Executive Masters in Public Policy (EMPP)

A Contract Award Notice
by DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION

Source: Find a Tender
Type: Contract ()
Duration: not specified
Value: £1M

Sector: MISCELLANEOUS
Published: 19 Sep 2025
Delivery: not specified
Deadline: n/a

Concepts

Location

Geochart for 1 buyers and 1 suppliers

1 buyer

Department for Education London

1 supplier

London School of Economics & Political Science London

Description

This Direct Award is to the London School of Economics for the delivery of the 2026-28 Cohort of the Executive Masters in Public Policy, and the final month of delivery for the 25-27 cohort. Designed in conjunction with the UK Civil Service the Executive Masters in Public Policy is an expert level course designed to equip senior policy makers with the skills and knowledge required to become excellent policy makers. This direct award aims to provide learners continuity of service and provision, ensuring that there is no break in our ability to deliver expert level accredited learning whilst we undertake a full procurement. This will cover the final month of delivery of the 25-27 cohort, which falls outside of our current contract, and the delivery of a full Cohort starting in September 2026-28. If this Direct Award were not to proceed, the full delivery of the 2025-27 cohort would be in jeopardy. Proceeding via a direct award is the favourable option in comparison to other available contracting vehicles, as it represents a significant saving on the per-student cost in comparison to the per-student cost for the 2025-27 cohort. The Direct Award will also allow us to undertake a full procurement exercise for delivery of Accredited Learning from September 2027, allowing us to test the requirements of the policy profession against the wider higher education market.

Award Detail

1	London School of Economics & Political Science (London) Executive Masters in Public Policy: Direct Award Reference: 1 Value: £1,072,820

CPV Codes

None found

Legal Justification

London School of Economics (LSE) is the only supplier that could deliver the conclusion of the 2025-27 cohort without disruption to learners, due to the conclusion of the current frameworks. Due to recruitment timelines (beginning December 2025), it will be impossible to have a new supplier in place for the delivery of the 2026-28 cohort. A quotation from the supplier indicates an estimated saving of £55,137.50 across government when compared to the existing arrangements, based off student volumes for 2025-27. This extension would allow time for us to test requirements against the open market through a full procurement exercise.