Phase 1: Submission

This phase is where suppliers submit quotes for your requirements - you don't have to do anything except respond to any questions, and wait for your deadline for quotes! You'll see the following elements:

  • Project details bar: Clicking this will expand the details of your procurement project below. This bar will be shown on every page for you to refer to.

  • Sort box: Sort your quotes by date, price or supplier. This functionality will be available on following pages too.

  • Info table: Here you can see the suppliers that have responded to your procurement project so far.

  • 'Quotes pending...': Once your deadline for quotes is up, the project will automatically move into the shortlisting phase and this will become your 'End phase' button. We'll let you know with an email when it's time to move forward!

These icons help you easily find and compare key information about each quote, and are visible on every phase including when a completed project has moved into your archive. In the submission phase most of these are inaccessible, as you're not meant to view any proposals before the deadline for quotes is up.

  • Supplier name: Where this shows up in blue, the supplier name is a link to their company's education.co.uk profile page. We show you their company information and case studies to demonstrate their past experience and help you make an informed decision.

  • Key info: When this is active, clicking it will take you to see all of the required information each supplier must submit alongside their quote: the minimum and maximum price, and the answers to any questions you specified when creating the project.

  • Questions: Clicking these icons will direct you to the questions section, where you can ask or answer questions from the particular supplier. A red dot means there are unread questions from that supplier - a grey dot means you've read a question but haven't submitted a response yet.

  • Proposals: When these become active, clicking each will bring up any uploaded proposal documents the supplier has provided with a detailed breakdown of the quote and pricing. They are all required to submit at least one!

  • Case studies: When these become active, clicking these icons will bring up any extra case studies the supplier has uploaded. This is optional for suppliers, but we encourage all companies to provide examples of their past work supplying to the education sector.

  • T&Cs: When these become active, clicking these icons will bring up any uploaded terms and conditions documents provided by the supplier.

  • Min & max: The minimum and maximum prices for supplying your requirements, for easy comparison.

You will have chosen a deadline for quotes, so you can expect to receive them right up until midnight on the date you’ve selected! Some suppliers will want to provide a quote early, whereas some might want to work on a personalised proposal for as long as possible. If you’re worried you haven’t got enough quotes, or they’re not what you expected, please get in touch by emailing help@education.co.uk or calling us on 01634 702277 and we’ll investigate for you!

This supplier has asked you a question about your procurement project, but hasn't submitted a proposal yet. If they do submit a proposal, their key info will show 100% like the other suppliers who have done so. If they don't upload a proposal for any reason, they will not show up when you progress to the shortlisting phase.

At education.co.uk we want to help you as much as possible to run a fair, well-documented procurement process. The Department for Education states you must not look at any proposals before the deadline for quotes is up, so we've made some links unavailable for now to help you make sure you're treating all suppliers equally.

When your deadline for quotes is up and your project moves to the submission phase, all the relevant icons will be active for you to see all the information provided by each supplier.

This submission phase runs from the moment you launch your new procurement project to midnight on the deadline for quotes that you set. When the deadline is up, we'll send you an email to your registered email address to let you know it's time to move forward.

When your deadline for quotes is up, the project will automatically move into the shortlisting phase to start shortlisting your most competitive quotes!

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