Official UK procurement notice
Educational Data Management System
Authority: London Borough of Merton (Local council)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe London Borough of Merton ("the Authority") is conducting a Pre-Market Engagement (PME) exercise to inform the planned procurement of Educational Software to support the management of education data across the borough's schools and education services.
As the Authority continues to develop and improve services for residents and children in Merton, it is seeking to ensure it has the right underpinning technology in place, particularly given the rapidly evolving role of artificial intelligence within the technology landscape. This exercise is intended as an initial assessment of the market and current capabilities before entering a formal procurement process.
Suppliers are invited to participate by completing the attached questionnaire. Participation in this exercise does not constitute any commitment by the Authority to proceed to procurement, nor does it guarantee any opportunity to tender.
CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How London Borough of Merton buys IT services: consulting, software, internet (CPV 72), and who usually turns up
London Borough of Merton’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: IT services: consulting, software, internet (CPV 72) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered. The market figure counts awards delivered in Greater London (authority’s region).
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 91 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid25% / 11%
2–320% / 33%
4–635% / 29%
7+20% / 27%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate40%
Within ±2%40%
Above estimate21%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 72Published estimate£700k
This lot lists more than one class in CPV 72. The comparison uses that group.
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 111 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid11%
2–333%
4–629%
7+27%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 12 May 2026, 09:15 BST
- Last source update
- 12 May 2026, 09:15 BST
- Authority reference
DN815060- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-043296- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-069655Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
12 May 2026 → 1 Jan 2028 · 3 dates- Planning notice published169 days ago12 May 2026, 09:15 BST
- Market engagement148 days ago1 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
The London Borough of Merton ("the Authority") is inviting responses to this Pre-Market Engagement (PME) exercise from suppliers active in the Educational Software market, specifically those offering solutions to support the management of education data across schools and education services.
The engagement will be conducted in the following stages:
Stage 1 – Clarification Period (Optional)
Suppliers may submit clarification questions regarding this PME exercise via the London e-Tenders portal. The clarification window will close at 12 noon on Friday, 22nd May 2026. Responses to clarifications will be shared with all participating suppliers to ensure equal access to information.
Stage 2 – Questionnaire Response
Suppliers are invited to review and respond to the PME Questionnaire by 12 noon on Monday 1st June 2026. Responses should be submitted via London e-Tenders portal.
The questionnaire is designed to help the Authority understand the current market landscape, available solutions, and the role of emerging technologies especially artificial intelligence in supporting education services.
It can be accessed by following the link below:
procontract.due-north.com/ProjectManagement/Pr… ↗
Stage 3 – Review and Analysis
The Authority will review and analyse all responses received. This is an information-gathering exercise only. There will be no scoring or evaluation of suppliers at this stage.
Stage 4 – Further Engagement
Subject to the findings of this PME, the Authority intends to proceed to a formal procurement exercise, in due course.
- Today28 Oct 2026
- Contract starts1 Jan 2028
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published12 May 2026, 09:15 BSTUK2
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender