Recruitment and Training of High Potential Trainees into Teaching - Early Engagement of organisations with potential service solutions

The Department for Education is exploring options for the future delivery of a programme to:

• attract high potential graduates and career changers into teaching and
• train them to be highly skilled teachers and emerging leaders to have a positive impact on teacher supply and pupil attainment in areas of greatest need across England.

Attracting high potential candidates into teaching to help improve pupil attainment in areas of the greatest need is a key element of the Department's "Teacher recruitment and retention strategy (2019) - GOV.UK".

The Department currently procures a High Potential Initial Teacher Training and Leadership Development programme for annual cohorts of trainees. The programme seeks to recruit and train high potential graduates and career changers who are likely to be in high demand across the labour market (and may have been unlikely to have otherwise joined the profession). Trainees are placed in schools serving low-income communities with high numbers of disadvantaged pupils. Further details of the existing arrangement are attached (Key Information about the current HPITT Programme).

We are keen to gain market insights and understand market capacity, capability and interest. In addition to understanding this in relation to the current delivery model which is deployed to meet the Department's requirements, we are receptive to understanding alternative and innovative solutions to meeting our requirements. This will inform our design, delivery and commercial strategies. We are inviting engagement on:

• Potential delivery solutions
• Service Scope - configuration and level of aggregation of service requirements
• Scale - geographical coverage - including national, regional, sub-regional
• Commercial Delivery Model - prime contractor, consortia, multiple suppliers
• Market Development - supplier capability and capacity, barriers to entry
• Risk - IPR, branding, assumptions, TUPE, risk allocation
• Contract Strategy - term, value, extension/variation options
• Financial Mechanisms - charging model, outcome-based, open-book
• Performance Management - metrics, outcomes, KPIs, incentives, remedies

Organisations with understanding and/or experience of graduate or teacher recruitment, assessment and job placement; undergraduate and post-graduate initial teacher training; and/or professional and leadership development are encouraged to participate.

Additional information:

Over the coming months we will be engaging with key stakeholders, undertaking research and speaking to potential suppliers using questionnaires, individual meetings and online webinars.

Interested organisations may find it helpful to familiarise themselves with the existing arrangement. Attached to this notice is a brief of the current High Potential Initial Teacher Training and Leadership Development Programme (the document titled 'Key Information about the current HPITT Programme'). A redacted version of the contract (including current detailed specification) is viewable on the Contract Award Notice, linked from this notice.

The best way to engage us early is to complete our questionnaire. This will help us to understand your initial views, relevant experience or ideas to inform our work, which we may want to discuss in greater detail with you. This also gives you the opportunity to share contact details with us to get in touch. A PDF version of the questions is attached to this notice so respondents can consider their feedback prior to submitting. We are asking for responses to our initial questionnaire by 10th May 2023.

Organisations who want to ensure they receive further alerts and information as our work evolves are strongly encouraged to register and express interest against this 'opportunity' on our e-procurement platform Jaggaer. This is also our preferred route for sending questions or messages.

Alternatively, organisations can contact us through our dedicated inbox. …@education.gov.uk

Responses received as part of this exercise may be used to shape the DfE specification of requirements and scope any future procurement process.

Please note that this is not a call to competition and the DfE is not bound to enter into any procurement activity because of it. The DfE is not committing to undertake any formal commissioning activity resulting from this notice although we may use the information gathered via this process to support any future commercial activity.