Outsourcing firm misses out as Teach First hangs on to contract

Teach First fended off a challenge from an international outsourcing company to keep its contract to recruit “high potential” graduates into the profession.

The Department for Education confirmed last week that the charity – which has run the scheme since its launch in 2003 – was its “preferred supplier” for the contract, worth £89 million plus VAT for up to five years.

The National Institute of Teaching will also “partner” with Teach First in running the scheme, which helps place high-achieving graduates in disadvantaged schools.

Further details will be in the contract itself, which is yet to be published.

But the tender documents reveal outsourcing giant Serco – which is already responsible for a host of government contracts worth billions of pounds – lost out in its bid.

An early engagement notice published by the company last summer said it had “actively engaged” on the High Potential Initial Teacher Training (HPITT) programme “for over a year and [was] excited by the opportunity to deliver a transformed service”.

‘Collaborative partner network’

It said it intended to “pursue the tender as a prime provider, and create a collaborative delivery partner network to best meet the DfE’s requirements and deliver positive outcomes for schools, candidates and students”.

It said its “vision” was “to leverage our multinational, cross-sector experience as a service integrator and employer of over 50,000 staff to complement market-leading ITT providers by providing agile and robust solutions to attract, recruit and manage a consistent flow of high-potential participants, aligned to priority subjects.”

Coventry University is also listed on the contract award notice as an “unsuccessful supplier”.

Coventry already runs its own initial teaching training (ITT) provision, through the National Institute of Teaching and Education (NITE).

Both Serco and the university were approached by Schools Week, but declined to comment.

Tender documents previously released by the DfE suggested the government wanted the new HPITT scheme to be “supplier neutral”, suggesting it could be set to get a new name.

Those interested in bidding for the contract were also reportedly told last year the DfE “intend[ed]” to drop a “current requirement” that most recruits come from Russell Group universities.

This would “widen access”, bidders were told, and potentially encourage more candidates to train and teach locally.

The contract award notice states the scheme will still target recruits with a 2:1 degree or above.

It states the scheme will remain focused on recruits “who would otherwise be unlikely to enter teaching or work in disadvantaged schools, and who demonstrate the potential to become excellent teachers and emerging leaders”.

The contract award notice says the supplier will also have “a strong focus on meeting local recruitment needs and achieving strong levels of participant completion and retention”.

They will be expected to recruit 1,000 trainees per cohort. Teach First recruited more than 1,400 in 2024 and 2025, according to its annual report. But the new contract is worth far less than previous versions issued to the charity.

In the DfE’s 6,500 additional teachers delivery plan, published in April, the DfE also confirmed it was “exploring how the future HPITT programme could provide opportunities for participants to gain experience in FE settings and engage with teachers and leaders from the FE sector”.

Three cohorts

The impending contract has an initial value of about £53.5 million to cover three cohorts of trainees from 2027 to 2029.

It could then be extended for two more cohorts, starting in 2030 and 2031.

A Teach First spokesperson said: “Teach First is pleased to confirm that we are the preferred supplier for the next iteration of the HPITT programme, commencing in 2027.

“We bid with the National Institute of Teaching (NIoT) as a partner. Teach First is working closely with the Department for Education on next steps as we move towards formal contract award.”

Melanie Renowden, the chief executive of NIoT, said the organisation was proud to be involved in the programme, as a “strategic partner to Teach First”.

A DfE spokesperson said: “We have made great progress to deliver on our pledge to recruit and retain an additional 6,500 expert teachers, and the new programme will build on this success ensuring we keep even more brilliant teachers in the classrooms and attract the best into teaching.”