Educational Standard Reviews for a Multi Academy Trust

Bradford Diocesan Academies Trust (BDAT) is seeking to procure school improvement review services to lead 1-day onsite education quality assurance reviews (assisted by BDAT senior colleagues) across the 21 BDAT academies, all of which are located within the Bradford Local Authority area. The purpose of the reviews are:

• To provide independently verified education insights into the progress and performance of each of our academies and to give support and challenge to enable further school improvement.
• To ensure appropriate support & challenge, which drives holistic improvement in relation to the school and MAT professional challenge and feedback.
• To provide a professional development opportunity for BDAT school leaders to undertake external reviews to support development of wider educational knowledge and experience and to share effective practice across the MAT.
• The reviews form a pillar of the MAT Quality Assurance and Evaluation oversight providing independent education insight.

The service will commence from 1st Jan 2027. The initial contract will be for 3 years with the option to extend for another 2 years. The service is to run on-site school improvement reviews for each location. The focus of the reviews will be agreed in advance for each academy based on the school's own self-evaluation, school development plans and feedback on areas for improvement in previous external reviews. The reviews are not designed to be "mocksted" inspections, although inevitably areas for scrutiny will often mirror areas within the Ofsted inspection framework. Each review is anticipated to take approximately two days including half a day preparation, one day on site conducting the quality assurance review and half a day to produce a summary report for the school, Trust leaders, governors and Trustees. Cross phase tender submissions for all 21 academy reviews are encouraged. However, BDAT reserves the right to award the contract as a single requirement or to divide the requirement into Lots structured by school phase, comprising a Primary Schools Lot and a Secondary Schools Lot. Tenderers may submit bids for either Lot individually, or the full requirement. Tenderers should be clear which Lots there are bidding for.