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Bursary services

Southern Universities Management Services (SUMS) · Local or regional public body

In brief

Southern Universities Management Services (SUMS) has announced plans to buy training and education work. This is an early notice: there is nothing to bid on yet, but it tells you a tender may follow.

It is a framework worth up to £100,000,000 excluding VAT: the most the buyer expects to spend across all suppliers, not one contract.

The contract runs for 2 years, up to 4 years with extensions, starting 1 August 2027.

The buyer says it is suitable for small and medium-sized businesses.

Built from the notice's own fields. Always check the official notice before you bid.

Can I win this?

Competition

Usually high: a median of 6 bids per contract for training contracts across the UK (from 1119 awards in the last 12 months).

Framework

Winning puts you on a list of suppliers the buyer can call on; it does not guarantee work. The £100,000,000 is the most the buyer expects to spend across all suppliers over the framework's life, not one contract.

What the notice says

The purpose of this Preliminary Market Engagement (PME) procedure is to assess the viability of a framework agreement for bursary services. Initial thinking includes three potential Lots as follows: Lot 1: Bursary payment services - Where the supplier handles payments to qualifying individuals on behalf of the member organisation. This Lot is likely to have applications to the wider public sector membership, where bursary and hardship payments are made. Lot 2: Credit bursary services - Where the supplier offers a wide range of products that support education (eg. books, equipment, tech) and qualifying individuals are credited with an amount to spend as they require. Lot 3: Bursary management services - Where the supplier offers a service to assess whether or not individuals qualify for bursary payments in line with the policies of member organisations. The expectation is that a resulting framework agreement would be available to all members of the regional consortia that comprise UKUPC (APUC, HEPCW, LUPC, NEUPC, NWUPC, SUPC, TEC, and TUCO). Members sit across the public sector and include Higher Education Institutions, Schools and Colleges, Government Departments, Local Authorities, Charities, Housing Associations, NHS Trusts, and others.

How to bid

  1. Read the full notice on Find a Tender, including any tender documents it links to.
  2. Register your organisation on the Central Digital Platform (through Find a Tender) if you have not already. Suppliers need to be registered to take part in procurements under the Procurement Act 2023.
  3. Follow the submission instructions in the notice; it does not name an e-tendering portal.

Timeline

  1. Preliminary market engagement notice · UK2, notice 080358-2026

About the buyer

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From notice 080358-2026 on Find a Tender, first published 24 August 2026. We last checked for changes on 28 September 2026.