Official UK procurement notice
Senior Civil Servants (SCS) Assessments
Authority: Cabinet Office (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis procurement is for the provision of Senior Civil Servants (SCS) Assessment Services and is being conducted by Cabinet Office (CO) and HMTreasury Commercial on behalf of the CO as the Contracting Authority.
The recruitment process for SCS will differentiate between the following grade levels: G6 to SCS1 and SCS2 to SCS4 (SCS2-4)
For all levels (G6-SCS4), assessment will include the procurement of an externally renowned psychometric test to explore in detail candidates' behaviours.
In addition, assessment for SCS2-4 candidates will include the provision of a second externally recognised psychometric assessment that evaluates leadership derailment risks.
Assessment for SCS2-4 candidates will also require the implementation of an Interactive Work Sample Assessment (IWA), which consists of a suite of Assessments.
CPV: Recruitment services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewal
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Cabinet Office buys Recruitment services (CPV 7960), and who usually turns up
Cabinet Office’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: Recruitment services (CPV 7960) →
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.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered outside 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 62 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 bid10%
2–315%
4–621%
7+54%
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 estimate27%
Within ±2%73%
Above estimate0%
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 7960Estimate not published
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 67 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid10%
2–315%
4–621%
7+54%
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- Procedure method
- Award under framework
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- 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
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 21 Aug 2026, 10:43 BST
- Last source update
- 15 Sept 2026, 17:23 BST
- Authority reference
CSR/212- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-087509- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06e957Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
21 Aug 2026 → 1 Jan 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published68 days ago21 Aug 2026, 10:43 BST
- Latest notice published42 days ago15 Sept 2026, 17:23 BST
- Market engagement34 days ago24 Sept 2026, 00:59 BST
The intended route to market is via the RM6394 Executive & Non- Executive Search 3 framework. Please note that this opportunity is restricted to GCA approved suppliers with places on both Lots 1 and 2 of this framework.
A "Meet the Buyer" session will take place on Thursday 17 September via Google Meet. This event will provide an overview of the Cabinet Office and the relevant business unit, detailing the contract scope, terms, and duration, followed by a live Q&A session.
Invitations and a Request for Further Information (RFI) document have been issued to eligible suppliers via the GCA Jaggaer e-sourcing portal. Completed RFI documents must be submitted through the portal by Wednesday 23 September 2026.
- Today28 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 64 days1 Jan 2027
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 21 Aug 2026- Pipeline notice published21 Aug 2026, 10:43 BSTUK1
- Preliminary market engagement notice published15 Sept 2026, 17:23 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 (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Pipeline notice Pipeline notice on Find a Tender