Pipeline Framework: WorldSkills UK Grant

A pipeline has been launched for WorldSkills UK Grant.The contract start Date is 1 April 2023. Approach to market date is 28 February 2022.The purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to notify the market of a forthcoming application process aimed at awarding a grant to a Non-Government Organisation(NGO) to operate as WorldSkills UK from 2023.The Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), grant fund an NGO to operate as WorldSkills UK (WSUK). This organisation is the Government’s representative in WorldSkills International and WorldSkills Europe.The ESFA want to use Team UK’s entry into WorldSkills International and WorldSkills Europe competitions to support raising the national standards of technical and vocational provision.International skills competitions occur every year with upcoming competitions scheduled in Shanghai 2022, St Petersburg 2023, Lyon 2024 and Herning 2025.Team UK’s performance in future international Skills competitions and individual colleges’ and competitors’ performances in the national skills competitions should act as a barometer for the progress being made in transforming our Further Education sector to a world class standard.We require WSUK to use their access to international best practice and cutting-edge technical content and distribute it to businesses, employers, training providers and educational establishments. This is to support raising their standards and quality of technical and vocational provision.The ESFA started managing the WorldSkills UK programme in 2018-19 and have been aligning the longstanding grant arrangement to the mandatory Government Functional Standard for Grants. In the next phase of alignment we are inviting organisations to take part in a programme of market engagement to test how the Minimum Grant Requirement Five: competition could be applied to this programme.Our market engagement session will take place on Wednesday 1st December 2021 from 1pm until 3pm with follow up 1-2-1 sessions available during the days following that. This will be conducted via Microsoft Teams.At the market engagement event we are looking to:a) Share the government’s expectations of what is required from the programme from 2023.b) Seek innovative ideas, approaches and thoughts on the future delivery model.c) Understand the appetite from the market.Suppliers wishing to attend an event must:1) Register for a Jaggaer account (DfE’s eTendering Portal) here .2) Go to the live opportunities and express interest in this opportunity.3) Submit your attendee list.4) Once received, the specific event timings and detailed joining instructions will be issued to you.Following this market engagement, the intention is to then publish the grant application process for operating as WorldSkills UK beyond 2023 in early 2022.This is a potential opportunity from the government, and the pipeline gives advance notice of an opportunity that might be offered by the public sector in the future – allowing potential suppliers to plan accordingly. When a public sector organisation publishes a pipeline notice, it does not necessarily mean that an opportunity will be offered in the future.For more information contact: Department for Education, Sanctuary Buildings, 20, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BT. Email: WorldSkills.UK@education.gov.uk