The following is a basic outline of the tender process. It is intended to be an overview rather than a detailed guide. If you require more detailed information please contact the Purchasing Department via the contact details at the bottom of this page.
Pre-qualification/due diligence
The purpose of this stage is to assess the suitability of a supplier in terms of technical knowledge and experience, capacity, capability, and organisational and economic/financial standing. This may be built in to the Invitation to Tender stage.
Invitation to Tender
At this stage the University will issue the supplier with a set of documents outlining the requirements of the tender and instructions for completion. The main purpose of this stage is provide suppliers with all the information they need to submit a tender, with accompanying pricing information.
Tender evaluation
After the deadline for tender submission, the tenders will be reviewed and evaluated. This will then form the basis for negotiation and subsequent award of the contract.
Contract award
Once a decision has been reached, the successful supplier will be awarded the contract. Any unsuccessful suppliers will be able to request a debrief.
Tender process survey
If you have recently taken part in a tender process with the University of Oxford, the Purchasing Department would like to invite you to complete a short Supplier Survey on your experience.
OJEU (Official Journal of the European Union)
As clarified in the European Court of Justice’s decision in R v HM Treasury, ex parte University of Cambridge [2000], the University of Oxford is not currently a Contracting Authority for the purposes of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 or the Public Procurement Directive 2014/24/EU as less than 50% of our funding comes from public sources.
