Official UK procurement notice
What works in AI Adoption within DCMS Sectors
Authority: Department for Culture, Media and Sport (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionFull information is provided within the specification.
DCMS are seeking to commission "what works" research into the impact and effectiveness of AI adoption interventions within DCMS sectors. We are interested in two broad sets of questions. The first is analysis of how businesses within DCMS sectors that are in the process of adopting AI achieve this, the challenges they face and the opportunities and benefits realised. We anticipate this will be explored through an ethnographic study that observes how individuals and teams actually use AI tools in their jobs. The second set of questions is what policy interventions work best to support businesses that wish to adopt AI, which we anticipate will be answered by testing hypothetical interventions through randomised control trials (RCTs). Bidders will be able to propose alternative methodologies if they think they suit these questions better; the core need for this project is to produce direct, robust evidence of what works, as opposed to what is self-reported (e.g. through interviews, focus groups, surveys, and similar) to work.
- How the procedure runs: Under Section 3(2) and Schedule 2: Exempted Contracts, Part 2: Subject-matter Exempted Contracts, Paragraph 11: Research and development services, of the Procurement Act 2023 (PA23), public contracts consisting solely of pure research and development that are intended for general public benefit are explicitly exempt from statutory "covered procurement" rules. As this contract qualifies for the R&D Exemption under Schedule 2, Paragraph 11 of the Procurement Act 2023, DCMS will operate outside of the statutory constraints of a covered procurement. Because this is an exempted contract, the statutory challenge regime and automatic suspension provisions under Part 9 of the Procurement Act 2023 do not apply. However, DCMS is committed to conducting a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory process in voluntary alignment with core PA23 principles This procurement is structured as a two-stage competitive procedure, Suppliers are invited to complete the Stage 1 Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) to participate in the shortlisting stage. Suppliers should read the PSQ Guidance document before completing the questionnaire. Bidders will be shortlisted based on pass/fail criteria and on their total weighted scores for the PSQ. The top 5 highest scoring candidates will be invited to Stage 2. The shortlisted candidates will be issued the Invitation to Tender (ITT) to submit their full technical proposal and commercial pricing for evaluation. This will be evaluated in accordance with the ITT guidance that will be released to the shortlisted candidates.
CPV: Research and development services and related consultancy services
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1Published value£1,500,000
- Economic & financial standing
Suppliers are required to satisfy the baseline financial capacity conditions set out in Part 3 of the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ). Bidders must self-certify and provide two years of verified financial statements demonstrating a minimum annual turnover equivalent to 1x the maximum estimated annual contract value (£400,000 per year). Where a bidder is a newly formed entity, or consortium relying on parent/associated entity support, alternative evidence of financial standing (such as parent company guarantees, bank references, or confirmed grant funding allocations) may be provided to satisfy this threshold on a pass/fail basis.
- Technical & professional ability
To demonstrate technical capability under Part 3 of the PSQ, suppliers must provide details of two relevant case studies from the past five years that illustrate experience of a similar size, scale, and complexity to this requirement. Bidders must complete either Route 1 (Q15a & Q15b) for formal commercial/public contract history or Route 2 (Q15c & Q15d) for non-contractual, grant-funded, or academic experience. Submissions across both routes will be scored and evaluated against four weighted criteria: Research Aims & Scope (10%), Methodological Design & Execution (40%), Deliverables & Practical Policy Impact (30%), and Project Delivery & Stakeholder Management (20%)
DCMS will then shortlist the top 5 highest-scoring bidders to progress to Stage 2.
- Condition of participationshortlisting
The department will use a two-stage competitive process.
In Stage 1, candidate suppliers will be evaluated on a Pass/Fail basis against Part 1 (Supplier Information), Part 2 (Exclusions), and Part 3 Conditions of Participation (Financial Turnover threshold of £400k/year and Required Insurance Levels).
Bidders meeting all Pass/Fail conditions will then be evaluated and ranked based on their response to Question 15 (Technical Ability Case Studies, completed via Route 1 or Route 2). Responses will be evaluated against four weighted criteria:
Research Aims & Scope (10%)
Methodological Approach, Design & Execution (40%)
Deliverables, Outputs & Practical Impact (30%)
Project Delivery & Stakeholder Management (20%)
The top 5 highest-scoring suppliers based on total weighted score will be invited to Stage 2 (Invitation to Tender). In the event of a tie for the 5th shortlist position, a sequential tie-break methodology will be applied based on unweighted scores in Criterion 2 (40%), Criterion 3 (30%), and Criterion 4 (20%). If still tied, all tied 5th-place suppliers will be invited to Stage 2.
What 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)
- Quality: Full details will be provided at ITT stage (Stage2). 70% will be weighted towards quality 10% will be weighted towards social value
- Price: Pricing schedule will be provided within the ITT (Stage 2). 20% weighting will be toward price.
- Economic & financial standing
Suppliers are required to satisfy the baseline financial capacity conditions set out in Part 3 of the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ). Bidders must self-certify and provide two years of verified financial statements demonstrating a minimum annual turnover equivalent to 1x the maximum estimated annual contract value (£400,000 per year). Where a bidder is a newly formed entity, or consortium relying on parent/associated entity support, alternative evidence of financial standing (such as parent company guarantees, bank references, or confirmed grant funding allocations) may be provided to satisfy this threshold on a pass/fail basis.
