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All buying options
This is a list of all DfE-approved buying options. Use one to ensure your procurement is compliant. We'll continue to review and update this list.
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This is a list of all DfE-approved buying options. Use one to ensure your procurement is compliant. We'll continue to review and update this list.
Buy financial services
A wide range of internal and external audit services, including financial health assessments, verification of financial accounts, and statements of corporate governance
Provider: Crescent Purchasing Consortium
Expires: 4 December 2027
Access to specialist contract compliance reviews which will help to identify, report and recover utility spend that has been overpaid, overcharged or made in error
Provider: Crown Commercial Service
Expires: 13 December 2025
The leasing and loan finance dynamic purchasing system (DPS) supports education establishments with access to funding for the acquisition of an asset through a choice of financing options, including hire purchase, operating lease, sales and leaseback and secured loans
Provider: Crown Commercial Service
Expires: 30 September 2025
An alternative to commercial insurance, underwritten by the government. Opt in immediately or up to 12 months in advance
Provider: Department for Education
Expires: 31 December 2050
Use catalogues to buy low value goods
The biggest public procurement organisation in the UK, providing technology products including laptops, smartphones, accessories and software, and office machines that print, scan, or copy
Provider: Crown Commercial Service
Provides a range of goods to the public sector, including stationery, art and crafts, classroom resources, furniture, office essentials, presentation and display equipment
Provider: ESPO
Publicly owned by 13 local authorities. It provides a range of products from UK suppliers, including pens and paper, storage, computers, audio visual equipment, and furniture
Provider: YPO
Buy food, drink and catering services
Catering, cleaning and caretaking, security and reception, CCTV, car park management, mobile patrols and key holding, food hygiene inspection, waste management. This dynamic purchasing system (DPS) is open to, and suitable for both national and regional suppliers throughout its entire duration
Provider: YPO
Expires: 31 July 2025
Provision of outsourced catering services, offering flexible catering provisions and a range of service models. It also covers ‘holiday food programmes’ for those looking to provide meals meeting the School Meal Standards during holiday periods
Provider: Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 31 August 2026
A route to purchase or hire a large range of commercial catering equipment and associated goods and services, including catering equipment, maintenance response services and kitchen design services
Provider: Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 31 March 2026
Provision of outsourced catering services, with the flexibility to respond to changes in the market
Provider: Education Buying
Expires: 31 August 2026
This DPS offers a wide range of food and drink products via a single supplier or multiple suppliers based on your budget and need. Suitable for schools who wish to procure a new food contract and who wish to thoroughly compare suppliers via a mini-competition
Provider: YPO
Expires: 5 January 2027
Quick and cost-effective procurement of food and drink products, offering pre-approved suppliers who meet rigorous quality standards across various categories. Suitable for schools who wish to procure a new food contract and who are looking for a faster turnaround with a simplified process
Provider: YPO
Expires: 26 October 2026
A simple and competitive route to buy goods for their in-house catering service
Provider: Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 31 July 2025
An easy way for schools to buy all types of light catering equipment - from cutlery and crockery to small kitchen appliances and food storage solutions
Provider: Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 6 June 2026
A compliant route for the provision of outsourced catering services
Provider: Crescent Purchasing Consortium
Expires: 25 September 2026
Access to a range of sandwiches, filled rolls and baps, bagels and wraps, and food-to-go products including hot and cold eats, from a range of suppliers who hold relevant and in-date third party food safety accreditation certificates
Provider: Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 30 June 2026
Buy professional services
Access to specialist contract compliance reviews which will help to identify, report and recover utility spend that has been overpaid, overcharged or made in error
Provider: Crown Commercial Service
Expires: 13 December 2025
Sourced by the DfE on behalf of schools and trusts, this service provides access to extensive energy bill audit and cost recovery services
Provider: Department for Education
Expires: 31 May 2026
A dynamic purchasing system that supplies estates and facilities consultancy services to educational establishments and supports members in delivering a wide range of works projects and programmes including, but not limited to new builds, refurbishments and maintenance
Provider: Crescent Purchasing Consortium
Expires: 7 January 2028
Procurement of specialist professional services for the public sector covering a range of spend areas, including facilities management, catering, construction, environment, sustainability, waste, ICT and education consultancy. Extensive experience within the local authority and school sector
Provider: North East Procurement Organisation
Expires: 30 November 2027
Buy electricity, gas and other fuels
Access to specialist contract compliance reviews which will help to identify, report and recover utility spend that has been overpaid, overcharged or made in error
Provider: Crown Commercial Service
Expires: 13 December 2025
A simple and compliant route to market to access sector-specific decarbonisation experts, safe in the knowledge that a robust tender exercise has taken place to award the framework
Provider: West Mercia Energy
Expires: 30 April 2028
A quick, simple and competitive route to the supply of electricity
Provider: Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 30 September 2028
Sourced by the DfE on behalf of schools and trusts, this service provides access to extensive energy bill audit and cost recovery services
Provider: Department for Education
Expires: 31 May 2026
A range of purchasing strategies that best fit with your organisations electricity energy requirements and budget
