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Version 3 - 15/12/09
1) Does this scheme have any guidelines with regards to the duration of these volunteer projects?
No, it is up to supplier organisations to propose suitable duration.
2) We notice that the grant available would be £1,000 per person; could you give me any guidelines as to the size of the contribution the graduate would be expected to pay themselves in addition to the grant?
No, again it is up to the supplier organisation to propose a graduate contribution. Bear in mind, however that the scheme is means-tested and only available to those who received a full grant during their university education and therefore with low income levels.
3) I understand that there are going to be 320 places available for suitable graduates. Will BIS be responsible for locating and recruiting these individuals?
No. This would be the supplier organisation’s role.
4) Do you require organisations to cover all continents?
Not explicitly but you are advised to carefully read Document 5, “Evaluation Methodology” to understand exactly what we will evaluate on and which scores might be given.
5) Could you please advise an approximate price band that BIS expects to pay per graduate?
The overall BIS budget has been given in the Invitation to Tender. The maximum amount that BIS would be able to pay for all graduates is that budget minus your administration costs.
6) You mention that it is the supplier organisation’s job to locate and recruit the volunteers. Can you clarify how that might work, will the supplier organisation be provided with the contact details of all potentially qualifying candidates (i.e. those who received a full means grant in their last year at university) for us to contact them, or is it the role of BIS to make them aware of this opportunity?
In the first place, we would expect the successful contractor clearly to advertise the opportunities as being only for those in receipt of the full grant. They will need to contact us to verify the eligibility of individual applicants.
7) Are you able to say approximately how many potential candidates there are which would qualify for a supported placement?
For numbers of students, we would suggest that potential bidders should look at the Student Loans company website http://www.slc.co.uk/statistics/index.html .
However, based on previous experience we would expect 4 applications per place.
8) Is the Tender covering England or UK Graduates?
The tender is for English domiciled graduates.
9) Can you confirm if all of the placements have to be undertaken overseas, my reason for asking is that with the influx of students from Europe an overseas placement for them could in effect be undertaken within the UK?
Yes, all of the placements have to be undertaken overseas.
10) The limit for tenders is 30 pages. We are keen to attach supporting documentation, would this count towards the 30 pages or are appendices separate?
Appendices are not separate and count towards the total of 30.
11) Are there any plans to open this for tender after a period of operation? If so, how long after the tender closes for 2009 will it be until the new tender process?
There are no plans to issue a further tender.
12) What are the parameters in relation to length of volunteering placement? Is there a minimum/maximum length of placement?
There are no parameters. This is a matter for the supplier organisation.
13) What are the parameters in relation to country of placement? Are there specific countries for inclusion/exclusion?
There are no parameters. This is a matter for the supplier organisation although FCO guidance should be taken into account with regards to safety of travel to countries.
14) Are there any age criteria? If so, what are they?
No there isn’t any age criteria.
15) What are the assumptions on timeline? More specifically, this programme seems to be targeted at those graduating in summer 2010 which leaves a very short window between graduation and matching to placement, if all placements are to commence by October 2010. Is that the case or is it open to any graduate seeking employment and meeting the other criteria?
The programme is targeted at recent graduates from 2009 and 2010.
16) Is there flexibility on budget, and if so what sort of flexibility?
See the answer to Q5.
17) Is there flexibility on the numbers covered by the budget, and if so what sort of flexibility?
There is no flexibility on numbers.
18) What are the parameters for volunteers self-funding part of the cost? E.g. is there a maximum absolute/percentage amount BIS would tolerate?
See the answer to Q2.
19) Will BIS be marketing the scheme to graduates, or is promotion and marketing expected to be covered by the contractor?
Promotion and marketing are expected to be covered by the contractor
