New centralised agreement for the procurement of adult education and training services in the UK goes live

The Adult Skills and Learning DPS [RM6348] will give public sector bodies access to all the training services they require in order to help the general public (adults and young people) develop the skills they need to gain employment, prepare for an apprenticeship or progress into further qualifications. Training is available regionally and nationally and covers a wide range of subjects, such as English, maths and computer skills, project management and artificial intelligence.

It is the first time these services have been available under one centralised commercial agreement and will save public sector organisations, including central government departments, local authorities, and colleges the time and resources required to manage their commercial procurements. DPSs are easy to use and can reduce procurement times – a simple procurement can be initiated in a matter of days, significantly shorter than more traditional procurements which can often take months.  

The DPS supports both post-16 and post-19 education, and a range of funding types such as the adult skills fund and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. It is future proofed and contains provision to include new iterations of these schemes and any future funding schemes. It will be open for use by all UK public sector bodies using their public funding for training. 

Helen MacCarthy, Commercial Director, Corporate at CCS said:

This new DPS will enable public sector bodies to better support young and adult learners to gain skills which will lead them to meaningful, sustained, and relevant employment, or enable them to progress to further learning.

It isn’t just about saving CCS customers time and money. It’s about greater access to opportunities and securing a better future for us all.

The Adult Skills and Learning DPS will run for 4 years. The majority of onboarded suppliers are expected to be SMEs, with the minimum requirements for suppliers designed to encourage SMEs to apply. The agreement will continue to be compliant under Public Contract Regulations 2015 following the introduction of the Procurement Regulations 2024. 

Innovations and benefits

• a future-proofed solution. Suppliers can join the DPS at any time during its lifespan, allowing new training providers to be onboarded and new funding schemes used as they emerge 
• shorter timescales compared to an open procurement – a time and resource saving alternative for public sector bodies to developing and managing their own adult skills DPS/framework
• a filtering system to enable buyers to invite only suppliers relevant to their needs. It can be filtered by delivery locations, sector subject areas and qualification levels.
• all suppliers are registered with the UK Register of Learning Providers 

Find out more

To find out more about Adult Skills and Learning DPS visit the agreement webpage or contact the CCS Service Desk at info@crowncommercial.gov.uk / 0345 410 2222.

Don’t forget, you can find a full list of all the commercial agreements we offer, alongside details of how we can help you build policy considerations into your procurement, in our interactive digital brochure.