Provider: Laser energy
Expires: 30 September 2028
A range of purchasing strategies that best fit with your organisations gas energy requirements and budget
Provider: Laser energy
Expires: 30 September 2028
Supply of electricity on a flexible basis and the provision of associated services
Provider: West Mercia Energy
Expires: 31 March 2028
Supply of gas on a flexible basis and the provision of associated services
Provider: West Mercia Energy
Expires: 31 March 2026
Lighting framework that helps schools purchase modern, energy-efficient lighting solutions. Designed to help schools replace outdated lighting systems and reduce your carbon footprint
Provider: Lexica
Expires: 5 January 2027
A quick, simple and competitive route to buying liquid fuels, encompassing both automotive fuels and heating oils
Provider: Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 17 August 2026
Provision of gas oil, kerosene, road fuels including unleaded petrol and diesel, alternative fuel sources and ancillary services
Provider: North East Procurement Organisation
Expires: 31 October 2025
A quick, simple, and competitive route to purchasing liquified petroleum gas, propane and butane, in both cylinder and bulk tank delivery form
Provider: Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 21 October 2025
A quick, simple and competitive route to the supply of mains gas
Provider: Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 31 March 2027
Supply of electricity and gas, including billing, administration, customer service and where required, ancillary services
Provider: Crown Commercial Service
Expires: 20 February 2027
Supply of mains gas, that offers a choice of either fully fixed, fixed or flexible pricing along with additional support and associated services. Schools also have access to a range of net zero support including green gas
Provider: YPO
Expires: 31 March 2029
Access to expert support for all your school's energy needs, offering everything from utility procurement and bill validation to sustainability planning, carbon reduction and delivers social value benefits for education
Provider: Crescent Purchasing Consortium
Expires: 20 October 2026
Access to expert consultants for both energy procurement and sustainability services
Provider: Utilities supplies and services
Buy facilities management services
Suppliers of high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration air cleaning units that meet a suitable standard of specification for use in education settings
Provider: Crown Commercial Service
Expires: 26 July 2025
A compliant route for the provision of building cleaning services
Provider: Crescent Purchasing Consortium
Expires: 29 May 2026
Catering, cleaning and caretaking, security and reception, CCTV, car park management, mobile patrols and key holding, food hygiene inspection, waste management. This dynamic purchasing system (DPS) is open to, and suitable for both national and regional suppliers throughout its entire duration
Provider: YPO
Expires: 31 July 2025
Provision of outsourced cleaning services
Provider: Education Buying
Expires: 30 July 2025
A simple and compliant route to market to access sector-specific decarbonisation experts, safe in the knowledge that a robust tender exercise has taken place to award the framework
Provider: West Mercia Energy
Expires: 30 April 2028
A dynamic purchasing system that supplies estates and facilities consultancy services to educational establishments and supports members in delivering a wide range of works projects and programmes including, but not limited to new builds, refurbishments and maintenance
Provider: Crescent Purchasing Consortium
Expires: 7 January 2028
A range of facilities management and workplace services
Provider: Crown Commercial Service
Expires: 13 December 2026
Provision of building services once a building is constructed to enable on-going maintenance, extension and refurbishment for schools. This framework is suitable for smaller ad-hoc service requirements and also for a more long-term service project
Provider: YPO
Expires: 24 March 2026
Lighting framework that helps schools purchase modern, energy-efficient lighting solutions. Designed to help schools replace outdated lighting systems and reduce your carbon footprint
Provider: Lexica
Expires: 5 January 2027
This framework offers design, supply, installation and repair services for netball courts, AstroTurf pitches and multi-use games areas. It also provides specialist fitness and SEND equipment
Provider: Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 13 September 2026
Procurement of specialist professional services for the public sector covering a range of spend areas, including facilities management, catering, construction, environment, sustainability, waste, ICT and education consultancy. Extensive experience within the local authority and school sector
Provider: North East Procurement Organisation
Expires: 30 November 2027
Alternatives to traditional grass sports fields. Covers the construction, installation, refurbishment, servicing and maintenance for all external sports facilities
Provider: Crescent Purchasing Consortium
Expires: 16 February 2026
Supporting education establishments with a compliant route for the provision of cleaning services
Provider: Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 31 December 2026
Buy IT and ICT equipment and services
This framework provides a simple way to purchase various cloud and computing services, from cloud storage and applications to complete IT infrastructure solutions
Provider: Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 1 January 2028
Provides a comprehensive set of telecommunications and associated communication supplies, services and solutions including network connectivity, multi-media communication and mobile communication
Provider: CPC
Provision and installation of a full range of communications solutions, associated services, equipment, support and maintenance. Equipment under this framework may be provided as a direct purchase or via a lease agreement
Provider: Procurement Services
Expires: 1 June 2026
Corporate software and related products
Provider: Crescent Purchasing Consortium
Expires: 31 August 2026
Access to a wide range of cyber security products including consultancy advice, penetration testing, incident management and data destruction that have been accredited by the National Cyber Security Centre
Provider: Crown Commercial Service
Expires: 14 February 2027
Provision and installation of a full range of education management systems tools required for the collection and management of data, efficient reporting and a means to communicate effectively to all stakeholders with access anytime, anywhere
