Specialist Education Framework Phase 1 – Independent Non-Maintained Special Schools Round 4

Nottinghamshire County Council (the Council) is seeking to add further Independent non-maintained Special Schools (INMSS) to the INMSS Framework under which the Council are looking to commission INMSS and Post-16 (where the provision is delivered in house by the school) provision of specialist school placements for pupils who are not attending mainstream or maintained special schools and who have an Education Health Care (EHC) Plan. This process is the reopening of the framework for new providers to bid to join the INMSS framework and is the fourth tender round.

This tender round is only open to bid to join the INMSS Approved Provider List which is Lot 2 of the Framework Agreement. The Council are not re-opening Lot 1 Block Contract in this tender round.

Any providers who were unsuccessful in the previous tender rounds (1, 2 and 3) for Lot 2 can reapply in this tender round (4). ANY PROVIDERS WHO HAVE ALREADY SUCCESSFULLY APPLIED IN PREVIOUS TENDER ROUNDS AND HAVE BEEN AWARDED A PLACE ON THE FRAMEWORK DO NOT NEED TO APPLY AGAIN IN THIS TENDER ROUND.

To register your interest in this tender and to view the tender documents, the tender is published on https://www.eastmidstenders.org/ Reference DN784701 The closing date for all tenders is the 7th of November 2025 at 5.00pm. Please note that a standstill period of 10 days will commence from the notification of the contract award.

The Council has a statutory duty to offer all children and young people a school place. The scope is to commission specialist education services with external providers (INMSS) where needs cannot be met, or it is not possible to offer places within a mainstream school or maintained special school.

Nottinghamshire County Council (the Council) is seeking to add further Independent non-maintained Special Schools (INMSS) to the INMSS Framework under which the Council are looking to commission INMSS and Post-16 (where the provision is delivered in house by the school) provision of specialist school placements for pupils who are not attending mainstream or maintained special schools and who have an Education Health Care (EHC) Plan. This process is the reopening of the framework for new providers to bid to join the INMSS framework and is the fourth tender round.

This tender round is only open to bid to join the INMSS Approved Provider List which is Lot 2 of the Framework Agreement. The Council are not re-opening Lot 1 Block Contract in this tender round.

Any providers who were unsuccessful in the previous tender rounds (1, 2 and 3) for Lot 2 can reapply in this tender round (4). ANY PROVIDERS WHO HAVE ALREADY SUCCESSFULLY APPLIED IN PREVIOUS TENDER ROUNDS AND HAVE BEEN AWARDED A PLACE ON THE FRAMEWORK DO NOT NEED TO APPLY AGAIN IN THIS TENDER ROUND.

The establishment of a framework for INMSS is the first phase of the recommissioning of the Specialist Education provision for the Council as set out in the Vision document (Part 3 – Vision document). Further phases of the recommissioning will include Alternative Education Provision and Post-16 institutions (e.g., further education colleges that are not part of the INMSS).

New procurement processes will be run at later dates which are yet to be decided. A Framework Agreement is an agreement between the contracting authority and one or more Service Providers, the purpose of which is to establish the terms governing contracts to be awarded during a given period.

This is a multi-provider framework. There is no guarantee of work under this Framework.

Bidders should note that a further opportunity/opportunity for organisations to bid for inclusion on this framework may be advertised. No date/s have been set for any such process; however, further rounds for both lots 1 and 2 may periodically open again subject to demand.

Any Bidder who is unsuccessful in this tender may bid again in any future tender for admission to the framework. The Framework Agreement is commissioned under the Light Touch Regime 74 -77 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 using an open procedure and advertised in the Find a Tender Service Find high value contracts in the public sector - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Additional information: There is potential to extend this Framework Agreement for up to a further 6 years in increments of 24 months. Please note that this is an indicative total value and the Council cannot guarantee the value of business under the framework agreement as this is subject to demand for specialist school places and the fees are also subject to an annual fee review