How to prepare a school or academy trust bid

Confirm who can order under the contract

A school, academy trust or consortium may be responsible for the procurement. Establish which schools are included at the outset, whether others may join and how additional sites would be priced. The Department for Education’s buying guidance describes several routes, including frameworks and competitive purchasing. Follow the route selected for this procurement.

Ask how decisions are divided between the central team and each school. A trust-wide contract may still require local scheduling, access permissions and issue reporting. The bid needs to show how those arrangements will work without creating avoidable administration for school staff.

Use the current safeguarding requirements

For schools and colleges in England, Keeping Children Safe in Education 2026 is the current statutory guidance, in force from 1 September 2026. The school’s duties and its contract requirements should inform your proposed arrangements. The checks required for a particular role depend on the work and circumstances; avoid a blanket statement that every person needs the same clearance.

Work with your safeguarding or HR lead to set out the required checks, induction, reporting route and supervision arrangements. Explain what happens if a replacement worker is needed. A last-minute staffing change should not bypass the process described in the response.

Build the timetable around school operations

Use term dates, examination periods and access restrictions to test mobilisation. A summer works programme may have a short completion window, while cleaning or catering must remain dependable during term time. Identify any site surveys, deliveries, training or system changes that require the school’s involvement.

For example, a catering mobilisation plan should account for kitchen access, equipment readiness, menu information, staffing and arrangements for pupils with relevant dietary needs. Put the decisions and information required from the school into the timetable, with an owner and a date.

Explain how you will manage several sites

Create a site schedule before promising a standard service everywhere. Differences in pupil numbers, buildings, equipment, opening hours and existing arrangements can change the workload. Show how the central contract manager will monitor performance while allowing each site to raise an issue.

Use a sample monthly review to make reporting concrete: which failures are recorded, who investigates them and how repeated problems are escalated. If the buyer asks for contract-wide measures, explain how site data is combined and checked.

• •Confirm site-specific service hours and holiday arrangements
• •Show the route for urgent issues at a school and recurring issues across the trust
• •Identify any equipment, licences or facilities the buyer is expected to provide

Check what the price includes

Reconcile the price with term-time and holiday work, cover for absence, training, equipment and travel between sites. Read the treatment of additional schools, inflation and changes in demand. Ask for clarification where the pack does not say who carries a particular cost.

For technology, check implementation, data migration, ongoing support and end-of-contract access to records. For workforce-intensive services, review any transfer information with your adviser. These decisions can change the service design and should be settled before writing promises about flexibility.

Bring the right people into the bid

The best source for a school tender is often the person who has managed the service through an ordinary school week and an unexpected disruption. Bidgen can interview that person, organise the response and work with your safeguarding, technical and commercial leads to check the detail.

We will scope the writing and management work from the complete pack. Your organisation remains responsible for approving staffing, safeguarding arrangements, data use, contractual terms and price. Allow time for those approvals in the bid programme.