AWARD OUTCOME
What happened
The Education Authority published a transparency notice for a proposed direct award to THE AWARD SCHEME LTD. for Duke of Edinburgh programme packs and an annual licence. The award remains pending, with a future signature date scheduled.
Published outcomeOne pending award covers lot 1. THE AWARD SCHEME LTD. is the named, company-number-verified supplier.
Market significanceThe notice indicates a five-year proposed arrangement valued at £500,000 excluding VAT (£600,000 including VAT), using a direct award rationale based on exclusive rights and urgency.
AWARDED SUPPLIERS AND LOTS
1 supplier record analysed
THE AWARD SCHEME LTD.
99% confidenceAward 1 · Lots 1 · Unknown; the published £500,000 value is for the award and is not separately allocated to the supplier. GBP · Pending awardee
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Award 1 names supplier GB-COH-02173914. Supplier verification matched company number 02173914 to THE AWARD SCHEME LTD.
LIFECYCLE
Award or contract stage
Notice status
98% confidenceTransparency notice published; process marked complete
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The process is labelled "Transparency notice on Find a Tender", published 13 October 2026; tender status is "complete".
Award status
100% confidencePending
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Award 1 has status "pending".
Future signature milestone
99% confidenceScheduled for 22 October 2026
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Award milestone type "futureSignatureDate" is scheduled for 2026-10-22T23:59:59+01:00.
Contract conclusion
99% confidenceNot evidenced
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The award is pending and the supplied data provides only a future signature milestone, not a signed-contract record.
VALUES
Published values explained
Award value excluding VAT
100% confidence£500,000
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Award 1 value.amount is 500000 GBP.
Award value including VAT
100% confidence£600,000
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Award 1 value.amountGross is 600000 GBP.
Lot-level value
100% confidenceNot published
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Lot 1 has no value amount or currency in the supplied data.
TIMELINE
Procurement timeline
Notice publication
100% confidence13 October 2026
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The award notice datePublished is 2026-10-13T09:14:39+01:00.
Scheduled signature date
99% confidence22 October 2026
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The futureSignatureDate milestone is 22 October 2026.
Proposed contract start
99% confidence23 October 2026
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Award 1 contractPeriod.startDate is 2026-10-23T00:00:00+01:00.
Proposed contract end
99% confidence22 October 2031
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Award 1 contractPeriod.endDate is 2031-10-22T23:59:59+01:00.
SCOPE
What was awarded
Requirement
98% confidenceDuke of Edinburgh Award programme and Joint Award Initiative packs, plus an annual licence to maintain LO status.
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Procurement description states delivery of DofE and JAI packs and an annual licence fee to maintain LO status.
Procurement category
100% confidenceGoods
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Award 1 mainProcurementCategory is "goods".
Classification
100% confidenceCPV 22000000 — Printed matter and related products
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Award item 1 lists CPV 22000000.
Delivery area
100% confidenceNorthern Ireland (UKN)
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Award item delivery address region is UKN.
Lot structure
100% confidenceOne lot (lot 1); no lot title or description published
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The tender and award each reference lot 1; its title and description are null.
PROCEDURE
Procedure and competition
Procedure
100% confidenceDirect award
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Tender procurementMethod and procurementMethodDetails are "direct" and "Direct award".
Published direct-award rationale
97% confidenceThe buyer states that The Award Scheme is the only supplier able to deliver the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme; the notice also cites extreme and unavoidable urgency because the supplier was not yet registered on Find a Tender.
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procurementMethodRationale contains both statements; classifications include exclusive rights and urgency.
Competition information
100% confidenceNot published
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No bidder count, tender responses, evaluation scores or comparative pricing are supplied.
CONTRACT TERMS
Published contract terms
Proposed term
99% confidence23 October 2026 to 22 October 2031
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Award 1 contractPeriod specifies these dates.
Contract execution
99% confidenceNot evidenced
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The award remains pending and signature is shown only as a scheduled future milestone.
Extension or renewal options
100% confidenceNot published
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No extension or option terms are present in the supplied notice data.
COMMERCIAL VIEW
Commercial observations
Value structure
99% confidenceThe notice reports both net and gross award values, implying £100,000 VAT between the stated figures.
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Award 1 states £500,000 amount and £600,000 amountGross.
Route-to-market observation
90% confidenceThe published rationale presents the requirement as supplier-specific, so alternative supplier access appears constrained by the stated exclusive-rights rationale.
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The buyer classifies the direct award under single-supplier intellectual property/exclusive rights and states only The Award Scheme can deliver the scheme.
DATA QUALITY
Gaps and source limitations
Pending award, not an active concluded contract
100% confidenceThe record must be read as a pending award announcement with a scheduled signature date.
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Award status is pending; futureSignatureDate is scheduled for 22 October 2026.
Information not supplied in the published notice
100% confidenceNo bid count, evaluation information, award date, lot title, lot value, pricing breakdown, extension terms or signed-contract evidence is supplied.
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These fields are absent or null in the supplied data.
Supplier identity quality
100% confidenceSupplier identity is verified by company number; the source name differs only in corporate suffix formatting.
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Source name is The Award Scheme Limited and verified legal name is THE AWARD SCHEME LTD.; supplier_name_mismatch is false.
SOURCE DATA LIMITATIONS
Information not supplied in the published notice
- The award is pending; the supplied data does not evidence signature, contract conclusion or commencement.
- No award date, bid count, evaluation results, scoring, pricing breakdown or lot-level value is published.
- Lot 1 has no published title or description.
- No extension, renewal or variation terms are supplied.
- The proposed end date supports only an estimated re-procurement point, not a procurement forecast.
MARKET THEMES
Relevant award themes
Education AuthorityTHE AWARD SCHEME LTD.Duke of Edinburghprogramme packsannual licencedirect awardNorthern Ireland
COMMON QUESTIONS
About this award
Who is the named supplier?
THE AWARD SCHEME LTD., verified against company number 02173914.
Has the contract been signed?
No signed contract is evidenced. The award is pending and signature was scheduled for 22 October 2026.
What is the published award value?
£500,000 excluding VAT and £600,000 including VAT.
ProcuraAxis award analysis supplements, but does not replace, the official award notice, contract data or procurement documents. “Awarded” does not by itself prove that a contract has been signed.