Turing Scheme - Administration Services (Contracts Finder - Early Engagement Notice 02/04/2021))

On the 24 December 2020, the UK Government announced the introduction of the Turing Scheme, a new programme to support students to study and undertake work placements across the world.

The Turing Scheme has funding of £110 million, to enable around 35,000 students in UK universities, colleges and schools to travel on placements and exchanges overseas, starting from September 2021. The Turing Scheme is particularly focused on students from disadvantaged backgrounds, making life-changing opportunities accessible to students across the United Kingdom.

The Department for Education (DfE) is responsible for the delivery of the Turing Scheme. Following the initial announcement in December, on the 6 February 2021 the Turing Scheme website launched, and on the 12 March 2021, the application window for funding for universities, school and colleges was opened.

Further information about the Turing Scheme can be found here: turing-scheme.org.uk

Following the launch of the Turing Scheme and the opening of the application process, the Department is now considering its strategy for the longer-term delivery of the Turing Scheme administration services. The new service is likely to be required from the beginning of 2022.

The purpose of this Notice is to initiate market engagement. It does not signify the commencement of any procurement process and does not constitute any commitment by the Department for Education. If the Department for Education decides to commence any procurement process as contemplated by this notice, a separate notice will be published at the relevant time.

The Turing Scheme currently provides programme funding for mobility projects taking place in a given academic year (i.e. September to August). The programme lifecycle is longer, with activity to select projects to be funding taking place in the Spring/Summer preceding the academic year, and then project close activity taking place running into the Autumn following the academic year.

The Turing Scheme administration service need over this period consists of various component elements:

Scheme promotions and communications

Facilitating and managing the funding application process Assessing funding applications

Grant administration (entering in to grant agreement, monitoring, closure)

Programme Fund management and distribution

Programme governance, including compliance and audit controls

Further information about the programme lifecycle and service requirements will be provided during upcoming market engagement activity.

Additional information:

This Notice is intended to:

1. Raise awareness with the market of a potential future procurement process for the end-to-end delivery of the Turing Scheme service;

2. Inform the market that the Department will be undertaking market engagement activity during Spring 2021, for the purpose of gathering information about the supply market and their delivery solutions; and to inform its understanding of the risks and issues relevant to managing transition to, and mobilisation of, any new service arrangements.

At this stage, interested market suppliers should ensure they are registered on the Department's e-procurement solution (Jaggaer). The Department will engage with the market and administer any procurement via Jaggaer.

Jaggaer registration information can be found here: https://education.app.jaggaer.com/

Should a supplier experience any technical difficulty with the DfE eSourcing portal, they need to contact the Jaggaer Service Helpdesk on 0800 069 8630 or e-mail help_UK@jaggaer.com.

Further notices regarding the market engagement approach will be published in due course.