--- title: "How to run a school cleaning tender: step-by-step guide and timeline for schools and trusts | Long Lever" url: https://longleverpartnerships.co.uk/insights/how-to-run-a-school-cleaning-tender description: "A step-by-step guide to the school cleaning tendering process: when to start, frameworks or your own tender, the 2026 procurement threshold, the specification, TUPE, evaluation, award and contract management under the Procurement Act 2023." lang: en-GB --- Insights (https://longleverpartnerships.co.uk/insights) Schools and trusts # How to run a school cleaning tender, step by step By the Long Lever team · 8 min read · Last checked 7 November 2026 The short answer Start six to twelve months before your current contract ends. Decide whether to use a DfE-approved framework or run your own tender, gather floor areas, current hours and TUPE information, write a specification and a scoring method, publish, evaluate quality and price with a realism check, then award and manage the contract against agreed measures. If the total contract value is over the procurement threshold, you must use a framework or tender through the Central Digital Platform. ## When should you start a school cleaning tender? Earlier than most schools do. A rushed tender usually means a thin specification, too few bids and a contract that starts badly. Work backwards from the date you want the new contractor to start. The Department for Education suggests timing a switch for the start of an academic or financial year, or straight after a holiday, and allowing time for governor or trustee approval. Check your current contract's end date and notice period before anything else. | Months before start | What should be happening | | --- | --- | | 9 to 12 | Review the current contract, agree what needs to change, check the notice period, choose framework or own tender. | | 6 to 9 | Gather floor areas, current hours and TUPE information. Write the specification and pricing schedule. | | 4 to 6 | Agree the scoring method. Publish the tender or call-off. Run site visits and answer clarification questions. | | 3 to 4 | Evaluate, moderate, check price realism, get approval and award. | | 0 to 3 | Mobilise: TUPE consultation, employee information, induction, keys and access, first audits. | From idea to a working process > “Every tender we start too late, then rush the specification. I want to put in our start date and see exactly when each step has to happen.” Trust estates and facilities lead, Long Lever Trust (a fictitious example) The steps are known but live in someone’s head or an old spreadsheet. Notice periods, TUPE information and approval meetings get missed, and the timetable slips. Other processes procurement teams ask us to streamline Not everything needs a screen. Some are automations that run in the background, some are AI agents that read and draft, and some are a simple screen for the team. - Simple screen Bid scoring sheet Each evaluator scores on a phone or laptop, then it brings the scores together for moderation and shows where people disagree. Moderation in one meeting - AI agent Clarification question log Records every bidder question and your answer, ready to publish to all bidders at once. Fair, consistent answers - Automation Price realism check Turns each bid into hours and pay rates so a too-cheap bid stands out. Unworkable bids spotted early - Automation Contract renewal tracker Every contract across the trust with its end date and notice period, and reminders well before each one. No more rolling over by accident ## Framework or your own tender? A framework is a list of suppliers that has already been through a compliant procurement. Calling off from a DfE-approved framework is usually quicker and lower risk, because the legal groundwork has been done. Running your own tender takes longer but lets you shape everything, including how bids are scored. What you must do depends on the total value of the contract over its whole life, including any extensions, not the annual cost. For academy trusts and other sub-central bodies, the threshold for services from 1 January 2026 is **£207,720 including VAT**. Above that, you must use a framework or run a tender through the government's Central Digital Platform under the Procurement Act 2023. Below it, follow your trust's own financial regulations or scheme of delegation, which usually require a set number of written quotes. Maintained schools usually follow their local authority's contract rules, so check those first. ## What information do you need before you write anything? - **Floor plans and areas**, room by room, with the type of room and floor finish. - **How the building is used**: opening hours, lettings, breakfast and after-school clubs, and any areas that are only used part of the year. - **Current hours and staffing**: how many cleaners, on what shifts, for how many weeks a year. - **TUPE information**: staff roles, hours, pay, length of service and pension arrangements, including any Local Government Pension Scheme members. Ask your current contractor for this when you give notice. - **What is not included**: catering kitchens, sanitary bins, IT equipment or anything covered by another contract. - **What has gone wrong before**: complaints, missed areas and anything staff or pupils would change. ## What goes into the specification? The specification is what every bidder prices, so it decides whether you get bids you can compare. It should set out the number of cleaning weeks, daily and weekly tasks by zone, periodic and holiday deep cleans, emergency cleaning, who supplies equipment and materials, lock-up and security duties, and the checks you expect such as DBS, insurance and COSHH. Our school cleaning specification guide (https://longleverpartnerships.co.uk/insights/school-cleaning-tender-specification) covers this in detail, with a checklist. ## How should bids be scored? Decide and publish the scoring method before bids come in: the split between quality and price, the questions, their weights and what a good answer looks like. Keep a pricing schedule that every bidder fills in the same way, with hours, rates and periodic costs shown separately. When prices arrive, check each one against the hours and the wage that must legally be paid. A bid that cannot pay its own staff is not a saving. See how to evaluate cleaning and security tenders fairly (https://longleverpartnerships.co.uk/insights/score-cleaning-security-tenders-fairly) and how to check whether a cleaning bid is too cheap (https://longleverpartnerships.co.uk/insights/is-a-cleaning-bid-too-cheap). ## What happens after you award the contract? 