Financial Trading

Concepts

• bsc financial trading and investment management course
• sheffield
• higher education
• ofqual
• msc global financial trading course
• financial trading
• msc global financial trading
• post graduate financial trading courses
• financial trading qualifications
• part of the bsc financial trading

Location

Sheffield: Please refer to contract description

Description

Sheffield Hallam University has contracted with a provider to deliver or support the delivery of both level 5 and level 7 Ofqual registered Financial Trading qualifications as modules which are integrated into established Undergraduate and Post Graduate Financial Trading courses at the University. The provider will deliver or support the delivery of their qualifications nationally and internationally with the potential to expand the scope of the contract into other complimentary areas. The contract is for a five year term plus any applicable cohort run-off period(s) and is for teaching delivery commencing in June 2023. There will be the right to break at the end of year 3 of the potential 5 year term.

Total Quantity or Scope

The contract with the provider is to deliver or support the delivery of independently accredited, Ofqual registered level 5 and level 7 financial trading qualifications as a component / module of a wider University Undergraduate and Postgraduate course. The level 5 qualification (as part of the BSc Financial Trading and Investment Management Course) is to be delivered by the provider on the provider's premises in central London. The Level 7 qualification (as part of the MSc Global Financial Trading Course) is to be delivered by the University at the University's Sheffield Campus but supported by the provider through the secondment of the provider's teaching staff and the licence of their level 7 qualification materials to the University. The University's BSc Financial Trading and Investment Management course, which currently only accepts home students, requires a 30 credit level 5 financial trading module which runs over a period of approximately 6 weeks and aligns to the aims and objectives of the course. The module, to be delivered by the provider, must equip students with the necessary knowledge, skills and behaviours to be competitive in the job market for a wide range of graduate level roles in the Financial Services industry. The University's MSc Global Financial Trading course, which accepts both home students and international students, requires a 30 credit level 7 financial trading module again running over approximately 6 weeks and which aligns to the aims and objectives of the course. The provider will support the delivery of this module through the secondment of their teaching staff and licensing their level 7 module materials to the University. The module must equip students with the necessary knowledge, skills and behaviours to be competitive in the job market for a wide range of postgraduate level roles in the Financial Services industry. The University has the right to agree changes to the approach to a module's delivery, including but not limited to the location for delivery and responsible party for delivery, over the life of the contract in order to meet any changes in circumstances, opportunities for growth, or new or changed regulatory requirements applicable to the University and/or the delivery of its courses. Both Undergraduate and Postgraduate courses are applied in nature and the University has contracted with a provider who has trading qualifications that can be delivered with an emphasis on real life, hands on experience. The provider's teaching staff are experienced financial market traders who can demonstrate both the academic and professional capability to develop the next generation of Financial Services professionals. In light of the success of the University's UK based delivery on the above courses, as part of the contract, there is the potential to expand the offering for delivery internationally which may include, but is not limited to, course or module delivery in the following locations: India, China and The Middle East and Africa with immediate effect. The contract allows for the delivery of the provider's trading qualifications internationally both on a face to face and remote basis. Our international expansion plans are still at a relatively early stage but are ambitious. If required, the appointed provider can scale their provision for multiple student cohorts running in different countries simultaneously. As part of the contract, there is the potential, but no guarantee that, the University may extend the scope of the provider's services into other complimentary areas which could include but is not limited to: commercial enterprises, employability offers and further course development in partnership.

Award Detail

Renewal Options

Please refer to the contract description sections of this notice for further details of options including the option to break the 5 year term and expansion in the scope of services.

Award Criteria

CPV Codes

• 80300000 - Higher education services
• 66100000 - Banking and investment services

Indicators

• Options are available.

Legal Justification

The University issued a Prior Information Notice (PIN) in the Official Journal reference PIN 2021/S 000-018290 on 30 July 2021 and a further PIN on Find a Tender on 25 January 2022. The latter PIN invited interested parties to participate in a preliminary market consultation exercise (PMC). The University only received one response to the PINs and PMC, which was from the party to whom the University has awarded the contract. No other providers indicated they had the technical capability to deliver the University's requirements in the timescales required including the stand-alone, Ofqual registered, professional trading qualifications included within the University's courses at both level 5 and level 7. Consumer protection law relating to student contracts requires the University to be clear about course content and provision at an early stage in the student application and offer process which in turn requires the University to have secured its arrangements with any third-party provider involved in a course (and with the necessary capabilities) at least 12 months ahead of the student intake date. In the absence of any other provider with the necessary technical capabilities, in the timescales required by the University and as required by consumer law - which has been demonstrated by the outcome of the two PINs and the PMC - the University believes it is justified in adopting the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a call for competition.

Other Information

** PREVIEW NOTICE, please check Find a Tender for full details. ** The figure included for contract value represents a mid-point in a value range between £1,100,000 GBP and £2,751,000 GBP (exclusive of VAT) based on current price per student fees. This value range is an estimate and indicative only and does not include potential fees arising from expansion into other complementary commercial service areas (as referred to below). The actual outturn figure for contract value will depend upon a variety of factors and uncertainties and whether all potential opportunities and ambitions for the partnership are fully exploited during the term of the contract and so is not guaranteed. These factors include but are not limited to: the number of students recruited, both home students and internationally for the MSc and BSc courses; expansion to include delivery in international locations and, other expansion plans and ambitions for the partnership into complementary commercial and service areas.