Official UK procurement notice
BNU-2512-346 Student Management System & Associated Services
Authority: Buckinghamshire New University (Education)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionBNU is undertaking a Competitive Flexible Procedure for the procurement of a Student Management System and associated services. Through this procurement exercise, BNU is seeking to upgrade its current Student Management System QLS, implemented around 2001. It is widely used across BNU to meet academic, legal, contractual, and business-related needs. This is an opportunity for the supply of Services to BNU. This opportunity requires Suppliers to demonstrate they have a proven track record of successfully delivering similar requirements to Universities at similar scale and who can deliver a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution within aggressive timelines. Suppliers are expected to provide a detailed proposal, aligned with BNU's terms and conditions as set out in the draft Contract, outlining their approach to delivering a fully operational Student Management solution. The system should be fully implemented by July 2029. The PSQ Guidance document which incorporates the PSQ, contains appendices which include the draft Requirement, the draft Invitation to Tender Questions/Award Criteria and the draft Contract. The PSQ Guidance document will be available to Suppliers upon receipt of expression of interest via the e-tendering portal InTend. The draft Requirement provides further detail for this opportunity.
This is a two stage Competitive Flexible Procedure. The closing date to respond to this Tender Notice is 10 June 2026 at 16:00pm. The process will be in two stages.
Stage 1 is a selection stage and includes enough detail for interested Suppliers to respond to the PSQ and Conditions of Participation. The Conditions of Participation are as set out in the PSQ.
Stage 2 is the Invitation to Tender (ITT) stage. Suppliers responding to Stage 1 will be evaluated and down-selected to the 3 highest scoring Suppliers to participate in Stage 2. The procurement will not involve any negotiation or dialogue.
Please review the timetable within the PSQ guidance document set for more details. BNU is seeking to award a contract for an initial term of five (5) years (plus the Onboarding Phase at the start, as defined in the Draft Contract) with the provision to extend for a further five (5) years in one year increments, commencing on approximately 8th December 2026.
Key dependencies: Suppliers should note that the University is currently undertaking an ongoing Continuous Improvement Programme which is expected to continue throughout the Procurement and into the duration of any resulting contract. Further information in relation to how this may impact on the Requirements and the procurement process is included in the PSQ Guidance document.
- The authority expects to re-tender this requirement around 1 Dec 2030, 23:59 GMT.
- How the procedure runs: The procurement will be conducted using two stages. The first stage is a selection stage including PSQ and COP. Buckingham New University (“BNU”) will evaluate responses to the PSQ and shortlist the 3 highest scoring Suppliers. The shortlisted Suppliers from the PSQ stage will be invited to submit a Tender via the ITT (second stage). There will be no negotiation or dialogue as part of the procurement process.
CPV: Custom software development services · Educational software package · IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · Software implementation services · System and support services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedWhat it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Published award criteria (2)
- Price: BNU may, in line with the provisions of section 24 of the Procurement Act 2023, exercise its right to refine award criteria as the procurement progresses. As stated in Appendix 7 and 8 of the PSQ Guidance Document, which can be downloaded from the InTend e-tendering portal.
- Quality: BNU may, in line with the provisions of section 24 of the Procurement Act 2023, exercise its right to refine award criteria as the procurement progresses. As stated in Appendix 7 and 8 of the PSQ Guidance Document, which can be downloaded from the InTend e-tendering portal.
- Price carries 30 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 3 points. The method statement decides this lot, not the discount.
Price arithmetic assumes straight proportional scoring; the tender pack may use another formula.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Competitive flexible procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Closed
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Yes · next expected 1 Dec 2030
- First published
- 12 May 2026, 15:16 BST
- Last source update
- 12 May 2026, 15:16 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 2 Dec 2026
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-043538- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0696d4Find a Tender- Contract terms summary
As stated in Appendix 7 (Q4 Invitation to Tender Question set) and Clause 11 of the Draft Contract, which can be downloaded from the InTend e-tendering portal: in-tendhost.co.uk/bucksnewuni/aspx/Home ↗
- How it runs
The procurement will be conducted using two stages. The first stage is a selection stage including PSQ and COP. Buckingham New University (“BNU”) will evaluate responses to the PSQ and shortlist the 3 highest scoring Suppliers. The shortlisted Suppliers from the PSQ stage will be invited to submit a Tender via the ITT (second stage). There will be no negotiation or dialogue as part of the procurement process.
How it was run
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 10 Jun 2026, 16:00 BST
- Submission deadline
- 10 Jun 2026, 16:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 29 May 2026, 23:59 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Via the e-tendering portal, InTend (in-tendhost.co.uk/bucksnewuni/aspx/Home ↗). Suppliers can register for an account via InTend. If you identify a technical issue, use the help feature or contact the Technical Support Team without delay via the following contact point at:
Phone: 0845 557 8079
Email: support@in-tend.co.uk
Timeline
12 May 2026 → 8 Dec 2026 · 5 dates- Tender notice published168 days ago12 May 2026, 15:16 BST
- Clarification questions by151 days ago29 May 2026, 23:59 BST
- Submission deadline139 days ago10 Jun 2026, 16:00 BST
- Today28 Oct 2026
- Award decision expected byin 35 days2 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 40 days8 Dec 2026
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Tender notice published12 May 2026, 15:16 BSTUK4
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Bidding documents and specificationsAccess: Documents can be downloaded from the InTend e-tendering portal (https://in-tendhost.co.uk/bucksnewuni/aspx/Home)
Notices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender