If you are a training or L&D provider bidding for public work, tender evaluation decides everything, and it follows published rules rather than instinct. This guide explains how buyers score a bid for a training contract, what changed under the Procurement Act 2023, and what happens between "you have won" and the contract being signed.
Understanding tender evaluation changes how you write. Once you can see where the marks sit, you stop writing a brochure about your programmes and start answering the questions the evaluator is holding.
At a glance
- Bids are scored against published award criteria using a stated assessment methodology.
- The Procurement Act 2023 renamed the award basis from MEAT to MAT, the most advantageous tender.
- Price is not everything: quality and social value usually carry most of the marks.
- After scoring, buyers issue assessment summaries, then publish a contract award notice.
- For most competitive awards that notice starts a standstill period of eight working days, though call-offs under a framework and light touch contracts are treated differently.
Scoring against tender evaluation criteria
Every competitive procurement publishes award criteria (the tender evaluation criteria your bid is judged on) and an assessment methodology saying how those criteria are scored. Where there is more than one criterion, the buyer must set out their relative importance, by weightings, by ranking or in another way. Evaluators score each bid against the criteria, apply the weightings and rank the results.
The practical lesson for a training provider: read the criteria and weightings closely and answer them directly (see how to write a tender response).
From MEAT tender to most advantageous tender
Under the old rules, contracts went to the "most economically advantageous tender", which bidders shortened to a MEAT tender. The Procurement Act 2023 uses "most advantageous tender" (MAT) instead.
The change clarifies rather than reverses policy. The Act defines the most advantageous tender as the one that satisfies the buyer's requirements and best satisfies the award criteria, assessed by the published methodology and weightings. Those criteria routinely include programme design, trainer quality and social value, so a well-designed, fairly priced bid can beat a cheaper, weaker one.
A worked example: a leadership programme bid
The figures below are illustrative only, not taken from any real tender. A council invites bids for a leadership programme for its middle managers and weights the award out of 100 marks: quality 60, price 30, social value 10.
Each quality question is scored 0 to 5 and converted to marks. Price is scored relatively: the lowest price gets all 30 marks and others get a share in proportion.
| Criterion (marks available) | Provider A | Provider B |
|---|---|---|
| Programme design and delivery model (25) | 4 of 5 → 20 | 3 of 5 → 15 |
| Trainers and accreditation (15) | 4 of 5 → 12 | 3 of 5 → 9 |
| Evaluation of learning outcomes (10) | 3 of 5 → 6 | 2 of 5 → 4 |
| Mobilisation and risk (10) | 4 of 5 → 8 | 3 of 5 → 6 |
| Price (30) | £54,000 → 25 | £45,000 → 30 |
| Social value (10) | 4 of 5 → 8 | 2 of 5 → 4 |
| Total (100) | 79 | 68 |
Provider B was cheaper by a clear margin and still lost by 11 marks. Provider A won it in the quality questions: named trainers, a believable way to measure behaviour change, and specific social value commitments such as free places for local community groups. Buyers choose their own methodology, so always check how price is converted before you decide how sharp to be.
After scoring: assessment summaries
Once evaluation is complete, the buyer gives each bidder whose tender was assessed an assessment summary, explaining how its tender was scored and, if different, how the winning tender was scored. Under the Act these must be provided before the contract award notice is published. A further competition for a call-off under a framework is not a competitive tendering procedure, so the duty does not apply there, although the buyer may choose to give assessment summaries anyway.
The standstill period
The buyer then publishes a contract award notice. For most contracts awarded after a competitive procedure, this starts the mandatory standstill period: eight working days beginning on the day the notice is published. The contract cannot be signed during that window, which gives unsuccessful bidders time to scrutinise the decision and challenge it.
Two exceptions matter for training providers:
- Call-offs under a framework are not subject to the mandatory standstill. Nor are contracts awarded by reference to a dynamic market.
- Light touch contracts are also exempt. Education and training services, including CPV 80500000 "training services", are on the light touch list in the Procurement Regulations 2024.
In either case the buyer may still set a voluntary standstill, which must be at least eight working days. So read the award notice: it tells you whether a standstill applies and when it ends.
What this means for you
- Win on value, not just price. Build quality and social value into your bid.
- Read your assessment summary when you lose. It tells you where marks went, and the next bid improves from it.
- Know the standstill. It is the window to query a decision you believe was wrong.
The most useful habit: before writing anything, turn the scoring matrix into a document skeleton with the marks written next to each section. It stops you spending 800 words on a question worth 5 marks and two lines on one worth 30. If you are not yet on the frameworks where these further competitions happen, see the frameworks training buyers use and the Hull learning and training DPS.
Frequently asked questions
What is tender evaluation?
The stage where the buyer scores each bid against the published award criteria, using the assessment methodology and weightings set out in the tender documents, to find the most advantageous tender.
What does MAT mean in procurement?
Most advantageous tender, the basis on which public contracts are awarded under the Procurement Act 2023. It replaced "most economically advantageous tender" (MEAT) and confirms that price is not the only factor.
Are training contracts awarded to the lowest price?
Not necessarily. The most advantageous tender is the one that best satisfies the published award criteria, which usually include programme design, trainer quality and social value alongside price.
How long is the standstill period?
The mandatory standstill is eight working days, beginning on the day the contract award notice is published. It does not apply to call-offs under a framework or to light touch contracts, though the buyer can choose a voluntary standstill of at least eight working days.
What is an assessment summary?
Information the buyer gives each bidder whose tender was assessed, explaining how its tender was scored and how the winning tender was scored. It comes before the contract award notice.
Sources
- GOV.UK — Guidance: assessing competitive tenders
- GOV.UK — Guidance: contract award notices and standstill
- GOV.UK — Guidance: frameworks (Procurement Act 2023)
- legislation.gov.uk — Procurement Act 2023, section 19 (most advantageous tender)
- legislation.gov.uk — Procurement Act 2023, section 50 (contract award notices and assessment summaries)
- legislation.gov.uk — Procurement Act 2023, section 51 (standstill periods)
- legislation.gov.uk — The Procurement Regulations 2024, Schedule 1 (light touch services)