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Tender scoring calculator: see how your bid is scored, and what it takes to win

Set the price/quality split, your quality marks and your rivals' prices. Results update instantly, in your browser.

Free, no sign-up Procurement Act 2023 rules Nothing leaves your device

1. Weighting
40%
10%

Price 40%Quality 50%Social value 10%

2. Price scoring method
3. Your bid
£
%
Quality questions (weight within quality)
  • %
    Score
    4/5
  • %
    Score
    3/5
  • %
    Score
    3/5
  • %
    Score
    4/5
Weights total 100%
4. Competitors (your best guess)
£
%
%
£
%
%

Your weighted score

78.2/ 100

You are 2.7 points behind Rival B

Price

36.7/40

Quality

35.5/50

Social

6.0/10

Leaderboard

  1. 1Rival B£520,00080.8
  2. 2You£480,00078.2
  3. 3Rival A£440,00076.0

Price to win

Cut to £447,311 (-6.8%) to overtake, with quality unchanged.

Quality to win

You need 2.7 more points, a quality score of 76% (now 71%).

If you changed your priceYouBest rival
657585-30%-15%0%+15%+30%

Where the pink line sits above the dashed line, you win at that price.

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How are tenders scored under the Procurement Act 2023?

Since 24 February 2025, most UK public contracts are awarded under the Procurement Act 2023. Section 19 lets a buyer award to the most advantageous tender (MAT): the bid that meets its requirements and best satisfies the award criteria it published. MAT replaced the old MEAT (most economically advantageous tender) test, but the arithmetic evaluators use is almost identical. Criteria and weightings are set out up front, and every bid is scored against them.

A typical evaluation has three parts:

  • Quality. Written answers on method, staffing, mobilisation and so on, each scored on a published scale and multiplied by the question's weighting.
  • Price. Converted to marks with a formula, most often lowest price ÷ your price × marks available.
  • Social value. For in-scope central government contracts, PPN 002 requires a minimum 10% weighting of the total score (or 10% of quality where an absolute method like price per quality point is used). Other buyers set their own.

Typical quality scoring scales

The scale is always in the tender pack. The most common are 0 to 4 (unacceptable, poor, satisfactory, good, excellent), 0 to 5 and 0 to 10. Each band has a description, and many buyers set a minimum score per question below which your bid is excluded. Pick your scale in step 3 and enter the score you realistically expect, not the one you hope for. Our bid answer grader can give you a second opinion on any single answer.

The two price formulas in this calculator

Relative to lowest: price score = lowest price ÷ your price × price weighting. Bid 10% above the lowest and you keep about 91% of the price marks. Percentage difference from lowest: you lose 1% of the price marks for every 1% you are above the lowest bid, so 10% dearer keeps 90%, and 100% dearer scores zero. The second method bites harder as the gap widens. Buyers may use others, such as scoring against the average price or a budget, so always check the formula.

Worked example

A council weights a contract 50% quality, 40% price and 10% social value. You bid £480,000 and score 70% on quality and 60% on social value. Rival A bids £440,000 with 60% quality and 60% social value.

BidderPriceQualitySVTotal
You36.735.06.077.7
Rival A40.030.06.076.0

Your price score is 440,000 ÷ 480,000 × 40 = 36.7. You are 9% dearer and still win by 1.7 points, because quality carries more weight. Drop one mark on a heavily weighted question and that lead can disappear. That is why the calculator shows your price headroom and the quality you need side by side.

How to use the result

If you lead, use the headroom figure to protect margin rather than underbid. If you trail, compare the price cut needed with the quality points needed. Quality marks come from specific, evidenced answers; see how to write a winning tender and our social value response guide. Looking for the next one to bid on? Browse live UK tenders across every sector, or see pricing.

Sources: Procurement Act 2023, section 19; PPN 002: Taking account of social value (GOV.UK). The calculator is a model; the buyer's published criteria always win.

Tender scoring FAQs

  • How are tenders scored in the UK?

    Buyers publish award criteria and weightings in the tender documents, typically a split such as 60% quality and 40% price. Each quality question is scored on a published scale, often 0 to 4, 0 to 5 or 0 to 10, and multiplied by its weighting. Price is converted to marks using a formula, most often lowest price divided by your price. The totals are added and, under the Procurement Act 2023, the contract goes to the most advantageous tender against those criteria.

  • What is the most advantageous tender (MAT)?

    Section 19 of the Procurement Act 2023 lets a contracting authority award a contract to the supplier that submits the most advantageous tender: the one that satisfies its requirements and best satisfies the award criteria set out in the tender notice or documents. It replaced MEAT (most economically advantageous tender) from the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 when the Act came into force on 24 February 2025. In practice the scoring maths is much the same.

  • How is price scored in a tender?

    The most common formula is lowest price divided by your price, multiplied by the marks available. If the price weighting is 40% and you are 10% dearer than the lowest bid, you score about 36.4. Another method deducts marks for each percentage point you sit above the lowest price, which punishes expensive bids harder. The formula must be in the tender pack, so always check it and switch the method in the calculator to match.

  • Is social value always 10% of the score?

    No. PPN 002 requires in-scope central government contracting authorities to apply a minimum 10% weighting to social value, or 10% of the quality score where an absolute method such as price per quality point is used. Councils, NHS bodies and other buyers outside its scope set their own weightings, which may be higher, lower or bundled into quality. Untick social value in the calculator if your tender doesn't score it separately.

  • What is a good tender score?

    There is no pass mark in general, because you only need to beat the other bidders. Many buyers do set minimum thresholds, for example a score of at least 2 out of 4 on each question or 50% of quality overall, and exclude bids below them. Winning margins are often small, so a single extra mark on a heavily weighted question can decide the contract.

  • Should I cut my price or improve quality?

    Run both in the calculator. With a 60/40 quality/price split, one extra mark on a 0 to 5 question worth 20% of quality adds 2.4 points to your total. Winning the same 2.4 points on price means cutting roughly 6% or more, depending on the formula and who is lowest. For most firms improving the written answer is cheaper than giving margin away, and it lasts for the life of the contract.

  • How do I estimate my competitors' scores?

    You can't know them, so model ranges. Contract award notices on Find a Tender often show the winning supplier and value, and unsuccessful bidders receive an assessment summary with their own and the winner's scores. Use those from past bids to set realistic quality percentages for rivals, then test a pessimistic and optimistic case.

Know the maths. Now win the marks.

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