Procurement glossary

An assessment summary is the information a buyer gives each supplier that submitted an assessed tender, explaining how it was assessed. Section 50 requires it before the contract award notice is published. gov.uk’s guidance says the buyer must give you your score for each award criterion and explain why. Use it to decide whether to challenge, and to improve your next bid.

Award criteria are the standards a buyer uses to score tenders. Under section 23 they must relate to the subject matter of the contract, be sufficiently clear, measurable and specific, and be proportionate. The buyer must describe how tenders will be assessed and, where there is more than one criterion, their relative importance, for example as percentages. They decide the most advantageous tender. Read them before you decide to bid.

A below-threshold contract is, in gov.uk’s words, one with an estimated value of less than the threshold for its type of contract.

Where it appears in the Act. Part 6 of the Act covers them, though Part 6 does not apply to procurement by schools or transferred Northern Ireland authorities (section 84(2)). Section 84 defines a regulated below-threshold contract as a below-threshold contract that is not an exempted, concession or utilities contract. Under section 87, a buyer may not advertise for tenders for a notifiable contract without first publishing a below-threshold tender notice, unless the buyer only invites particular or pre-selected suppliers (s.87(2)). A contract is notifiable at an estimated value of not less than £12,000 for central government authorities and £30,000 for other buyers, including VAT per gov.uk.

The notice must go on the central digital platform before it is published anywhere else (gov.uk guidance, para 12). Formerly, these opportunities were advertised on Contracts Finder. PPN 019 now says new below-threshold opportunities must be advertised on Find a Tender.

What it means for a small supplier. Buyers cannot add a separate suitability stage before tenders (section 85(1); guidance paras 16–17), which removes a common barrier for small firms. The guidance says buyers have flexibility here, including to restrict the award to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Set up alerts for Find a Tender, not Contracts Finder alone, or you will miss new ones.

Next: Find a Tender versus Contracts Finder and how to find tenders.

The central digital platform is the government’s online system for publishing procurement notices and for holding supplier information. gov.uk’s guidance describes it as the online system referenced in the Procurement Act 2023, available at find-tender.service.gov.uk. In everyday use, people call the notice service Find a Tender.

Where it appears in the Act. Section 95 lets regulations set how notices are published and requires a Minister of the Crown to run a free online system for them (s.95(4)–(5)). The platform lets buyers and suppliers register and receive a unique identifier, and lets suppliers submit and store core organisational information. gov.uk says that information is only available to the buyers a supplier chooses to share it with. Find a Tender also replaced the EU’s Tenders Electronic Daily (formerly the route for high-value UK notices) on 1 January 2021, per gov.uk.

What it means for a small supplier. Register once, and it saves you time on every bid. Registration is free, according to the official e-learning, and the gov.uk three-step guide says to have your Companies House number and registered address ready. The guide covers six sections of supplier information, from basic details to financial information. Keep them current, because buyers rely on what you share.

Next: Find a Tender versus Contracts Finder and how to find tenders.

The competitive flexible procedure is the Act’s tailor-made option: the buyer designs the stages to suit the contract. gov.uk’s e-learning says it replaces many of the previous prescriptive procedures, and that the multi-stage routes (formerly the restricted procedure, the competitive procedure with negotiation, competitive dialogue and the innovation partnership) are reduced to this single procedure.

Where it appears in the Act. Section 20 defines it as such other competitive tendering procedure as the buyer considers appropriate, and requires the procedure to be a proportionate way of awarding the contract. A competitive flexible procedure may limit the number of suppliers that take part, but it may not let in suppliers that did not submit a tender in the first round. Suppliers can also be excluded for failing the conditions of participation (section 22).

What it means for a small supplier. The tender notice tells you the design, so read it before anything else. One possible design is a first stage where you complete a questionnaire (see PSQ), then a limited number of suppliers are invited to tender, and sometimes to negotiate. If numbers are limited, your first-stage answers decide whether you are in at all, so they deserve as much care as the final tender. Check how the buyer will pick the shortlist, and whether you need to be a member of a dynamic market to take part.

Next: how to read a tender notice.

The Procurement Act 2023 has two competitive tendering procedures: open, and competitive flexible. Read the full entry on competitive tendering.

