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PROCUREMENT OPPORTUNITY

Provision of Simulated Patient Actors

UNIVERSITY OF LANCASTER · Tender notice on Find a Tender

Tender information last checkedLast checked 3 Oct 2026, 23:12.

Opportunity overview

Lancaster University is inviting tenders for the provision of Simulated Patient Actors to support teaching, training and assessment activities within Lancaster Medical School. The successful supplier will provide trained actors to participate in simulated clinical scenarios used in medical education, including teaching sessions and formal student assessments such as Objective Structured Clinical Examinations. Actors will be required to portray patients in a range of clinical situations and follow structured case briefs provided by the University. The contract will support the delivery of high-quality clinical simulation to enhance student learning and assessment within the Medical School.

Classification

  • CPV80000000 — Education and training services

Lots

  • Lot 1£660k

Documents and notices

  • Tender notice on Find a TenderOpen source ↗
  • technicalSpecificationsOpen source ↗
  • The procurement documents are available via the Lancaster University e-tendering portal In-Tend. Suppliers must register, access the tender documentation and submit their response electronically via: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/lancaster/aspx/Home Suppliers who are not already registered on the In-Tend portal will need to complete a registration before they can access the documents and participate in this procurement.Open source ↗

Published notice details

Additional information from the published procurement release. Fields appear only when supplied by the source; check the original notice and tender documents before acting.

Scope, procedure and submissions

Id
SP/25/1450
Status
active
Procurement Method
open
Procurement Method Details
Open procedure
Main Procurement Category
services
Above Threshold
Yes
How to submit
Tenders must be submitted electronically via the Lancaster University e-tendering portal (In-Tend) https://in-tendhost.co.uk/lancaster/aspx/Home
Has Recurrence
Yes

Legal basis

Id
2023/54
Scheme
UKPGA

Special regime

lightTouch

Submission terms

Electronic Submission Policy
allowed

Languages

en

Tender Period

Ends
15 Apr 2026, 15:00

Enquiry period

Ends
10 Apr 2026, 12:00

Expected award period

Ends
13 May 2026, 23:59

Recurrence

Dates

Entry 1
Starts
1 Mar 2031, 23:59

Lots and requirements

Entry 1
Id
1
Status
active
Has Renewal
Yes
Has Options
Yes

Value

Including VAT
792,000
Amount
660,000
Currency
GBP

Award criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Type
quality
Name
Service Delivery
Description
Assessment of supplier's proposed approach to delivering simulated patient actor services, including recruitment, training, management of actors, reliability of service delivery and ability to meet the requirements of Lancaster Medical School teaching and assessment activities.

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
25
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 2
Type
quality
Name
Value for Money
Description
Assessment of how the supplier will deliver value for money across the contract, including efficient service delivery, resource management and the ability to support the University's teaching and assessment requirements effectively.

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
10
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 3
Type
quality
Name
Sustainability
Description
Assessment of the supplier's approach to sustainability, including environmental considerations, responsible operational practices and any initiatives that support social value or reduced environmental impact in the delivery of the service.

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
10
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 4
Type
quality
Name
Scenario Based Questions
Description
Assessment of responses to scenario based questions designed to evaluate the supplier's ability to respond to practical service delivery situations, including actor coordination, reliability, and the ability to support clinical teaching and assessment environments.

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
25
Weight
percentageExact
Criterion 5
Type
price
Name
Price
Description
Evaluation of the supplier's completed pricing schedule.

Numbers

Entry 1
Number
30
Weight
percentageExact

Selection criteria

Criteria

Criterion 1
Type
economic
Description
Suppliers must demonstrate that they have the appropriate legal and financial standing to deliver the contract. Lancaster University will use financial stability using information provided in the tender submission, such as turnover and financial accounts, to ensure the supplier has sufficient economic capacity to perform the contract. Further details of the financial requirements and evaluation approach are set out in the procurement documents available via the Lancaster University e-tendering portal (In-Tend).
Criterion 2
Type
technical
Description
Suppliers must demonstrate relevant experience and technical capability in providing simulated patient actors to support healthcare education, clinical training, or assessment environments. This may include evidence of the ability to recruit, train and manage actors to portray clinical scenarios, and to deliver services reliably in an educational or professional training setting. Full details of the technical and professional capability requirements are provided in the procurement documents.

Suitability

Sme
Yes

Contract period

Starts
1 Sept 2026, 00:00
Ends
31 Aug 2029, 23:59
Max Extent Date
31 Jul 2031, 23:59

Renewal

Description
The initial contract term will run for three (3) years from 1st September 2026 to 31st August 2029. The University may, at its discretion, extend the contract for up to two (2) additional periods of twelve (12) months each, subject to satisfactory supplier performance and continued service requirements. If both extension options are exercised, the contract may run until 31 August 2031.

Options

Description
The University may require additional simulated patient actor sessions during the contract term depending on teaching, training and assessment requirements within Lancaster Medical School. The volume of services required may vary throughout the academic year and across contract years. Any additional services will be procured in accordance with the agreed pricing structure set out in the contract.

Items and delivery

Item 1
Id
1
Related Lot
1

Additional Classifications

Entry 1
Scheme
CPV
Id
80000000
Description
Education and training services

Delivery locations

Entry 1
Region
UKC
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 2
Region
UKD
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 3
Region
UKE
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 4
Region
UKF
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 5
Region
UKG
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 6
Region
UKH
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 7
Region
UKI
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 8
Region
UKJ
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Entry 9
Region
UKK
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom

Published documents

Entry 1
Id
conflictOfInterest
Document Type
conflictOfInterest
Description
Not published
Entry 2
Id
L-1
Document Type
technicalSpecifications
Entry 3
Id
L-2
Document Type
biddingDocuments
Description
The procurement documents are available via the Lancaster University e-tendering portal In-Tend. Suppliers must register, access the tender documentation and submit their response electronically via: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/lancaster/aspx/Home Suppliers who are not already registered on the In-Tend portal will need to complete a registration before they can access the documents and participate in this procurement.
Entry 4
Id
021763-2026
Document Type
tenderNotice
Notice Type
UK4
Description
Tender notice on Find a Tender
Published
11 Mar 2026, 13:12
Format
text/html

Planning and budget

No Engagement Notice Rationale
Prior to commencing the procurement, the contracting authority undertook limited informal market engagement with two suppliers to better understand the market and inform the development of the specification and procurement approach. This engagement did not constitute a formal preliminary market engagement exercise and therefore a preliminary market engagement notice was not published.

Buyer, suppliers and contacts

Organisation 1
Name
UNIVERSITY OF LANCASTER
Id
GB-COH-RC000657

Identifier

Scheme
GB-COH
Id
RC000657

Additional Identifiers

Entry 1
Scheme
GB-PPON
Id
PHYT-3516-XDZY

Address

Street Address
Bailrigg
Locality
Lancaster
Postal Code
LA1 4YW
Country
GB
Country Name
United Kingdom
Region
UKD44

Contact

Roles

buyer

Details

Classifications

Entry 1
Scheme
UK_CA_TYPE
Id
publicAuthoritySubCentralGovernment
Description
Public authority - sub-central government

Recorded locations

  • Buyer location · Lancaster · UKD44 · LA1 4YW · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKC · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKD · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKE · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKF · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKG · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKH · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKI · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKJ · United Kingdom
  • Delivery location · UKK · United Kingdom

Notice and amendment history

1 published notice version reviewed by ProcuraAxis.

1 VERSION
  1. 021763-2026Tender notice on Find a Tender ·