Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
Llywodraeth Cymru / Welsh Government
Gwasanaethau Caffael Corfforaethol / Corporate Procurement Services, Parc Cathays / Cathays Park
Caerdydd / Cardiff
CF10 3NQ
Contact
Joanne Corke
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKL - Wales
Internet address(es)
Main address
Buyer's address
https://www.sell2wales.gov.wales/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA0007
one.2) Information about joint procurement
The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body
one.3) Communication
Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address
one.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority
one.5) Main activity
General public services
Section two: Object
two.1) Scope of the procurement
two.1.1) Title
Curriculum for Wales Formative Evaluation
Reference number
C072/2023/2024
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 73110000 - Research services
two.1.3) Type of contract
Services
two.1.4) Short description
The Welsh Government seeks to contract for a formative evaluation of the curriculum for Wales which will provide us with the broad qualitative and quantitative picture of how the reforms are working, how practice is changing and how these changes are being experienced by practitioners, learners and their families. Each year it will include a limited number deep dive case studies to give us a more detailed understanding of specific priority curriculum elements (e.g. Areas Of Learning and Experience, cross-curricular skills, mandatory cross curricular elements); and specific theory of change activities / outcomes (e.g. initial teacher education, professional learning, leadership).
two.1.5) Estimated total value
Value excluding VAT: £2,500,000
two.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots: No
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 79310000 - Market research services
- 79311400 - Economic research services
- 79315000 - Social research services
- 79419000 - Evaluation consultancy services
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKL - Wales
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
The evaluation will specifically aim to answer key research questions, including:
To what extent are the aspirations of the Curriculum for Wales (CfW) framework being realised?
What are the trends in progress towards CfW aspirations?
To what extent is the human capital and social capital (as described in the Theory of Change, and conditions in settings supporting professional practice conducive to CfW aspirations?
To what extent is activity across the system supporting the development of human capital, social capital and conditions in settings in ways that support CfW aspirations to be realised over time?
How is the work of those across the education system supporting the realisation of CfW aspirations?
To what extent does curriculum realisation vary for schools, settings and practitioners?
How are curriculum implementation efforts helping practitioners to support learners with ALN and those experiencing different types of disadvantage and/or vulnerability?
How are learners with ALN and those experiencing different types of disadvantage and/or vulnerability experiencing the curriculum and why?
Additionally, the ‘deep dives’ will each have their own specific focus, questions and populations, and these will be outlined in the Invitation to Tender.
To ensure we get a nuanced understanding of experiences of curriculum implementation we expect curriculum / pedagogy expertise will be represented within the research team. It must also include expertise in conducting research with learners experiencing different types of disadvantage and/or vulnerability, including Additional Learning Needs. The ability to conduct the work within a Welsh/English/ Bilingual environment is essential. Given the breadth of experience required and the scale of the evaluation it is unlikely that one organisation will be able to fulfil the contract and a consortia approach will be required. All consortia members must demonstrate that they meet the requirements of the Cyber Essentials Scheme.
Engaging with schools and individuals across the full range of experiences and challenges relating to curriculum implementation will be very important. We recognise the burden on schools and practitioners in particular. The research should seek to allow those with the least capacity to engage with the evaluation. This will be challenging and we expect bids to explicitly address how the risk of a self-selecting sample providing a skewed perspective will be mitigated.
An additional challenge in the research will be ensuring a representative sample of parents and learners is achieved. This will be needed at a population level but we will also need boosted samples for some groups to understand the extent to which the curriculum is working for all learners, irrespective of their background or needs. Bids will need to provide a detailed approach to achieving these samples and sub-samples. At this stage our thinking is that, for the quantitative elements of the research at least, we should not rely on schools to facilitate research with parents and learners due to burden this will place on schools and because of the risk that findings may be skewed towards experiences of learners attending schools which have the greatest capacity to engage with the research.
Engaging with the range of available and emerging evidence around curriculum implementation and other key research in relation to Welsh education reforms, for example, the Evaluation of Additional Learning Needs System will be crucial. We also expect that the Supplier will work collaboratively as required with suppliers of other elements of the Curriculum for Wales evaluation programme, in particular the National Sample Based Monitoring study which is described in the Curriculum for Wales Evaluation Plan, and the supplier of the ALN evaluation study. This is to ensure that our evidence gathering is aligned and so we have a coherent understanding of education reforms more widely.
two.2.14) Additional information
The Scoping study for the evaluation of the curriculum and assessment reforms in Wales: final report published in July 2022 developed recommendations for a robust monitoring and evaluation programme.
A Curriculum for Wales (CfW) Evaluation Plan was published on 3 July 2023. It describes the shape and purpose of the formative evaluation in the context of the overall evaluation programme.
two.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice
14 August 2023
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
Section six. Complementary information
six.3) Additional information
Please note, this notice is a call for interest, there is not a start date for award procedure or an anticipated award date - at this stage there
will be no formal assessing proposals, and nothing given or provided at this stage will be evaluated as part of any future procurement
process.
While the contracting authority has decided to advertise on a voluntary basis, this does not represent a commitment to follow a particular
procurement procedure.
NOTE: To register your interest in this notice or to submit questions please visit the Sell2Wales Web Site at
https://www.sell2wales.gov.wales/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=133124.
The buyer has indicated that it will accept electronic responses to this notice via the Postbox facility. A user guide is available at
https://www.sell2wales.gov.wales/sitehelp/help_guides.aspx.
Suppliers are advised to allow adequate time for uploading documents and to dispatch the electronic response well in advance of the
closing time to avoid any last minute problems. Deadline for submission of questions is 31/07/2023
(WA Ref:133124)
The buyer considers that this contract is suitable for consortia.
NOTE: To register your interest in this notice and obtain any additional information please visit the Sell2Wales Web Site at https://www.sell2wales.gov.wales/Search/Search_Switch.aspx?ID=133124.
(WA Ref:133124)