Conditions of participation are the tests a supplier must meet to be awarded the contract (section 22(2)), covering legal and financial capacity or technical ability. They must be proportionate. A buyer cannot ask for audited accounts unless you are already required to have them audited, and cannot require insurance before award or a past contract with a particular buyer (s.22(3)–(4)). Formerly part of the selection criteria, they were captured in the standard selection questionnaire; see PSQ.

A contract details notice confirms that a buyer has entered into a contract. Section 53 requires it within 30 days of signing, or 120 days for light touch contracts. Where the estimated value is over £5 million, the buyer must also publish a copy of the contract. It follows the contract award notice, and gov.uk says it replaces the award notices that were published under earlier legislation.

A CPV code is a code from the Common Procurement Vocabulary, the standard classification buyers use to describe what they are buying. The Procurement Regulations 2024 define it by reference to Regulation (EC) No 2195/2002.

For a small supplier, the useful point is that notices carry one or more CPV codes, so you can search and set alerts by code rather than guessing keywords. Find yours with the CPV code finder.

The debarment list is a published list of suppliers that the government has decided should be treated as excluded or excludable from public contracts. gov.uk’s debarment guidance says the list will be published on gov.uk and records the supplier, the exclusion ground, whether it is mandatory or discretionary, and the date the supplier is expected to be removed.

Where it appears in the Act. Section 62 says the list is kept by a Minister of the Crown, who may enter a supplier after an investigation if satisfied that it is excluded or excludable on a relevant ground. The Minister must keep it under review and publish it. Section 57 explains the terms: a supplier is excluded where a mandatory ground (Schedule 6) applies and the circumstances are continuing or likely to occur again, and excludable where a discretionary ground (Schedule 7) applies on the same test. A supplier on the list is treated the same way. See excluded and excludable supplier.

What it means for a small supplier. The guidance (para 15) says buyers should check the list before they let a supplier take part and before they award. For a mandatory ground, your tender must be disregarded, subject to listed exceptions. For a discretionary ground, the buyer may still let you bid after further checks. The guidance says a supplier will usually stay on the list for up to five years and can be removed earlier (paras 31, 42). The guidance also says debarment is not intended as a punishment for past misconduct but as a risk-based measure.

For a small firm the practical step is to know your own position. The exclusion grounds are one of the categories of core information on the central digital platform, so answer honestly, and take legal advice if something in your history could count.

Next: how to win public sector contracts.

Direct award means awarding a contract without a competition. Under section 41 a buyer may do so only if a direct award justification applies, and those are set out in Schedule 5 of the Act. The other route is section 43: a buyer may award directly after a competition received no suitable tenders. Section 44 requires a transparency notice before the award, with one exception. Watch these notices: they show contracts you had no chance to bid for, and who won them.

DPS stands for dynamic purchasing system, the supplier list used under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (regulation 34, revoked on 24 February 2025). Its replacement is the dynamic market: gov.uk’s guidance says the new tool replaces both dynamic purchasing systems and qualification systems. Old notices still use the term.

A dynamic market is a list of suppliers that have met a buyer’s conditions for membership, from which contracts can then be awarded. It replaces the dynamic purchasing system (DPS) used under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, which were revoked on 24 February 2025 (regulation 34). gov.uk’s guidance (para 7) says the new tool replaces both dynamic purchasing systems and qualification systems.

Where it appears in the Act. Section 35 lets a buyer establish arrangements for awarding public contracts by reference to suppliers’ participation in them. Under section 34, a competitive flexible procedure can exclude suppliers that are not members of an appropriate dynamic market, and the buyer must then disregard their tenders.

What it means for a small supplier. The guidance says a dynamic market must remain open to new suppliers at any time and the buyer cannot limit the number of members. So, unlike a framework, you can apply to join at any time while it runs (guidance para 22). Membership itself is not charged in a standard dynamic market: fees can only be charged to suppliers awarded a contract under it, and must be set out in the establishing documents. If you are not a member, you may be unable to bid when a buyer restricts a procedure to members, so join early in the markets that match your trade. Read the membership conditions first, because you will need to meet them.

Next: frameworks and dynamic markets.

