How UK tenders are scored: quality, price, and what sits between them

Every tender notice includes a marks table. It shows exactly what the evaluator will score you on, and how much each section is worth. Most bidders skim it. The ones who win read it before they write a word.

This article explains how the scoring actually works: the quality/price split, what the quality criteria cover, how price is calculated, and where social value fits in.

Quality and price are marked separately

In a scored tender, quality and price are assessed by different people at different stages. Quality answers are opened first. Each evaluator marks your submission independently, then the panel moderates to a final score. The price envelope is opened separately, often after quality scores are confirmed.

The consequence: a weak quality answer is not rescued by a competitive price. On some frameworks, a submission that falls below a minimum quality threshold is set aside before price is considered at all.

The most common quality/price splits

Most UK public contracts published on Contracts Finder carry an explicit weighting. The most common splits are 60/40 and 70/30, with quality holding the larger share. Complex construction frameworks sometimes run at 80/20.

This is not accidental. The Procurement Act 2023, which came into force on 24 February 2025, awards contracts on the basis of the "Most Advantageous Tender" rather than the previous "Most Economically Advantageous Tender". The change removes the assumption that cost must outweigh quality.

What the quality criteria cover

The quality section typically breaks into four or five scored areas. A 60-mark quality section might look like this:

• Method statement (how you will deliver the work): 20 marks
• Health and safety approach: 15 marks
• Relevant experience: 10 marks
• Social value commitments: 10 marks
• Key personnel: 5 marks

Each area is marked on a scale, usually 0 to 4 or 0 to 5, with written descriptors at each level. A 4 means the answer is specific, evidenced and credible. A 0 or 1 means it does not address the requirement. A score of 3, classed as "acceptable", is where many submissions land, and acceptable rarely wins.

The ITT will often include those descriptors. If it does, read them. They tell you exactly what the evaluator compares your answer against.

Social value is scored, not noted

Social value now accounts for 10 to 20 per cent of total marks on many central government contracts. Some local authority construction contracts push that to 30 per cent. The Procurement Act 2023 gives authorities more flexibility to weight it higher where their policy priorities support it.

A generic answer on social value scores near zero. The evaluator is looking for named commitments, specific numbers and a credible delivery plan. "We will provide apprenticeships" scores differently from "We will create two apprenticeship positions in the first six months, through our existing partnership with [named organisation], tracked monthly against agreed targets." One is specific enough to score; the other is not.

How price is scored

Price is not marked against a fixed figure. Most contracting authorities use a relative method: the lowest submitted price receives the maximum price marks, and every other bid is scored as a proportion of that figure.

If the price section carries 40 marks and the lowest bid is £120,000, a bid of £140,000 scores roughly 34 marks out of 40. The six-mark gap is recoverable through quality. A firm that scores strongly on quality and prices at market rate will often beat a firm that undercuts by 15 per cent but answers quality sections weakly.

The marks table is the brief

Before writing a single answer, map the marks to the questions. A 5-mark question deserves a focused, direct answer. The method statement, usually the highest-weighted question, is where the contract is most often won or lost. Word count does not earn marks. Matching the stated criteria does.

If you want to know where a recent bid actually dropped marks, the Bid Audit returns a scored review of your submission and the three specific changes that would lift it most, within three working days, for £300.

To see how Forge & Rise supports bid writing and tender submissions from first draft to submission, visit the services page.