Provider: Procurement Services
Expires: 30 June 2025
A comprehensive electronic catering and payment system that reduces administrative burden, improves financial management, and minimises food waste through accurate meal ordering
Provider: Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 19 August 2028
Buy the right ICT including hardware, software, connectivity, infrastructure and cloud services
Provider: Everything ICT
Expires: 14 July 2026
Buy cloud-based computing services, including hosting, software and pay-as-you-go cloud solutions from an online catalogue
Provider: Crown Commercial Service
Expires: 28 April 2026
Designed for the education sector, this framework offers on-premise IT and network infrastructure solutions, cloud and hybrid cloud solutions and consultancy services where a solution is yet to be defined
Provider: Crescent Purchasing Consortium
Expires: 30 April 2025
A full range of IT hardware including new, refurbished, and remanufactured. It also includes repair, disposal and associated services including support and maintenance
Provider: Procurement Services
Expires: 31 August 2025
Provision of multi-functional devices and digital solutions – both networked and stand-alone. Digital software solutions to help control, manage and measure the print environment trends and costs
Provider: Procurement Services
Expires: 21 April 2025
A straightforward way to buy or lease branded machines and technologies from small desktop units to high volume devices which print, scan and copy
Provider: Crescent Purchasing Consortium
Expires: 25 April 2025
Provision of multifunctional devices, managed print services, technical resources, digital workflows, cloud solutions for digital transition, and print consultancy services
Provider: Crown Commercial Service
Expires: 12 September 2025
This framework makes it easier for schools to get reliable, cost-effective network connectivity and telecommunications services, whether you need to improve your Wi-Fi, upgrade your phone system, or completely overhaul your school's network infrastructure
Provider: Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 17 March 2027
This framework offers a simple way for schools to buy software and technology. You can pick individual products or complete packages based on what your school actually needs
Provider: Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 20 February 2027
Supply of services for software
Provider: Crescent Purchasing Consortium
Expires: 8 August 2026
Procurement of specialist professional services for the public sector covering a range of spend areas, including facilities management, catering, construction, environment, sustainability, waste, ICT and education consultancy. Extensive experience within the local authority and school sector
Provider: North East Procurement Organisation
Expires: 30 November 2027
This framework provides schools with access to both refurbished and new IT equipment, along with secure ways to dispose of old technology. It covers everything from purchasing computers to safely destroying data when equipment reaches end-of-life
Provider: Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 28 May 2026
Access to technology products, software and services, including but not limited to; end user devices such as laptops and tablets, technology infrastructure such as servers and services including installation and logistics support
Provider: Crown Commercial Service
Expires: 9 October 2027
Buy legal services
Developed for the education sector to provide a comprehensive set of services, this includes: converting to an academy, HR and employment law, property and land law, commercial related matters, dispute resolution and litigation and legal services for education
Provider: Crescent Purchasing Consortium
Expires: 31 May 2025
Buy arts and crafts supplies, stationery and other equipment
Buy musical instruments, equipment and technology
Provider: Department for Education
Designed primarily for use by local authorities or school library services, this framework offers an extensive list of print books including children’s fiction, school curriculum, revision guides, and reference books
Provider: Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 31 October 2026
An easy-to-use self-service platform with no installation or licence fees to design materials easily with free tools or expert help and the ability to offset carbon emissions
Provider: Crown Commercial Services
Expires: 15 December 2028
Procurement of specialist professional services for the public sector covering a range of spend areas, including facilities management, catering, construction, environment, sustainability, waste, ICT and education consultancy. Extensive experience within the local authority and school sector
Provider: North East Procurement Organisation
Expires: 30 November 2027
Comprehensive access to a range of stationery, paper, and education supplies including office equipment through multiple suppliers
Provider: Crescent Purchasing Consortium
Expires: 31 August 2025
Buy staffing solutions
A national service that helps schools find and hire apprentices across 11 regions with access to many different training providers
Provider: Yorkshire Purchasing Organisation
Expires: 31 July 2027
Access to a range of HR, payroll, employee screening services and DBS and criminal record checks
Provider: Crescent Purchasing Consortium
Expires: 20 November 2026
Access to quality assured national professional qualifications training and support for school teachers and leaders
Provider: Department for Education
Procurement of specialist professional services for the public sector covering a range of spend areas, including facilities management, catering, construction, environment, sustainability, waste, ICT and education consultancy. Extensive experience within the local authority and school sector
Provider: North East Procurement Organisation
Expires: 30 November 2027
A simple and compliant way to buy staff absence insurance and reimbursement policies. Offering a solution to any staff absence requirement ensuring you are financially supported when staff sickness or absence occurs
Provider: Crescent Purchasing Consortium
Expires: 23 May 2025
Suppliers for hiring of all temporary and fixed term staff for educational establishments within the public sector across the UK. Independent schools (for-profit) are not able to access the deal.
Provider: Crown Commercial Service
Expires: 4 July 2026
Access to recruitment agencies for the provision of acquiring temporary and permanent staffing
Provider: Crescent Purchasing Consortium
Expires: 17 July 2026