Apprenticeship System

About the buyer

University of Sheffield is a higher education institution whose Procurement Office lets and manages contracts for its schools and departments. Tenders are run through the In-Tend portal, and where required on the Central Digital Platform. The university also buys through regional and national frameworks as a member of the North Eastern Universities Purchasing Consortium, part of UKUPC. They cover catering, furniture, computing, laboratory supplies, postal services, domestic services, professional services and stationery. Once a contract is let, each school and department must buy from the contracted supplier. Lower-value purchases are handled by departments through quotation exercises.

Education procurement reached £47.4bn in 2024/25, the fourth-largest public sector budget.

Over the past 5 years, most of University of Sheffield's contract awards have been in construction work, industrial machinery and laboratory and precision equipment.