Route 4: advertise a contract and run a buying process for high value purchases under the public procurement threshold
Source: gov.uk (2025-02-25)

How schools can buy high value things, including how to advertise a contract and run a procurement process.

We recommend that you get legal advice before buying high value things. This page provides recommended guidance only.

Your school’s procurement rules will set the high level. As a guide, we generally say anything over £40,000 is high value.

This guide is only for buying things under the public procurement thresholds.

If what you are buying is over, or near to, the threshold (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buying-procedures-and-procurement-law-for-schools), you need to use Route 5: run a public contracts regulations (PCR) compliant process for high value purchases over the threshold (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buying-procedures-and-procurement-law-for-schools/buying-things-that-are-over-the-eu-procurement-threshold).

We recommending using a framework. Check if you can get what you need through find a DfE-approved framework (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-a-dfe-approved-framework-for-your-school) tool or another framework agreement.

Schools are not covered by the regulated below-threshold contracts section of the Procurement Act 2023. This means that there is more flexibility in how you can buy under the procurement threshold.

To ensure you get good value, we recommend that you follow a structured process which is proportionate to your requirement so that you can:
- assess the market
- check your schools governance processes
- prepare your contract and tender documents
- advertise your requirement
- consider using an expression of interest to cut the number of bids you’ll need to assess later
- send an invitation to tender to people who reply to your advert
- fairly assess all the bids you get, using the same process
- choose the bid that offers best value for money
- award the contract to the highest scoring bidder
If you need advice during your procurement, get free and impartial help and support from procurement specialists (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/get-help-buying-for-schools).

The Procurement Act 2023

Under the Procurement Act 2023 you will need to understand your obligations with regards to contract management and the publishing of appropriate notices.

The section Get training on the Procurement Act 2023 (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buying-procedures-and-procurement-law-for-schools/get-training-on-the-procurement-act-2023) has information on how to:
- get free, approved DfE training on the Procurement Act 2023
- register on the central digital platform
Find out more from the update for schools and trusts on the Procurement Act 2023 (https://buyingforschools.blog.gov.uk/2024/11/19/update-for-schools-and-trusts-on-procurement-act-2023-are-you-ready/).

Assess the market

Do some research before you advertise to:
- see if you can get what you need using our find a DfE approved framework tool (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/find-a-dfe-approved-framework-for-your-school)
- see how many possible suppliers there are
- find the best places to advertise
You could also:
- speak to potential suppliers
- ask other schools what they have done
- consider asking suppliers to submit an expression of interest
If you do speak to suppliers, make sure that any information you give them at this stage is given to everyone else who bids later and that your specification does not unnecessarily favour the suppliers you have spoken to.

This is sometimes called ‘soft market testing’.

Asking suppliers to submit an expression of interest (EOI)

You could advertise, asking suppliers to submit an EOI if you:
- want to find out how many bids you are likely to get, so you know how much work will be involved in assessing them later
- are buying something unusual and need to know if there are people who can supply it
Consider carefully whether this is necessary or if it will save you time or money. Running an expression of interest will make the whole process take longer.

Invitations to tender

Send an invitation to the people who reply to your advert. Include:
- a covering letter
- a timeline
- how to ask questions
- how to submit a bid
- your specification
- a list of things you want prices for
- your award criteria
- your contract terms – including the level of service you want and any contract management arrangements, such as regular meetings
- any mandatory requirements for suppliers and, if needed, an invitation for suppliers to give a demonstration
Timeline

Set deadlines for:
- the clarification period – when suppliers can ask you questions
- when suppliers must submit their bid
- when you will award the contract
When setting deadlines, give enough time for suppliers to:
- understand your needs
- ask questions and use the information in your response
- write a detailed proposal with costs
- submit their bids
If you do not give everyone enough time it may cut the number of bids you get. Think about asking suppliers how long they need when you assess the market.

