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Request for Information (RFI) - Auto Translation and Transcription Service
Home Office · Central government
In brief
Home Office has announced plans to buy IT and software work. This is an early notice: there is nothing to bid on yet, but it tells you a tender may follow.
The estimated value is £600,000 excluding VAT.
The contract runs for 1 year, up to 2 years with extensions, starting 10 October 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
Typical: a median of 4 bids per contract for this buyer (from 18 awards in the last 12 months).
What the notice says
The Home Office is undertaking a Request for Information to improve its understanding of the current market for translation, transcription and interpretation technologies and services. The Home Office wishes to understand the maturity, capability, delivery considerations, constraints and limitations associated with solutions that may support operational processes across the Migration and Borders system. The exercise will explore capabilities relating to: speech-to-speech interpretation; speech-to-text transcription; text-to-text translation; recording, auditability and evidential traceability; accessibility; mobile and low-connectivity operation; security, hosting and data residency;…Read the full description
The Home Office is undertaking a Request for Information to improve its understanding of the current market for translation, transcription and interpretation technologies and services.
The Home Office wishes to understand the maturity, capability, delivery considerations, constraints and limitations associated with solutions that may support operational processes across the Migration and Borders system.
The exercise will explore capabilities relating to:
speech-to-speech interpretation;
speech-to-text transcription;
text-to-text translation;
recording, auditability and evidential traceability;
accessibility;
mobile and low-connectivity operation;
security, hosting and data residency;
integration with existing services, platforms and major cloud environments; and
solution governance, quality assurance and human-review workflows.
Suppliers will be invited to assess their current capabilities against representative operational scenarios covering formal interviews and hearings, operational and field conversations, and customer contact and correspondence.
This exercise builds upon previous market-engagement activity and seeks updated information reflecting current market capabilities, service offerings and product maturity.
This notice and the associated Request for Information are for information-gathering and market-understanding purposes only. They do not constitute a tender, request for a binding offer or commitment by the Home Office to undertake a procurement or award a contract. Any future procurement would be subject to separate approvals and the applicable procurement process.
The estimated value range provided is indicative only and has been included for market-engagement purposes. No procurement has been approved at this stage. Should a future procurement be undertaken, the estimated value will be reviewed and updated to reflect the prevailing requirement, scope, funding position and market conditions.
How to bid
- Read the full notice on Find a Tender, including any tender documents it links to.
- 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.
- Follow the submission instructions in the notice; it does not name an e-tendering portal.
Timeline
- Preliminary market engagement notice · UK2, notice 098201-2026
- Preliminary market engagement notice · UK2, notice 103371-2026
About the buyer
Home OfficeLast 12 months
Procurements
242Awards
149Suppliers it has used most for IT and software
- Deloitte LLP3 contracts
- Amethyst Risk Management Limited1 contract
- British Telecommunications plc1 contract
- Business Systems (U.K.) Limited1 contract
- Capgemini UK Plc1 contract
Similar open tenders
All open IT and software tenders- £55kestimated
- £350mframework ceiling
- £200kestimated
- £1.6mestimated
- £30kestimated
From notice 098201-2026 on Find a Tender, first published 16 October 2026, last updated 30 October 2026. We last checked for changes on 30 October 2026.