Early Years (EY) Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Provision of Pre‑Developed CPD Materials and Training

Description

Early Years (EY) Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Provision of Pre‑Developed CPD Materials and Training Procurement Description This is a notice seeking early engagement from interested parties in relation to the Department for Education Early Years (EY) Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Continuous Professional Development (CPD) Provision of Pre‑Developed CPD Materials and Training. Please note that all references to procedure, value and term length are purely illustrative and subject to change. We are seeking to procure a package of pre-developed training with learning materials for early years practitioners on SEND and make this available and accessible for all early years practitioners from September 2026 for up to 12 months, with the possibility of a short extension. The training should: Be specific to SEND in early years only, specifically ages 0-4. Be available and applicable to all early years practitioners, regardless of qualification level or setting type (PVIs, school-based nurseries, childminders etc.) and meet government accessibility standards. Be in an online, modular, self-paced format that users can revisit at their convenience with videos/webinars dispersed amongst the online learning. Provide a minimum of 30 hours of content, to enable and support learning beyond the level currently covered in the DfE’s Early Years Child Development Training, module 8. Cover, at a minimum, content around inclusive practice and methods for embedding this within a setting and information/guidance on engaging with parents of children with SEND. Already be developed and actively being used in practice, with demonstrable evidence of positive uptake and feedback by users. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please note that this notice is for early market engagement and exploratory purposes and is not a call for competition. The Department reserves the right not to enter any formal processes or agreements. Accordingly, the authority will not be liable for any bid cost, expenditure, work, or effort incurred by a provider in acting based on this notice. Open early engagement - this means that a procurement idea is currently active, it is in the early stage of development and judging interest from potential suppliers. On 16th January 2026, the government announced a £200 million investment in SEND teacher training. The package was described as including: A new Early Years CPD programme, providing free, accessible training focused on inclusive practice, child development, and practical strategies for supporting children with SEND – available to all early years practitioners. We are currently also conducting separate market engagement on procurement for the creation of a new, more extensive package of training to become available from autumn 2027. Further, on the 23rd February 2026, as part of the SEND Reform: Putting Children and Young People First consultation document, it was published that all staff in early years will be entitled to receive high quality-training from September 2026. The Department for Education (DfE) is commencing market engagement and seeking feedback to inform interest from the market and viability of the requirements for the first phase of the investment. Interested parties are invited to attend an online market engagement event to be held 15th April 13:0-14:0 to hear further details about this opportunity and share thoughts and questions about the future programme through a feedback questionnaire. Please note, in the interest of fairness, attendance will be limited to 2 people per organisation. Follow up 1-2-1 interviews may be scheduled at the discretion of the Department, and further information on this will be shared during the event. DfE may also decide to host further engagement events prior to the launch of a formal tender process. Further details will be provided in due course. This market engagement notice does not signify the commencement of any competitive process, nor does it constitute a commitment to any future procurement activity.

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