Under section 57, an excluded supplier is one where a mandatory exclusion ground (Schedule 6) applies and the circumstances are continuing or likely to occur again, or which is on the debarment list for such a ground. An excludable supplier meets the same test for a discretionary ground (Schedule 7). Under section 26, a buyer must disregard an excluded supplier’s tender and may disregard an excludable one’s.

ITT is the everyday name for the tender notice and associated tender documents. Read the full entry on invitation to tender.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are factors or measures used to assess a supplier’s performance over the life of a contract. Under section 52, before entering a public contract worth more than £5 million, a buyer must set at least three KPIs and publish them, unless it considers performance cannot appropriately be assessed that way. Performance is then assessed at least every 12 months under section 71. See contract performance notice.

A light touch contract is, under section 9, a contract wholly or mainly for services of a kind specified in regulations. Some rules are lighter: there is no minimum tendering period (section 54), no mandatory standstill period (section 51), and 120 days rather than 30 to publish the contract details notice (section 53). Check the tender notice to see whether it applies.

A lot is a separate part of a larger procurement that is awarded as its own contract. gov.uk’s guidance describes lots as a way to split a larger single procurement into smaller “chunks” under separate contracts, and says a supplier may win more than one.

Where it appears in the Act. Section 18 requires a buyer, before publishing a tender notice, to consider whether the work could reasonably be supplied under more than one contract and whether those contracts could be awarded by reference to lots. If the answer to both is yes, the buyer must award by lots or give reasons for not doing so. Section 12(4) also asks buyers to consider whether barriers facing small and medium-sized enterprises can be removed or reduced, and the guidance says lots are likely to be of particular benefit to them.

What it means for a small supplier. Lots can be your way into a contract that looks too big. Check three things in the notice: the description of each lot, whether the buyer limits how many lots one supplier can win (it must state any maximum), and how each lot is scored, because the guidance says each lot is awarded on the most advantageous tender for that lot.

In the week to 10 Oct 2026, 62 of 470 live notices on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder were multi-lot (as of 10 Oct 2026; our data, how we count).

Next: how to read a tender notice.

MEAT stands for most economically advantageous tender, the award standard under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (regulation 67, “Contract award criteria”, revoked on 24 February 2025). The Procurement Act 2023 uses the most advantageous tender (MAT) instead; see section 19. Older documents and some buyers still say MEAT.

The most advantageous tender (MAT) is the tender a buyer is allowed to pick when it awards a contract after a competitive process. It was formerly called the most economically advantageous tender (MEAT) under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, which were revoked on 24 February 2025.

Where it appears in the Act. Section 19 says a buyer may award to the supplier that submits the most advantageous tender. A tender can be treated as that if it satisfies the buyer’s requirements and best satisfies the award criteria, judged using the assessment methodology and the relative importance of the criteria that the buyer set out under section 23. The same section says the buyer must disregard a tender from a supplier that fails the conditions of participation, and may disregard a price it considers abnormally low.

What it means for a small supplier. The cheapest bid does not win by default. The best score against the published criteria wins, so the weightings matter more than almost anything else in the pack. If quality carries 60% of the marks, a thin answer on quality is unlikely to be rescued by a low price. Read the award criteria and the scoring method before you decide whether to bid, and write to them.

If your tender was assessed and not disregarded, you get an assessment summary explaining how it was scored (section 50(3), (5)). Use it.

Next: how tenders are evaluated and how to write a tender response.

OJEU stands for the Official Journal of the European Union, where high-value UK contract notices used to be published. gov.uk says Find a Tender replaced the EU’s Tenders Electronic Daily for high-value contracts in the UK on 1 January 2021, and PPN 08/20 explains the change. Notices now go on the central digital platform.

An open framework is a scheme of frameworks that provides for the award of successive frameworks on substantially the same terms (section 49). It must be reopened at least once in the first three years and then every five years, and runs for up to eight years in total. gov.uk’s guidance says new suppliers can be added when it reopens, so a missed place is not permanent. See framework.

PCR 2015 means the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, the procurement rules that applied before the Procurement Act 2023. They were revoked on 24 February 2025, but PPN 019 says procurements started under them can continue. Devolved Scottish authorities are excluded authorities under the Act (section 2(5)(a)) and use their own rules, such as the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015.

