Education
Stronger bids for education contracts, public and private.
Velstrian Bid finds education contracts that suit you and helps you answer them from your own documents, whether the buyer is a state school, an academy trust, a college, a university or an independent school. One consistent voice, however big or small the buyer.
Your first 7 days are free. A card is needed to start.
Who asks you to bid
Many buyers, tight budgets, careful due diligence.
Public buyers are councils buying for their schools, academy trusts, colleges and universities. They advertise on official listing sites and often buy through government frameworks. Private buyers, such as independent schools, nursery groups and training providers, usually send their tender straight to you.
Three things make education bids demanding. The same supplier has to pitch to a single school and to a trust with dozens of sites. Buyers check carefully how you protect pupil and staff data before they award. And public buyers now score the good you do locally.
For a supplier with a small bid team, keeping every answer accurate, consistent and on time across all of these buyers is the hard part.
How Velstrian Bid helps
One supplier voice, every buyer.
One place to find education work, write the bid and prove you delivered.
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Find the work that fits.
New public contracts arrive every morning, already matched to what you supply and where. An independent school or a nursery group sent you a tender? Upload it.
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Say it the same way every time.
Each answer is drafted from bids you have already written, so a small single school tender and a trust wide one tell the same story.
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Keep the numbers true.
Every pound and percentage has to come from your own records before an answer is shown, so nothing is made up.
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Stay in charge, then show you delivered.
You approve every answer before it goes. After you win, keep proof of each promise ready for the buyer's reviews.
For when you need it
The rules and words, explained.
You do not need any of this to start. Open a line when a rule or a word comes up in a tender.
Where public contracts come from
Public buyers must advertise most contracts on official listing sites. Velstrian Bid reads Find a Tender, Contracts Finder, Public Contracts Scotland and EU TED every morning at 06:00 UTC and names the site on every notice. Canada, US federal and World Bank notices are available per organisation on request. Private clients rarely advertise, so you upload the tender they send you.
How schools, trusts and colleges buy
A council buys on behalf of the schools it runs. A multi-academy trust (a group of academies run as one organisation) often runs one formal tender across many sites. Colleges and universities follow their own rules. Much of this is bought through Department for Education and central government frameworks, approved lists of suppliers that buyers call work off, and advertised through e-sourcing portals (the buyer's online tender websites).
CPV codes
A CPV code is the standard number a public buyer uses to label what it is buying, for example a code for catering or for ICT. You can filter the morning feed by CPV code, region and contract value, so only the contracts you can deliver reach your list.
Data protection and security checks
Suppliers that handle pupil and staff data, or connect to school systems, are asked for data protection evidence and a recognised security accreditation before they can be awarded the contract. Keep those documents in Velstrian Bid and they are ready for every tender.
PPN 026 and social value
Social value is the extra good you do locally, such as local jobs, help with the curriculum and community benefit. PPN 026, the next edition of the Social Value Model, applies to central government procurements commenced on or after 1 January 2027 at 1 million pounds inc VAT or above. Velstrian Bid adds up the figures in code from a curated library of measures aligned to National TOMs conventions (Themes, Outcomes and Measures, a UK way of counting social value).
PPN 017 and AI
PPN 017 is the government guidance on telling a buyer when AI helped write a bid. Every answer drafted with AI carries that note, and a person approves it before it is sent.
Procurement Act 2023, sections 52 and 71
The Procurement Act 2023 sets the rules public buyers follow. Section 52 says a public contract worth more than £5m needs at least three published targets, called key performance indicators. Section 71 says performance against them must be assessed and published. Velstrian Bid checks these duties for you and keeps your delivery proof beside each target. The checks guide you and never block you.
Questions
Education bidding, answered.
Can I use Velstrian Bid for independent schools and other private buyers?
Yes. Independent schools, nursery groups and private training providers usually send their tender or request for a quote straight to you. Upload it, and Velstrian Bid drafts the answers from your own documents in the same way as for a public tender.
Which education buyers and frameworks does Velstrian Bid cover?
Velstrian Bid reads education tenders published on the official listing sites, including work from councils, multi-academy trusts, colleges and universities, and work let through Department for Education and central government frameworks for catering, cleaning, ICT, school management systems and estates. You filter by CPV code (the buyer's standard label for the type of work), region and value.
How does buying differ across schools, trusts and colleges?
A single school may buy on its own below set spending limits, while a multi-academy trust often runs one formal tender across many sites, and colleges follow their own rules. Velstrian Bid drafts each answer from bids you have already written, so your voice stays the same across all of them.
How is social value scored on education contracts?
PPN 026, the next edition of the Social Value Model, applies to central government procurements commenced on or after 1 January 2027 at 1 million pounds inc VAT or above. Schools, academy trusts, colleges and universities are not bound by it and often score social value under their own policy. Education buyers often ask for local jobs, help with the curriculum and community benefit. Velstrian Bid works out the figures in code and drafts the words from your own data.
Does Velstrian Bid help after I win an education contract?
Yes. It gives you one place to record proof of each promise you made to a school, trust or college, and it checks the Procurement Act 2023 duties on published targets so you know what the buyer will report on.
Find the work. Win it. Prove you delivered.
Start with the education work your team should be bidding for this week.