Decide how you will assess the bids

Before you send out your invitation to tender, decide your award criteria – the system you’ll use to decide which bid:
- best meets your specification
- is the most advantageous – the one the that best combines price and quality
Give each criteria a:
- range of scores – such as 1 to 5, with 5 highest
- weighting – a figure you multiply the score by depending on how important the criteria is
Example If price is most important, you might give it a weighting of 5, so a score of 4 would be worth 20.

Advertising

Advertise somewhere suppliers will look, such as:
- the central digital platform (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Search)
- newspapers
- education publications or websites
- trade magazines
Your advertisement should:
- clearly explain what you want
- tell suppliers what information you need
- explain how to get an invitation to tender
- set the timeline
- say that you’ll be using award criteria to give the contract to the most advantageous tender
Answering questions from the suppliers

You should have a clarification stage – a time when suppliers can ask questions. No matter who asks the question, in most cases you should generally:
- send the question and reply to all the bidders with the same information
- anonymise the question, so no one knows who asked it
Do not reveal copyrighted or sensitive information. Ask suppliers if they are happy for you to publish their question and your answer. If they say no, consider their request and give them the opportunity to withdraw the question if you do not agree.

We recommend that you:
- ask suppliers to email the questions
- keep a log of the questions and the answers you gave
How to decide the winning bid

Assess the bids using the award criteria you sent out in your invitation to tender.

You must:
- not open any bids before the deadline
- treat all bids fairly and equally
- record how you made your decisions so you can defend them if you have to
- keep confidential, secure, auditable records
- award the contract to the highest scoring bidder
Who should assess the bids

It’s best to have at least 2 people assess each bid. When they’re finished they should compare their scores and:
- discuss where they’ve scored differently
- reach an agreed score
This is called moderation. Be aware, the more people involved, the harder it can be to reach an agreed score.

Bring in a specialist if you need expert knowledge to assess criteria, such as a quantity surveyor for building projects or an expert in procurement law.

Keeping records

Keep a record of all scores, comments and moderation decisions. There’s software you can buy or you can use a spreadsheet.

Telling unsuccessful bidders

Tell all unsuccessful bidders who won and tell them at the same time.

You should:
- only comment on their unsuccessful bid – do not share details of anyone else’s
- try to give constructive feedback
Our advice is to avoid feedback meetings. If you do decide to meet face-to-face, keep notes during the meeting and have more than 1 member of staff present.

Telling the winning bidder

Write to them saying they won including:
- the award criteria you used
- their scores
- why you think their bid is the most advantageous
- feedback
The letter is an invitation to finalise a contract. You need to make it clear that there are no commitments, and no work should begin, until both of you have signed the contract.

Challenges from unsuccessful bidders

If an unsuccessful bidder challenges the fairness of the contract award decision or process, contact them, explaining that you have conducted a fair assessment process and that you have kept good records.

If they then make a formal challenge, do not finalise the contract. Seek legal advice first.

Award the contract

If there are no legal challenges, tell the successful supplier that you’re giving them the contract. Your school or organisation and the supplier should then sign the contract.

If they agreed to use your terms and conditions, check that the signed copy they send back to you is exactly the same as the copy you sent them.

The last copy of the terms and conditions sent by either side is the one that is legally binding, so make sure that you’re the last to sign.

If you placed an advert in Contracts Finder (https://www.gov.uk/contracts-finder), place a notice of your contract award there too.

Set up a meeting with the supplier to finalise the management and payment arrangements, clarify key performance indicators and agree how you will work together.

There should be no changes from what was in the original invitation to tender.

Abandoning

On rare occasions, you may need to stop the bidding process.

If you stop the process while suppliers are preparing, or have submitted their bids, you should tell them and include your reasons.

The later in the process you abandon your procurement the greater the risk of you receiving a legal challenge where bidders may seek reimbursement of their bid costs.

You should make sure that your tender documents make it clear that you have the right to abandon the process at any time without any liability to the bidders.

You cannot abandon the process because the highest-scoring bidder is not the supplier you want.