A procurement specific questionnaire (PSQ) is a form a buyer may use to find out which suppliers can take part in a procurement. It collects information about your organisation and your answers to any conditions of participation the buyer has set. It does part of the job formerly done by the standard selection questionnaire (SQ): core details now sit on the central digital platform, and the PSQ collects the rest. gov.uk’s e-learning says supplier information for above-threshold procurements will no longer be captured using the SQ. The conditions of participation guidance says the old rules required the Single Procurement Document (in practice the SQ), whereas the Act does not prescribe how suppliers show they meet the conditions (para 8). It adds that information the platform does not cover must be collected by the buyer directly (para 39).

Where it appears in the Act. The word PSQ does not appear in section 22. Section 22 lets a buyer set conditions of participation about your legal and financial capacity and your technical ability, as long as they are a proportionate way of checking. gov.uk’s guidance says “participation” templates may be used if they comply with the Act.

What it means for a small supplier. Much of the basic information a buyer needs is held on the central digital platform. gov.uk says suppliers can complete it in advance and share it only with the buyers they choose. Do that once, then expect the PSQ to ask for what is specific to the contract: references, insurance levels, certifications, financial standing. Check the tender documents for which answers are scored and which are pass or fail, because a failed condition can mean your tender is not assessed.

Next: how to read a tender notice and the first-tender checklist.

A procurement termination notice tells the market that a buyer has decided not to award a contract. Section 55 applies after a tender or transparency notice has been published, and requires notice as soon as reasonably practicable after the decision. It does not apply to private utilities. If a tender you were working on disappears, look for this notice on the central digital platform.

Social value is the extra social, economic or environmental benefit a contract can deliver, beyond the goods or services themselves. It can show up as a scored question in a tender, such as jobs for local people, apprenticeships, or reducing carbon.

Where it appears in the law. The Procurement Act 2023 does not use the term as a defined phrase. Section 12 says a buyer carrying out a covered procurement must have regard to the importance of maximising public benefit (s.12(1)(b)), and must consider whether barriers facing small and medium-sized enterprises can be removed or reduced. Buyers must also have regard to the national procurement policy statement under section 13. The Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, as amended to refer to the Procurement Act, requires a buyer to consider how a services procurement might improve the economic, social and environmental well-being of the area before it starts. It applies to services contracts above the threshold, in England and to non-devolved bodies in Wales (Welsh devolved bodies are exempt under s.1(11)).

For central government departments, executive agencies and non-departmental public bodies (para 3), PPN 002 applies to above-threshold procurements under the Act (para 6) started on or after 1 October 2025 (para 7). Where relevant and proportionate (para 8), buyers must apply a minimum 10% weighting, or equivalent, of the total score to social value (para 10).

What it means for a small supplier. Where social value carries 10% of the score, that is real marks. In the week to 10 Oct 2026, 7 of 470 live notices mentioned social value in the notice text itself (as of 10 Oct 2026; our data, how we count), so look for it in the tender documents. Answer with specific, measurable commitments you can actually deliver and later report on, not generalities.

Next: social value in tenders.

SQ stands for standard selection questionnaire, the form used under the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 to collect supplier information and selection criteria. gov.uk’s e-learning says above-threshold supplier information will no longer be captured using the SQ. Core supplier information now sits on the central digital platform, and buyers collect the rest themselves, for example in a procurement specific questionnaire (PSQ).

A threshold is the contract value at which most of the Act applies. gov.uk’s guidance says a contract is a public contract only if it is not exempt and its estimated value is not less than the amounts in Schedule 1. From 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2027, including VAT: £5,193,000 for works, £135,018 for goods and services bought by central government, and £207,720 for other buyers. These are the figures for most contracts; utilities, light touch and defence contracts have their own thresholds (guidance paras 9–12). Lower-value contracts are below-threshold contracts.

A unique identifier is the reference a supplier receives when it registers on the central digital platform. gov.uk says registration is free and that official registers such as Companies House are used to validate identity. From 1 April 2026, contract details notices for notifiable below-threshold contracts must include the supplier’s unique identifier, so register before you win, not after.

A utilities contract is a contract for the supply of goods, services or works wholly or mainly for the purpose of a utility activity (section 6). The activities are listed in Schedule 4 of the Act. Some duties do not apply to private utilities, for example procurement termination notices. If you sell to utility operators, check which rules the tender notice says apply.