- Technical & professional ability
To demonstrate technical capability under Part 3 of the PSQ, suppliers must provide details of two relevant case studies from the past five years that illustrate experience of a similar size, scale, and complexity to this requirement. Bidders must complete either Route 1 (Q15a & Q15b) for formal commercial/public contract history or Route 2 (Q15c & Q15d) for non-contractual, grant-funded, or academic experience. Submissions across both routes will be scored and evaluated against four weighted criteria: Research Aims & Scope (10%), Methodological Design & Execution (40%), Deliverables & Practical Policy Impact (30%), and Project Delivery & Stakeholder Management (20%)
DCMS will then shortlist the top 5 highest-scoring bidders to progress to Stage 2.
- Condition of participationshortlisting
The department will use a two-stage competitive process.
In Stage 1, candidate suppliers will be evaluated on a Pass/Fail basis against Part 1 (Supplier Information), Part 2 (Exclusions), and Part 3 Conditions of Participation (Financial Turnover threshold of £400k/year and Required Insurance Levels).
Bidders meeting all Pass/Fail conditions will then be evaluated and ranked based on their response to Question 15 (Technical Ability Case Studies, completed via Route 1 or Route 2). Responses will be evaluated against four weighted criteria:
Research Aims & Scope (10%)
Methodological Approach, Design & Execution (40%)
Deliverables, Outputs & Practical Impact (30%)
Project Delivery & Stakeholder Management (20%)
The top 5 highest-scoring suppliers based on total weighted score will be invited to Stage 2 (Invitation to Tender). In the event of a tie for the 5th shortlist position, a sequential tie-break methodology will be applied based on unweighted scores in Criterion 2 (40%), Criterion 3 (30%), and Criterion 4 (20%). If still tied, all tied 5th-place suppliers will be invited to Stage 2.
- Price carries 20 of 100 points: a 10% discount moves about 2 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
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 27 Jul 2026, 16:18 BST
- Last source update
- 24 Sept 2026, 17:17 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 8 Feb 2027
- Authority reference
105017- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-090755- Latest notice
- Tender notice (UK4)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06d489Find a Tender
- How it runs
Under Section 3(2) and Schedule 2: Exempted Contracts, Part 2: Subject-matter Exempted Contracts, Paragraph 11: Research and development services, of the Procurement Act 2023 (PA23), public contracts consisting solely of pure research and development that are intended for general public benefit are explicitly exempt from statutory "covered procurement" rules.
As this contract qualifies for the R&D Exemption under Schedule 2, Paragraph 11 of the Procurement Act 2023, DCMS will operate outside of the statutory constraints of a covered procurement.
Because this is an exempted contract, the statutory challenge regime and automatic suspension provisions under Part 9 of the Procurement Act 2023 do not apply. However, DCMS is committed to conducting a fair, transparent, and non-discriminatory process in voluntary alignment with core PA23 principles
This procurement is structured as a two-stage competitive procedure, Suppliers are invited to complete the Stage 1 Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) to participate in the shortlisting stage. Suppliers should read the PSQ Guidance document before completing the questionnaire. Bidders will be shortlisted based on pass/fail criteria and on their total weighted scores for the PSQ. The top 5 highest scoring candidates will be invited to Stage 2.
The shortlisted candidates will be issued the Invitation to Tender (ITT) to submit their full technical proposal and commercial pricing for evaluation. This will be evaluated in accordance with the ITT guidance that will be released to the shortlisted candidates.
How it was run
Official notice- Requests to participate (first stage)
- 23 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission deadline
- 23 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
- Clarification deadline
- 14 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission channel
- Official e-sourcing portal
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
The information and/or documents for this opportunity are available on the Atamis e-sourcing portal: dcms.my.site.com/login ↗ .
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**Please ensure you have registered on the Central Digital Platform to obtain your unique identifier. This is a requirement for all public sector contracts governed under The Procurement Act.*** It is available at www.gov.uk/find-tender ↗
Timeline
27 Jul 2026 → 12 Feb 2027 · 8 dates- Planning notice published93 days ago27 Jul 2026, 16:18 BST
- Market engagement40 days ago · met18 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
The webinar has now concluded.
To view the presentation and associated Q&A, please visit the links below.
Presentation:
drive.google.com/file/d/1ZLYwrdvYoMXU… ↗
Q&A
- Next notice expected37 days ago21 Sept 2026, 23:59 BST
- Tender notice published34 days ago24 Sept 2026, 17:17 BST
- Clarification questions by14 days ago14 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
- Submission deadline5 days ago23 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
- Today29 Oct 2026
- Award decision expected byin 102 days8 Feb 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 105 days12 Feb 2027
Notice history
6 events · 4 releases on Find a Tender · since 27 Jul 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published27 Jul 2026, 16:18 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published27 Jul 2026, 17:20 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published14 Sept 2026, 10:01 BSTUK2
- Tender notice published24 Sept 2026, 17:17 BSTUK4
- Status changed to active24 Sept 2026, 17:17 BST
- Procurement method changed24 Sept 2026, 17:17 BST
Published amendments (2)
Title change
The Market Engagement webinar has now ended. A copy of the presentation is now available within this notice.
Routine re-releases (4)
- 2026-07: 1 release · 27 Jul 2026
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (4)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Tender notice Tender notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender