those who are unable to attend.

Please register for Jaggaer using the URL link below: https://education.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html
Once registered, the supplier event area can be accessed by clicking "View Opportunities" on the main page. Event joining instructions will be issued following an expression of interest via the Messaging function. Please register no later than 24 hours before the event commences. The Jaggaer reference is ssq_354.

Suppliers wishing to do business with us should understand our expectation that they support and endorse our commitment to Equality & Diversity and take positive steps in their own organisation to demonstrate this, in compliance to the Equality Act 2010.

About the buyer

Address

20 Great Smith Street
London
SW1P 3BT
England

Email

commercialdelivery.skills@education.gov.uk