Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2017-02-14
Buyer: Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Country: UK
Region: UNITED KINGDOM
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Open procedure
CPV classification: 80000000
Estimated value: 20000000 GBP
Submission deadline: 2017-03-13
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: To meet the aim of creating a new cohort of cyber security talent to strengthen the UK's cyber security skills pipeline, the Department is seeking a service provider/consortium of service providers to develop and deliver an ambitious extracurricular programme for 14-18 year olds who demonstrate motivation, enthusiasm and a high cyber aptitude (latent or developed) for cyber security. Students will embark on a four year study programme of high quality cyber security education and training to gain exceptional quality and sought after cyber security skills and experience. The programme will strengthen the skills pipeline and embed cyber security as an exciting and recognised career choice.
The Cyber Schools Programme is a major, exciting and inspirational opportunity to develop the next talent of potential cyber professionals. The programme will bring together real-world cyber expertise and educational experience to teach cyber skills in innovative and engaging ways to the next generation of potential cyber security professionals. The programme will identify and mobilise expert volunteers from industry and beyond to inspire, teach and expose them to future career options. We expect a mix of innovative blended learning (including classroom based and online teaching) with work focused on real-world challenges, cyber careers and opportunities. Our vision of success for the four year study programme is to have had a minimum of 5 700 programme participants by 2021 (who have either completed or are within the programme), and for a significant proportion of these to be progressing into relevant cyber security careers, education or training. The Provider will be responsible for developing an innovative, high quality cyber security curriculum and teaching materials which will keep current with cyber trends, and put in place the infrastructure for expansion and wider geographical roll-out. The proposed infrastructure should enable the teaching of 14-18 year olds across different locations, increasing in scale as the programme develops with a mix of blended learning. The pilot will initially be established in England only. However, the Provider will need to demonstrate an ability to deliver the programme more widely across the UK. The Provider will be required to harness and maximise the use of existing industry and academia resources and expertise. It should deliver 4 hours of inspired teaching and studying per week, which should be flexible around exam time and busier study times and allow for students to do more hours if they wish. To get onto the programme, students will need to undergo some sort of selection testing to ensure they have the enthusiasm, motivation and high cyber aptitude (either latent or developed) for the programme. Students should be able to enter at any point onto the programme as long as they reach the set standard and selection testing. Students should gain cumulative achievements and attainment as they develop through each module of the programme. Each module should be a mix of blended learning and project work. The programme should be designed for a student to progress at a suitable pace to last them from the age of 14 to the age of 18. We welcome exciting innovative ideas from the Tender Response as to how this could be delivered, and how this would work in practice is up to the Tenderer to propose. Government recognises the need to deliver clarity and consistency across all its activity to address the cyber skills gap. To this end, it will expand the successful CyberFirst brand to include relevant Government supported extracurricular cyber programmes in schools, moving the brand away from a national security focus. The Cyber Schools programme will be delivered under the repositioned CyberFirst brand, but should align with and exploit existing CyberFirst initiatives. This exciting programme should be designed to enthuse and inspire students. It should also promote diversity, neurodiversity and social mobility, by being equally attractive and accessible to all. To achieve this, the programme should aim for a 50:50 male to female ratio, be inclusive of those with disabilities and be delivered across a geographic and socio-economic spread. The Provider should also consider will be expected to proactively seek individuals with latent cyber security talent, including those who may not necessarily be excelling academically, but have the aptitude to succeed at cyber. More widely, the programme is also expected to encourage the uptake of relevant courses at Key Stages 4 and 5, further and higher education and the uptake of cyber security careers.


Award value: 20000000