Invitation to tender: Home Learning Navigator digital prototype
The National Children’s Bureau (NCB) is seeking an experienced digital partner to help us discover, design, develop and test the Home Learning Navigator, an innovative digital tool intended to improve support for children experiencing homelessness.
Contract value: Up to £30,000 excluding VAT
Proposed delivery period: 2 November 2026 to 31 August 2027
Deadline for clarification questions: 14 October 2026 17:00
Tender submission deadline: 23 October 2026 16:00
About the opportunity
The Home Learning Navigator will help local authority leaders, education and early years leads, housing and homelessness teams, commissioners and voluntary-sector partners identify learning-related needs associated with homelessness, understand evidence-informed options, and design more coordinated pathways of support.
This is a Phase 1, discovery-led commission. We are not seeking a production-ready national platform at this stage. The successful partner will work with NCB to develop a functional, user-testable prototype that allows us to validate user needs, test key assumptions and assess technical feasibility.
Who we're looking for
We'd particularly like to hear from digital agencies and specialist suppliers with demonstrable experience in:
- user-centred and service design
- digital discovery and requirements gathering
- stakeholder engagement and user research
- accessible web design and development
- rapid or iterative prototype development
- secure development and data protection
- user testing and validation
- working collaboratively where requirements evolve through discovery.
We recognise that £30,000 requires clear prioritisation. We want suppliers to tell us what they believe can realistically be achieved within Phase 1, the assumptions behind their approach, the trade-offs they recommend, and what should be deferred to a future phase.
There is an aspiration that, following successful development and proof of concept, the prototype could lead to a subsequent phase developing a production digital solution. This tender, however, is specifically for the Phase 1 work described above.
Interested?
📅 ITT opens: 5 October 2026
❓ Clarification questions: by 17:00, 14 October 2026
📩 Tender submissions: by 16:00, 23 October 2026
💷 Maximum contract value: £30,000 excluding VAT
For the full Invitation to Tender and response requirements, please see the procurement documentation available here.
Clarification questions and completed tenders should be sent to [email protected]. Tender submissions should use “Home Learning Navigator” followed by the organisation name in the email subject line.