Training tenders in the UK: where to find them and which to bid for

Published 30 October 2026

Councils, NHS bodies, colleges and government departments all buy training, from staff courses to skills programmes for the public. Of the six sectors we track, training has the highest share of contracts going to small and medium-sized businesses. This guide covers where training tenders are advertised, how many there are, what buyers ask for and how to choose which ones to bid on.

Where training tenders are advertised

• Find a Tender (find-tender.service.gov.uk) is the main place. Since the Procurement Act 2023 came in on 24 February 2025, it has been part of the government's Central Digital Platform, which carries both larger and smaller notices for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It's free to search, and you can set up email alerts.
• Contracts Finder (contractsfinder.service.gov.uk) still lists procurements that started under the old rules before 24 February 2025.
• Scotland has its own procurement rules and its own portal, Public Contracts Scotland.

For contracts worth at least £30,000 including tax (£12,000 for central government, which now includes NHS trusts), a buyer that advertises the contract has to publish a notice on the Central Digital Platform first, under section 87 of the Procurement Act. Schools are exempt from these below-threshold notice rules.

How many are there?

We counted Find a Tender notices whose main classification code is education and training services. Between 1 September and 28 October 2026 there were about 60 new training tender notices a month. About 26 a month stated a value under £500,000. Notices that didn't state a value aren't in that figure.

Contracts Finder had about 7 new training opportunities a month between July and October 2026, and buyers marked 93% of them as suitable for small or medium-sized suppliers.

Who wins them

Of the 564 training contracts awarded on Contracts Finder between 1 July and 28 October 2026, 317 (56%) went to small and medium-sized businesses. That's the highest share of the six sectors in our sector breakdown. Most of those wins were modest: 242 of the 317 were worth between £10,000 and £100,000.

How competitive are they?

Some award notices say how many bids each lot received. Across 64 training lots with a published count, the median was 5 bids, and 28% had only one. That's a small sample, so treat it as a rough guide. Our guide to how many bids public tenders get compares the sectors.

For larger competitive tenders under £5 million, the contract award notice usually shows how many tenders came in and how many were from small businesses. Looking up past training awards from the same buyer tells you what you're up against.

What buyers usually ask a training business for

Every tender is different, so read the documents. These come up often:

• Registration on the Central Digital Platform. Before a contract is awarded, the buyer needs your registration and unique identifier. Since 1 April 2026 that applies to smaller contracts too, before the buyer publishes the contract details notice. Registration is free. Our Central Digital Platform guide walks through it.
• Apprenticeship training needs the register. To get government funding to train apprentices in England, your organisation must be on the apprenticeship provider and assessment register (APAR). GOV.UK lists who can join, for example a provider nominated by an employer that has shown a gap in provision, and the main provider route needs at least 12 months of trading.
• Quality answers. These usually cover course design, trainers' experience, how you'll reach learners and how you'll measure results. In our count of notices that published award criteria, 30% of 118 training notices had a criterion with "social value" in its name or description. Our social value guide covers how to answer one.
• Proportionate conditions. For larger contracts, buyers can only test your legal and financial capacity and your technical ability, and only in ways that are proportionate to the contract.

Which ones to skip

A bid takes time. The FSB found that it takes small businesses five days on average to prepare a bid. Before you start, check:

1. Size. Can you deliver every course on the timetable from day one, with the trainers you have?
2. Location. A county-wide programme may need travel you can't price in.
3. Time left. Under the Procurement Act, a larger open tender usually gets at least 25 days, and in some cases as few as 10. Smaller contracts only need a reasonable period.
4. Fit with your evidence. If you have no similar course or contract to point to, a smaller lot is a better first win.
5. Funding rules. If the work is funded apprenticeship training, check you're eligible before you spend time on the bid.

For more on where to start, see our guide to tender help for small businesses.

Get the training shortlist

UK Tender Desk, from Your Evenings Ltd (that's us), is a one-off £149 diagnostic for small businesses in construction trades, training, transport, care, cleaning and catering. It's done for you. We look at live tenders on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder, pick up to 5 that suit a business your size, and tell you what to fix before you bid. It arrives by email within 5 working days of your form, with no call. If it's late, you don't pay. If no live tender fits, we say so and why.

See what the diagnostic looks like · Get your tender shortlist for £149

Sources

• Find a Tender and Contracts Finder
• Procurement Act 2023, section 87 (below-threshold notices) and section 22 (conditions of participation)
• GOV.UK: Guidance: Below-Threshold Contracts
• The Procurement Regulations 2024, regulation 36A (supplier registration, from 1 April 2026)
• GOV.UK: Time periods guidance
• GOV.UK: Contract award notices and standstill guidance
• GOV.UK: Apply to the APAR as an apprenticeship training provider and the APAR application service
• GOV.UK: APAR application guidance (PDF) (12 months of trading for the main provider route)
• FSB press release, 15 December 2025
• Our counts: Find a Tender and Contracts Finder open data (OCDS), counted by Your Evenings Ltd on 30 October 2026. Sectors are by the notice's main classification code. The bid-count and award samples are small.

This guide summarises the official sources above. It isn't legal advice. Check the notice and tender documents for each contract.

Written with AI assistance by the Your Evenings team at Your Evenings Ltd. Last updated 30 October 2026.