From September 2026, single and multi-academy trusts are mandated to procure supply staff through the Government Commercial Agency (GCA) ‘Supply Teachers and Education Recruitment’ framework agreement, which goes live in May 2026.
The mandate is published in the 2026 Academy Trusts Handbook and aims to provide better value for money for trusts through a Department for Education-led negotiated deal.
Local authority schools can also use the framework.
The GCA framework (provider reference RM6376) supplies teachers and educational staff to trusts and local authority schools. It caps the supplier fee, which is the agencies’ operating costs and profits, ensuring schools and trusts aren’t spending more than necessary.
Independent schools cannot access the framework.
The framework offers education sector specialist agencies who’ve been pre-approved through a rigorous evaluation process.
DfE recommends using the framework as procurement best practice. Additional benefits to the rate caps include
Multi-academy trusts must use the GCA framework unless you secure an alternative framework or contract which
Rates should be estimated based on the combined spend of all schools in your trust on agency supply staff. Read the GOV.UK guidance on estimating values.
If your trust spend is over threshold, you’re required to conduct a procurement process that is compliant with PA23.
Multi-academy trusts that use a different procurement route must ensure their costs are no higher than the rates offered by the GCA framework.
Agencies must provide you with a transparent breakdown of their charges on a per candidate basis. This will enable you to confirm that the supplier fee you pay on any alternative agreement are not higher than those available through the framework.
The total daily costs typically cover:
The maximum supplier fees within the GCA framework agreement are
These prices are the maximum that an agency could charge under the GCA framework. We advise reviewing individual rates submitted on the GCA Agency Supply Portal, as many agencies have agreed lower charges.
DfE will not force your trust to exit an existing contract. We recommend you compare your contracted rates against the GCA framework rates for future planning once your agreement comes to an end, in case the GCA framework provides cheaper rates.
Be wary of pressure from agencies to favour contracts outside of the framework agreement or replace terms and conditions with their own.
You may void all contractual protections and benefits of the framework agreement if you sign an agency’s terms and conditions rather than the official GCA call-off terms and conditions.
Staff pools are typically run by public bodies, and in most cases are not run for profit. The use of staff pools is out of scope of the Handbook rules as it only applies to use of agencies.
Some supply agencies profited excessively from the supplier fees paid by schools and trusts. This mandate aims to save schools and trusts money when using agencies only.
However, we advise you review all available solutions for supply in line with strategic financial and commercial planning.
This mandate should not affect the quality or availability of supply staff. The strategy caps agency profit only. Supply staff pay and conditions should not be affected.
Email DfE immediately on AgencySupply.CATEGORY@education.gov.uk if you become aware of an agency claiming it must pay supply workers less because of this mandate.