Implementing and Testing a Single Unique Identifier for Children within school MIS – Alpha

2026-11-03

The Department for Education (DfE) is seeking to engage with the market in advance of a planned procurement for the Alpha phase of the Single Unique Identifier (SUI) programme. The SUI programme aims to improve the identification of children across safeguarding services by enabling the use of NHS Numbers as a Single Unique Identifier. The Alpha phase will test the integration of school Management Information System (MIS) platforms with the DfE-hosted Get an Identifier service, enabling authorised access to NHS numbers and GP details from NHS England's Personal Demographics Service. DfE intends to appoint up to two MIS suppliers to participate in the Alpha phase. Successful suppliers will be expected to: • integrate their MIS platform with the DfE-hosted Get an Identifier service; • support onboarding, testing and implementation activities with participating schools; • complete relevant NHS England onboarding and assurance activities; • support live operation during the Alpha phase; • provide evidence on implementation effort, costs, timescales, technical barriers and operational impacts; and contribute to evaluation activities to inform future decisions regarding national rollout. The Alpha phase is intended to generate evidence on technical feasibility, implementation complexity, supplier readiness, operational requirements, user value, scalability and future delivery model. Nothing contained within this notice, the market engagement event, any supporting materials, or the follow-up questionnaire shall be taken as a commitment by the Department for Education to commence a procurement, award a contract, enter into any agreement, or provide funding. Information provided during the engagement is indicative only and may be subject to change. The DfE is keen to maximise opportunities to participate in procurement for Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs). Consideration will also be given to consortia and collaborative bids from all forms of organisations. Essential eligibility criterion: Suppliers must have an active contractual relationship with schools as their core MIS supplier and must process pupil demographic data on behalf of those schools under that contract. Suppliers that do not meet this requirement will be excluded from the procurement.

United Kingdom (UK)

2026-11-02