Many tenders in Scotland are published on Public Contracts Scotland (PCS), which we don’t cover yet. Our live list shows the Scottish notices that also appear on Find a Tender and Contracts Finder: 21 live notices in the week to 10 Oct 2026 (as of 10 Oct 2026). Scotland also plays by different rules. Devolved Scottish authorities sit outside the Procurement Act 2023 and procure under the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015, so we use the Scottish terms on this page.
Where Scottish public buyers publish tenders
Public Contracts Scotland (PCS). PCS is the main route for many Scottish buyers. Supplier registration is free. You can set an alert profile by category and location, and you register to record interest and download a notice’s attachments (PCS help).
PCS-Tender. Some buyers run the tender itself on PCS-Tender. The Scottish Government describes it as the national e-tendering system, centrally funded. Its registration guide says you must be registered on PCS-Tender to respond and on PCS as well. The guide dates from 2015, so follow the current steps shown on the PCS notice. You reach PCS-Tender from the notice, so we don’t link it separately.
Find a Tender and Contracts Finder. Find a Tender carries UK-wide notices, including UK bodies operating in Scotland. Contracts Finder is the older service. Our live list comes from these two only. For how the main portals compare, see our guide to UK tender portals.
Scotland’s rules are different
Section 2(5)(a) of the Procurement Act 2023 excludes devolved Scottish authorities from the definition of contracting authority, except for procurement within section 115A. They follow the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015. For Scottish council tenders, the Regulations’ terms are the current ones. Procurement Act 2023 terms such as PSQ and conditions of participation don’t apply to them.
Two points matter to small firms when a tender runs under the Regulations (regulation 59). A minimum yearly turnover requirement must not exceed twice the estimated contract value, except in duly justified cases, and then regulation 59(10) requires the buyer to give reasons. A buyer may also ask that you “have an appropriate level of professional risk indemnity insurance”. See our pages on turnover tests and professional indemnity insurance. UK-wide bodies operating in Scotland aren’t devolved Scottish authorities, so their Find a Tender notices may follow the Act. Check the notice.
Who buys in Scotland
Councils, health bodies, universities, housing associations and other public bodies advertise. Because many Scottish buyers publish on PCS, our Scottish count is likely to understate what’s open, and we haven’t measured by how much. Use our list for UK-wide and cross-listed notices, and PCS for the rest.
Local support for small suppliers
The Supplier Development Programme runs free tender training and webinars for Scottish SMEs (SDP; Find Business Support Scotland). For wider advice, Find Business Support Scotland is on 0300 303 0660, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm (gov.uk).
Winning public contracts in Scotland
Know where the 2014 Act’s thresholds sit. A “regulated procurement” under the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 starts at £50,000 for goods and services and £2,000,000 for works (section 3). Below that, the Act’s regulated-procurement duties don’t apply, so read the buyer’s own tendering page. A second threshold, £4 million, comes up under community benefits below.
Expect community benefits. The same Act lets buyers write in community benefit requirements: contract terms on training and recruitment, sub-contracting opportunities, or improving the economic, social or environmental wellbeing of the area. If you employ locally or use local sub-contractors, say so with numbers. For regulated procurements of £4 million or more, the buyer must consider community benefits and summarise them in the contract notice, or give reasons for having none (section 25(2)–(3)). So on larger tenders, look for the summary in the notice itself.
Set up both registrations before you need them. Register on PCS first and set your alert profile by category and location, as PCS describes. Then register on PCS-Tender, because its guide says you need both to respond to a tender run there. Doing this in advance means a live notice won’t be missed for lack of an account. Choose categories and locations that match what you actually deliver, not the broadest ones.
Check which rules the notice follows. A Scottish council’s notice on PCS follows the Scottish regime. A notice from a UK-wide body on Find a Tender may follow the Procurement Act 2023 instead, and then Act terms such as PSQ will appear. If you can’t tell, ask the buyer through the portal before you invest time.
Check the size of the work. Across the UK, 366 live notices stated a value in the week to 10 Oct 2026: 85 under £100,000, 157 between £100,000 and £1 million, and 124 over £1 million (as of 10 Oct 2026). That is UK-wide, not Scotland-only, but a value in the notice tells you early whether the turnover cap and insurance asks are likely to bite.
Check turnover and insurance. Only 29 of the 470 UK live notices in the week to 10 Oct 2026 (about 6%) stated insurance requirements in the notice itself (as of 10 Oct 2026). The rest is in the documents on PCS or PCS-Tender. Check public liability and health and safety accreditation requirements before you commit bid time. Our tender eligibility checker is coming soon. Until then, tell us your trade and postcode to join the free weekly list of live tenders, starting soon.
Questions
Where are public sector tenders in Scotland published?
Many Scottish buyers publish on Public Contracts Scotland, which is free for suppliers. Some run the tender itself on PCS-Tender. UK-wide notices, including from UK bodies operating in Scotland, are on Find a Tender. Each notice says where to respond.
Does the Procurement Act 2023 apply in Scotland?
Not to devolved Scottish authorities. Section 2(5)(a) of the Act excludes them from the definition of contracting authority, except where they carry out procurement within section 115A. They follow the Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 instead. UK-wide bodies operating in Scotland are a different case, so check each notice.
What's the difference between Public Contracts Scotland and PCS-Tender?
Public Contracts Scotland is where notices are published and where you set alerts. PCS-Tender is the separate e-tendering system some buyers use to run the tender itself, funded centrally by the Scottish Government. Its registration guide says you need to be registered on both. That guide is dated 2015, so check the current steps.
Does TenderWorthy include Public Contracts Scotland notices?
Not yet. We list notices from Find a Tender and Contracts Finder, so our Scottish list is only a subset of what is open. Keep a Public Contracts Scotland alert as well.
Where can I get free tender training in Scotland?
The Supplier Development Programme offers free tender training and webinars for Scottish SMEs. Find Business Support Scotland is also on 0300 303 0660, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.