Department for Education grants

The Regional Improvement for Standards and Excellence (RISE) initiative is a programme by the DfE that is central to the goal of raising standards for all children in all schools across the country. RISE forms part of the government’s Opportunity Mission which focuses on breaking down the barriers to opportunity and ending the link between background and success. The RISE grant will provide mandatory targeted intervention to schools that Ofsted have identified as needing to improve which will act as a catalyst for collaboration and improvement. Where appropriate, RISE teams will arrange for a high-quality organisation to work with a school, via its responsible body, with grants available to fund supporting activity.

The School-based Nursery (SBN) Capital Grant 2027 to 2030 (phase 3) is a local authority-led delivery model. Local authorities are responsible for developing and submitting multi-year funding proposals that set out plans for creating or expanding SBN provision in their area. These proposals can include projects across state-funded primary schools, maintained nursery schools (MNS), and Best Start Family Hub (BSFH) sites. This is the third phase of the school-based nurseries programme. It builds on the foundations of phase 1 (SBN Capital Grant 2024 to 2025) and phase 2 (SBN Capital Grant 2025 to 2026) and has an increased focus on supporting disadvantaged families to access early years provision.

The Department for Education is inviting tenders in line with the specification for suppliers to join the existing Lot 9 - DfE Support for the Early Years Sector of the Educational and Children's Social Care Professionals (ECSC) Framework. Suppliers must have successfully responded to all mandatory pre-qualification questions in the overarching ITT prior to responding to the Lot-specific requirements contained within this Invitation to Tender. The initial tender window is from 6th August 2026 to 16th September 2026 Bidders are able to respond to the ITT by submitting bids to join the individual lot on the framework during this onboarding phase and will undergo rigorous supplier checks. The Department reserves the right to reopen the Lot to allow new entrants to the market to apply to join this Lot. Lot 9 Early Years Experts - Sector Support of the Educational and Children's Social Care (ECSC) Framework Style Agreement will allow direct call-off and mini competition routes as detailed in Schedule 3 of the Framework Agreement. The Framework Lot was established to provide access to specialist expertise that can be called upon to support delivery of the Department's Best Start in Life (BSIL) strategy. Since the creation of the Framework Lot, some of the information contained within the specification has been updated to provide additional clarity on delivering on the BSIL strategy. To support delivering on the commitments of the BSIL strategy, the Department is undertaking a procurement for a BSIL Implementation Partner. For some call-off requirements the Implementation Partner may be required to manage some call-off requirements from Lot 9 and support requirements that emerge during programme delivery. Other requirements called-off from Lot 9 which are not relevant to the Implementation Partner work will continue to be managed by DfE It is important to note that organisations must be appointed to the Dynamic Framework in order to access and bid for any future call-off opportunities issued through it. While suppliers may join the framework and choose not to bid for individual requirements, organisations that are not admitted to the framework will be ineligible to bid for or be awarded future call-off contracts procured through Lot 9. Additional information: DfE anticipate using the Framework Lot for a range of specialist requirements. Indicative examples include: - Support for local authorities in relation to data, digital and information management requirements, including the development and implementation of digital approaches and use of data to drive service improvements. - Specialist support relating to Speech, Language and Communication, including expertise to support local system development and improve outcomes for children and families. The above examples are intended to be illustrative rather than exhaustive. Additional call-off opportunities will be determined by emerging priorities, needs and challenges identified by the Department and/or the BSIL Implementation Partner over the course of the programme Please note that given the ECSC Framework was established prior to the 'go live' of Procurement Act 2023, this opportunity notice to re-open the framework is subject to the Public Contract Regulations (PCR) 2015. The Contract Finder Notice for the original Lot 9 requirement is as follows https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/70f76356-ba7a-4a5e-a201-557a3750e473 Suppliers who achieved a place on this Framework on Lot 9 following the original competition do not need to re-apply. To access the opportunity please use the following link https://education.app.jaggaer.com/web/login.html scroll down to 'view opportunities' and search for (itt_4041 - Re-opening of DfE ECSC Framework: Early Years Experts - Sector Support Lot 9)