Contract award notice
Results of the procurement procedure
Section I: Contracting
entity
I.1) Name and addresses
Scottish Qualifications Authority
Lowden, 24 Wester Shawfair, Dalkeith
Midlothian
EH22 1FD
UK
Contact person: Elizabeth Cunningham
Telephone: +44 03452136720
E-mail: procurement@sqa.org.uk
NUTS: UKM73
Internet address(es)
Main address: http://www.sqa.org.uk
Address of the buyer profile: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/search/Search_AuthProfile.aspx?ID=AA00386
I.2) Joint procurement
The contract is awarded by a central purchasing body
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Other: NDBP
I.5) Main activity
Education
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
Content Management System
Reference number: SQA2433CMS
II.1.2) Main CPV code
48000000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
II.1.4) Short description
Direct Award of Headless Content Management System on urgency grounds
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
340 000.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
48000000
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKM73
Main site or place of performance:
The Optima Building
58 Robertson Street
Glasgow
G2 8DQ
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
This is a VEAT notice to notify the market that SQA intends to enter into a contract following a negotiated procedure without prior publication on the grounds that for reasons of extreme urgency brought about by events unforeseeable by the contracting authority, the time limits for open procedure, restricted procedure or competitive procedure with negotiation cannot be complied with (regulation 33(1)(c)). SQA requires to receive the contract services in time for a 1 December 2025 launch date for Qualifications Scotland which is set by government following the passage of the Education Scotland Act 2025. Implementation time requirements mean that even with immediate contract award, the development timeline is at the minimum of industry standards for enterprise-level headless CMS implementations. There is accordingly no time available for a procedure following even minimum timescales under procurement regulations. The urgency arises following a failure of established procurement procedures. Specifically SQA attempted to use an established Scottish Government framework to procure the required products but this process was vitiated by supply chain failure. That failure was unforeseeable by and unattributable to SQA.
II.2.5) Award criteria
Quality criterion: Authoring Experience
/ Weighting: 10
Quality criterion: Content Modelling
/ Weighting: 10
Quality criterion: Assessment Management
/ Weighting: 10
Quality criterion: Collaboration, Workflow & Publishing
/ Weighting: 10
Quality criterion: Website Building
/ Weighting: 10
Quality criterion: Integration
/ Weighting: 10
Quality criterion: Platform, Scaling & Infrastructure
/ Weighting: 10
Quality criterion: Training & Support
/ Weighting: 10
Price
/ Weighting:
20
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
No
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition
Justification for selected award procedure:
The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the Directive
Explanation
SQA is applying regulation 33(1)(c)
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
Yes
IV.2) Administrative information
IV.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number in the OJ S:
2025/S 000-039078
Section V: Award of contract
Contract No: SQA2433CMS
A contract/lot is awarded:
Yes
V.2 Award of contract
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
10/07/2025
V.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 4
Number of tenders received from SMEs: 0
Number of tenders received from tenderers from EU Member States: 3
Number of tenders received from tenderers from non-EU Member States: 1
Number of tenders received by electronic means: 4
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Contentful (UK) Limited
Highlands House, Basingstoke Road , Spencers Wood Reading
Aldershot
GU12 6FN
UK
Telephone: +044 7464378410
NUTS: UKJ11
The contractor is an SME:
No
V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot:
: 340 000.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
(SC Ref:806428)
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Glasgow Sheriff Court
1 Carlton Place
Glasgow
G5 9DA
UK
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
05/08/2025