Scope
Reference
HR-Payroll-ITT
Description
Truro and Penwith College is a large, further education provider in Cornwall. The College has three main campuses in Truro, Penzance and Bodmin. The College provides education services to circa 9,000 learners with a workforce of 1200 staff. The current HR and Payroll platform is an on-premise system that has been in place for many years, but no longer meets the needs of the College.
The primary objective of this procurement for Truro & Penwith College is to select a single contractor to supply and implement a modern, modular, and cost-effective HR and Payroll system. The first phase of the project will focus on the seamless and low-impact migration of the core Payroll, Pensions, and HR functions, with a requirement for this phase to be completed by Q3-2026.
Following successful implementation, the College must have the opportunity to call off extended functionality including such functions as:
Recruitment, Onboarding, Performance Management, HR Case Management, and Learning & Development. These will be elective modules, implemented according to the College's own timetable.
Fully detailed ITT documents will be a made available to suppliers immediately following evaluation of the PSQ. This is expected to be early January, 2026, with intent to award by the end of March 2026. A full process timeline will be issued with the ITT document pack.
Documents issued with this Notice
• Requirement Outline Brief
• Payroll Use Case Scenario
• HR Use Case Scenario
• PME Q&A Transcript
• Procurement Specific Questionnaire
Instructions for Participation:
Stage 1 Documents including the PSQ form, can be obtained by registering as a supplier on the In-tend Shared Portal and by expressing an interest in this Project. Link below to access the portal:
Total value (estimated)
- £300,000 excluding VAT
- £360,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
- 1 June 2026 to 31 May 2031
- Possible extension to 31 May 2034
- 8 years
Description of possible extension:
Initial Contract Period of 5 years with 3 possible extensions e.g. +1+1+1.
Main procurement category
Goods
CPV classifications
- 48000000 - Software package and information systems
- 48450000 - Time accounting or human resources software package
Contract locations
- UKK - South West (England)
Submission
Enquiry deadline
16 December 2025, 5:00pm
Submission type
Tenders
Tender submission deadline
2 January 2026, 1:00pm
Submission address and any special instructions
To be returned via the In-tend Shared Portal. https://in-tendhost.co.uk/intendsharedservices/aspx/Home
Tenders may be submitted electronically
Yes
Languages that may be used for submission
English
Award decision date (estimated)
31 March 2026
Award criteria
| Name | Description | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Simple description | Assessment/Award Criteria Stage 1 - PSQ: The PSQ will be evaluated as Pass or Fail, criteria and scoring is detailed in the PSQ document accompanying this Notice Stage 2 - Full tender submission and... |
Price |
Weighting description
Assessment/Award Criteria
Stage 1 - PSQ:
The PSQ will be evaluated as Pass or Fail, criteria and scoring is detailed in the PSQ document accompanying this Notice
Stage 2 - Full tender submission and evaluation:
Following the PSQ stage, qualifying suppliers will be invited to submit a fully costed tender proposal. The authority will furnish invited suppliers with a full and detailed tender pack. Fully detailed assessment criteria and scoring will be provided at Stage 2. Evaluation will be carried...
Other information
Payment terms
To be confirmed in the Tender Document Pack at Stage 2.
Conflicts assessment prepared/revised
Yes
Procedure
Procedure type
Competitive flexible procedure
Competitive flexible procedure description
This procurement will be structured in two key phases - Supplier selection (PSQ), which is published with this notice. This will be followed by the issue of the full tender document pack to qualifying suppliers following the completion of Stage 1.
Stage 1 - Supplier Selection (PSQ):
Applicants who wish to participate will need to pre-qualify and must complete the Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) published alongside this notice.
The PSQ sets out the information required by the authority in order to assess the suitability of applicants to perform the contract. The PSQ Stage will be evaluated as Pass or Fail. Applicants will need to Pass the PSQ Stage in order to participate further.
The deadline for PSQ clarifications is December 16th, 2025 and the return deadline for the PSQ is January 2nd, 2026.
Stage 2 - Full tender submission and evaluation (Anticipated issue date: January, 2026):
Following the PSQ stage, qualifying suppliers will be invited to submit a fully costed tender proposal. The authority will furnish invited suppliers with a full and detailed tender pack. Evaluation will be carried out in three phases:
Stage 2a - Following the submission deadline, the authority will evaluate and score bidders written proposals, responses to the specification matrix and proposed draft contract terms against quality-based criteria specific to this section. Cost will not be scored at this stage. The College envisages inviting between 3-5 of the highest scoring bids (based only on quality) to participate in the next evaluation phase, The College reserves the right to lower or increase this number dependent on the quality of the bids received.
Stage 2b - The selected high scoring bidders from phase 2a will be invited to attend a presentation and demonstration session. Suppliers will be asked to outline how their proposal meets the requirements set out by the College and facilitate demonstrations based on scenarios pre-scripted the College. Supplier presentations and demonstration sessions will be scored against set criteria for these sessions. Costs will also be evaluated and compared at this stage but not scored. Following second phase evaluations, 1:1 feed-back sessions will be held with each supplier where their proposals and scores will be discussed along with proposed costs relative to other bids. Suppliers will be given constructive feedback aimed at optimizing their proposals prior to the final phase.
Stage 2c - BAFO - Following feedback sessions, suppliers will be invited to submit best and final offers, which should include any final adjustments to their solution proposal or terms in addition to costs. After the BAFO deadline, each proposal will then be re-scored against the pre-set criteria for each phase and an award decision will be made based on the highest overall score.
Documents
Associated tender documents
https://in-tendhost.co.uk/intendsharedservices/aspx/Home
Documents (free of charge) are available from the In-tend Shared portal. To participate in this Tender you must firstly register as a Supplier (free of charge) and then Express an Interest in this Tender Project.
Contracting authority
Truro & Penwith College
- UK Register of Learning Providers (UKPRN number): 10007063
College Road
Truro
TR1 3XX
United Kingdom
Contact name: Guy Guerandel
Region: UKK30 - Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
Organisation type: Public undertaking (commercial organisation subject to public authority oversight)