1. **Tell bidders the outcome** with reasons, and follow the notice and standstill rules that apply to your route. 2. **Mobilise.** The outgoing contractor must give the new one employee liability information at least 28 days before the transfer. Staff must be informed and, where changes are planned, consulted. 3. **Agree how performance will be measured** from day one: audit scores, hours delivered, absence cover, issues fixed on time and periodic work completed. 4. **Meet regularly.** Monthly at first, then quarterly, with the figures in front of you. 5. **Keep records.** Under the Procurement Act, contracts worth over £5 million must have at least three key performance indicators, with performance published. Smaller contracts benefit from the same discipline. ## What this won't do This is a practical guide, not legal advice. Procurement rules depend on whether you are an academy trust or a maintained school, on the contract value and on your own financial regulations. Thresholds are revised every two years. Check your trust's rules and take advice on anything you are unsure about. ## Questions people also ask How long does a school cleaning tender take?+ Allow at least six months from starting work to the new contractor beginning, and nine to twelve months if you are running your own tender above the procurement threshold with staff transferring under TUPE. What is the procurement threshold for school cleaning contracts in 2026?+ For academy trusts and other sub-central bodies, the threshold for services from 1 January 2026 is £207,720 including VAT, based on the total value of the contract over its whole life, including extensions. Do academies have to follow the Procurement Act 2023?+ Yes. Academy trusts are contracting authorities, so contracts above the threshold must go through a compliant route such as a framework or a tender published on the Central Digital Platform. Maintained schools usually follow their local authority's rules. Can a school use a framework for cleaning?+ Yes. The Department for Education lists approved frameworks for cleaning services. Calling off from one is often quicker than running your own tender because the suppliers have already been through a compliant procurement. How long should a school cleaning contract be?+ The Department for Education suggests considering a two-year contract with the option to extend by a year. Longer terms can attract better prices, but make sure you can end or review the contract if performance slips. ## Sources - GOV.UK: Buying for schools, cleaning services: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/buying-for-schools-things-to-consider-before-you-start/cleaning-services - Get help buying for schools: cleaning services: https://get-help-buying-for-schools.education.gov.uk/categories/facilities-management-estates/cleaning-services - LUPC: New financial thresholds from 1 January 2026: https://lupc.ac.uk/news-events/newsarticle/new-financial-thresholds-from-1-january-2026 - GOV.UK: Procurement Act 2023 guidance, key performance indicators: https://gov.uk/government/publications/procurement-act-2023-guidance-documents-manage-phase/guidance-key-performance-indicators-html - GOV.UK: Tendering jargon busting guide for academy trusts: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/understanding-tendering-terminology-for-academy-trusts/tendering-jargon-busting-guide-for-academy-trusts Facts and rates last checked 7 November 2026. We review every article at least every six months. About the Long Lever team Long Lever Partnerships is a collective of business owners and operators: people who have built, run and sold businesses, some with multi-million-pound turnovers, and people who have spent their careers in the field. We have no software to sell and no commission from any provider. ## We guide, you build and own it. Want to know where this fits in your business? The free discovery check takes a few minutes, and the first conversation costs nothing. Take the free discovery check: https://longleverpartnerships.co.uk/discovery-check Open the Long Lever Academy tender guide: https://longleverpartnerships.co.uk/examples/academy-tender-guide ## Read next How to write a school cleaning tender specification that gets comparable bids Read https://longleverpartnerships.co.uk/insights/school-cleaning-tender-specification How many cleaning hours does a school need? A simple way to work it out Read https://longleverpartnerships.co.uk/insights/how-many-cleaning-hours-does-a-school-need How to score cleaning and security tenders fairly, and defend the result Read https://longleverpartnerships.co.uk/insights/score-cleaning-security-tenders-fairly ## Structured data ```json [ { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": [ "Organization", "ProfessionalService" ], "@id": "https://longleverpartnerships.co.uk/#org", "name": "Long Lever Partnerships", "legalName": "Millwood Investments Limited", "identifier": { "@type": "PropertyValue", "propertyID": "Companies House number", "value": "05535477" }, "url": "https://longleverpartnerships.co.uk/", "logo": "https://longleverpartnerships.co.uk/logo.png", "email": "jrb@longleverpartnerships.co.uk", "telephone": "+44 800 849 4033", "description": "Independent UK consultancy and collective of business owners and operators who have built, run and sold businesses. 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