Awarded contract

Executive Masters in Public Policy (EMPP)

Details

Buyer: Department for Education
Supplier(s): London School of Economics and Political Science
Value: £1,072,820
Duration: 3 years
Topic: Higher education services
Published: 19 September 2025
Source: uk:find_a_tender

Tender description

This Direct Award is to the London School of Economics for the delivery of the 2026-28 Cohort of the Executive Masters in Public Policy, and the final month of delivery for the 25-27 cohort. Designed in conjunction with the UK Civil Service the Executive Masters in Public Policy is an expert level course designed to equip senior policy makers with the skills and knowledge required to become excellent policy makers. This direct award aims to provide learners continuity of service and provision, ensuring that there is no break in our ability to deliver expert level accredited learning whilst we undertake a full procurement. This will cover the final month of delivery of the 25-27 cohort, which falls outside of our current contract, and the delivery of a full Cohort starting in September 2026-28. If this Direct Award were not to proceed, the full delivery of the 2025-27 cohort would be in jeopardy. Proceeding via a direct award is the favourable option in comparison to other available contracting vehicles, as it represents a significant saving on the per-student cost in comparison to the per-student cost for the 2025-27 cohort. The Direct Award will also allow us to undertake a full procurement exercise for delivery of Accredited Learning from September 2027, allowing us to test the requirements of the policy profession against the wider higher education market. ## Contract award Title: Executive Masters in Public Policy (EMPP)

Timeline

Completed: Award date18 September 2025
Completed: Award published19 September 2025
Current notice
Next: Contract expiry date31 May 2028in 2 years

About the buyer

The Department for Education is a ministerial department responsible for children's services and education policy in England, procuring both for itself and its executive agencies. Framework purchases follow the matching Crown Commercial Service terms. Many contracts are let on standard government terms, such as Cabinet Office short-form or model services agreements. Schools and academy trusts buy separately, using framework options the department reviews and approves in advance.

Over the past 5 years, most of the Department for Education's contract awards have been in business services, construction work and education and training.

Decision makers

Connect with the people behind this procurement.

Job title	Phone number	Work email
Head of Procurement	+44 •••• ••••••	••••••••@department-for-education.gov
Commercial Director	+44 •••• ••••••	••••••••@department-for-education.gov
Procurement Manager	+44 •••• ••••••	••••••••@department-for-education.gov
Category Lead	+44 •••• ••••••	••••••••@department-for-education.gov
Senior Buyer	+44 •••• ••••••	••••••••@department-for-education.gov
Contracts Manager	+44 •••• ••••••	••••••••@department-for-education.gov