Coming up· published 5 Sept 2025
Expansion of Existing Specialist Provision Places
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council · Barnsley, Yorkshire and the Humber
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council is planning Expansion of Existing Specialist Provision Places. It is a contract for children's services and Ofsted in Barnsley.
Source: Find a Tender, published 5 Sep 2025. Details are refreshed every 30 minutes.
Key dates
2025
Pipeline notice published
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice · 14:00
View notice2025
Tender notice expected
Date given in the buyer's earlier notice
2026
Contract starts
Next
2027
Contract ends
1½ years after it starts
About this tender
In brief
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council is planning Expansion of Existing Specialist Provision Places. It is a contract for children's services and Ofsted in Barnsley. The buyer has published an early notice. It gives providers time to prepare before the tender opens. The contract runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 July 2027. It lasts 1½ years.
The buyer marks it as suitable for SMEs and VCSEs. Find a Tender published it on 5 September 2025. The notice number is 054354-2025. The OCDS ID is ocds-h6vhtk-05951d. Bids are made through the buyer's EU-Supply portal.
Summary of the contracting process
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council is currently in the planning stage of a tender process titled "Expansion of Existing Specialist Provision Places." This procurement seeks to enhance the provision of specialist educational places for students aged 11 to 25 with communication and interaction needs, including those with autism spectrum disorder and social, emotional, and mental health issues.
A special emphasis is placed on education and training services within the region of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. The deadline for submitting the pre-market engagement Appendix 1 is 22 September 2025 at 12 noon. This market engagement process, which aims to solicit input from the supply market, allows for expanding the existing educational facilities starting from April 2026, with a goal of 50 places by 2027.
Key stakeholders can access more information from Barnsley's Town Hall office or reach out to Katie Tomlinson via email or telephone as provided in the tender details. This tender provides significant opportunities for educational service providers, particularly small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and voluntary, community, and social enterprises (VCSEs), to expand their operations by participating in the delivery of specialised education for students with specific needs.
The notice in full
The Council is wishing to increase the number of Key Stage (KS) 3 and 4 and Post 16 (P16) specialist places in Barnsley. In order to help inform such an exercise, the Council in undertaking this pre-market engagement stage to explore what is available and seek feedback and guidance from the supply market prior to progressing the procurement.
Barnsley's aim is for children and young people to be educated closer to home, in their communities, able to access local health and social care services and local social opportunities. This project supports the achievement of the priorities set out in Children's Services' self-evaluation framework.
In response, Barnsley seeks to increase numbers of specialist places within the borough for students aged between 11 and 25 with a profile of communication and interaction (C&I). The successful provider will operate a satellite of existing provision, delivering a specialist curriculum for those students with a profile of C&I including autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Students' profiles will also include social, emotional, and mental health (SEMH) particularly those with disruptive and challenging behaviours requiring interventions that cater for their primary need of C&I. Barnsley initially seeks provide 20 places from April 2026 increasing by at least 10 places each academic year until we reach 50 places. Capacity will be reviewed annually to reflect and cater for the identified need in the borough.
This is a market testing exercise therefore no estimated value is available. Please note that the end date will change, however we do not have the full details of the length of the agreement at this stage. Please download and review the Market Engagement Information Document and PRD Market Engagement Document for further information.
The deadline to submit Appendix 1 is 22/09/2025 at 12noon.
Lots: no lot details came through with this notice. The official notice and the tender pack have the full breakdown.
Key facts
Contract
- Service
- Children and Young People's Social Care
- Procurement type
- Standard
- Category
- Services
- Contract period
- 1 Apr 2026 to 31 Jul 2027 (1½ years)
- Suitable for
- Small and medium sized businesses (SMEs); Voluntary, community and social enterprises (VCSEs)
Procedure
- Notice type
- UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
- Current stage
- Planning
- Stages so far
- Planning
- Published on
- Find a Tender Service
- Buyer's portal
- EU-Supply
Not stated in the notice: procurement method, awardee scale.
Values
Not stated in the notice: tender value, lots value, awards value, contracts value.
Status
- Tender
- Planning
- Lots
- Planning
Not stated in the notice: awards, contracts.
References
- Find a Tender notice
- 054354-2025
- Open Contracting ID
- ocds-h6vhtk-05951d
- CPV code
- 80000000 - Education and training services; 80100000 - Primary education services; 80200000 - Secondary education services; 80300000 - Higher education services; 85000000 - Health and social work services
- CPV division
- 80 - Education and training services; 85 - Health and social work services
Location
- Local authority
- Barnsley
- Town
- Sheffield
- Postcode
- S70 2TA
- Electoral ward
- Central
- Constituency
- Barnsley North
- Region
- Yorkshire and the Humber
- Sub-region
- Barnsley
- Area
- South Yorkshire
- Country
- England
Buyer
Contracting authority
- Organisation
- Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
- Category
- Services
- Contact
- Katie Tomlinson
- Phone
- +44 0126000000
- Address
- Barnsley, South Yorkshire, S70 2TA · Yorkshire and the Humber · England
Documents and links
- Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tenderfind-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/054354-2025
- EU-Supply portal, to register and biduk.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/rwlentrance_s.asp
- Legislation.gov.uklegislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents
- OCDS record ocds-h6vhtk-05951d (JSON)find-tender.service.gov.uk/api/1.0/ocdsReleasePackages/ocds-h…
Questions about Expansion of Existing Specialist Provision Places
When will the Expansion of Existing Specialist Provision Places tender open?
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council has not yet given a date for the tender notice. An early notice is the time to answer any market engagement questions and gather the evidence a bid will need.
How long is the Expansion of Existing Specialist Provision Places contract?
The contract runs from 1 April 2026 to 31 July 2027 (1½ years).
Who is the buyer for Expansion of Existing Specialist Provision Places?
Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, based in Barnsley, Yorkshire and the Humber. The named contact is Katie Tomlinson, on +44 0126000000.
How do I bid for Expansion of Existing Specialist Provision Places?
Register on the buyer's EU-Supply portal, download the tender pack and check every condition of participation before you start writing. The buyer has marked it as suitable for SMEs and VCSEs. Care Sync Experts writes and reviews care tender bids from £1,500 + VAT.
Want help winning this tender?
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What to do next
- Read the early notice in full.
- Answer any market engagement questions.
- Gather your evidence and case studies now.
- Check your policies are up to date.
- Watch for the tender notice.
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