Your First Tender Ever: What You Need to Know Before You Submit

Your first tender feels like a test you have not been given the syllabus for. The documents are long, the language is unfamiliar and the stakes feel higher than anything you have bid for before.

That feeling is normal. It is also temporary. Every business that now tenders confidently and consistently was once exactly where you are. This guide gives you the foundation they built — before they made the mistakes that cost them their early submissions.

What a Tender Actually Is

A tender is a formal, written response to a buyer’s request for services, goods or works. The buyer publishes what they need, sets out how they will evaluate responses and invites suppliers to compete in writing.

Tendering is how the public sector — and increasingly large private organisations — buys almost everything. Central government, local councils, NHS trusts, housing associations and schools all procure through formal tender processes. Over £300 billion of UK public spend goes through procurement every year.

The process is governed by the Procurement Act 2023, which came into force in February 2025. It replaced the previous Public Contracts Regulations 2015 and introduced a number of changes that favour smaller and newer suppliers. Understanding how tendering works under the current framework is essential before you submit your first response.

Why First Tenders Often Lose — and What to Do About It

First tenders lose for predictable reasons. Knowing them in advance means you can avoid them.

Generic responses

First-time bidders frequently write about their business in general terms rather than responding precisely to what the buyer has asked. Evaluators score against specific criteria. A response that does not directly address those criteria scores poorly, regardless of how capable the business is.

Read every question carefully. Answer exactly what is asked. Use the buyer’s own language back to them where it is accurate and relevant.

Underselling evidence

New bidders often have more relevant evidence than they realise — but present it too briefly or too modestly. Every claim in your response needs supporting evidence. Every piece of evidence needs to be presented clearly and connected explicitly to the evaluation criterion it supports.

Ignoring the word count

Tender responses almost always have word or page limits. Exceeding them can result in content being cut or your response being disqualified. Falling significantly short signals that you have not engaged seriously with the question. Hitting the limit precisely, with substantive content throughout, is the target.

Leaving it too late

The quality of a tender response declines sharply when it is written under extreme time pressure. Deadlines in tendering are absolute — late submissions are rejected without exception. Starting early gives you time to gather evidence, refine your answers and check everything before submission.

Not reading the specification properly

The specification tells you exactly what the buyer wants to procure. It is the most important document in the tender pack. First-time bidders frequently skim it. Experienced bidders read it multiple times and structure their entire response around it.

What to Do Before You Write a Single Word

Preparation before writing is where first tenders are won or lost. Most first-time bidders skip it entirely.

Read every document in the tender pack

Tender packs typically include the specification, the evaluation criteria, the terms and conditions, and the response template. Read all of them before you start writing. Note every question, every word limit and every piece of supporting documentation requested.

Understand the evaluation criteria

Every tender sets out how responses will be scored. Quality and price are weighted differently in different contracts — some are 60% quality and 40% price, others are 70/30 or even 80/20. Understanding how marks are allocated tells you where to invest most of your effort.

Under the Procurement Act 2023, evaluation must deliver the Most Advantageous Tender (MAT). Buyers look at social value, sustainability, delivery quality and price together — not price alone. First-time bidders who assume the lowest price wins often score poorly on quality and lose to higher-priced but better-written competitors.

Research the buyer

Find out what you can about the contracting authority:

• What are their stated priorities?
• What contracts have they run before?
• What do their published strategies say about what they value?

Tailoring your response to the specific buyer — rather than writing a generic submission — is one of the clearest differentiators between winning and losing responses.

Map your evidence

Before writing, list every piece of evidence you have that could support each question. Previous contracts, case studies, accreditations, staff qualifications, processes and systems — all of it. You will not use everything, but knowing what you have before you start ensures you do not miss the strongest material.

How a Tender Response Is Typically Structured

Different tenders have different structures, but most follow a recognisable pattern.

Selection Questionnaire (SQ)

The SQ — sometimes still called a PQQ — is a pre-qualification stage used to assess whether your business meets the basic requirements to bid. It covers financial standing, relevant experience, insurance, accreditations and company information. Pass the SQ and you are invited to submit a full tender response.

Technical or quality response

This is where you demonstrate how you will deliver the contract. Questions typically cover your methodology, your team, your quality assurance processes, your approach to social value and your understanding of the buyer’s requirements. This section is scored against the evaluation criteria and is where most contracts are won or lost.

Pricing

Pricing is usually submitted separately from the quality response, in a format specified by the buyer. Price is important but rarely the only factor. A strong quality score with competitive — not necessarily lowest — pricing often wins over the lowest price with a weak quality response.

Supporting documents

Most tenders request supporting documents alongside the written response. These typically include insurance certificates, financial accounts, accreditation certificates and, increasingly, social value or environmental policies. Prepare these in advance — missing a required document can disqualify an otherwise strong response.

Our detailed guide to how to write a bid covers each section of the response in depth.

The Most Important Habits to Build From Your First Bid

The businesses that become consistently strong bidders build the same habits early. Starting with these habits on your first bid gives you an advantage that compounds over every submission that follows.

Request feedback on every bid

Whether you win or lose, request feedback on your submission. The Procurement Act 2023 strengthens suppliers’ rights to receive meaningful feedback. Feedback tells you exactly what evaluators thought of your response — it is the most direct improvement tool available to you.

Build a bid library from day one

Every piece of content you write for a tender has value beyond that single submission. Save your best answers, your strongest case study descriptions and your most effective methodology statements. A well-maintained bid library dramatically reduces the effort required on every subsequent tender.

Track your scores

Record your scores on every evaluation criterion for every bid you submit. Patterns in your scoring reveal exactly where your responses are strongest and where they consistently lose marks. You cannot improve what you do not measure.

Start earlier than feels necessary

The standard advice is to start as early as possible. The reality is that most first-time bidders still start too late. Build your timeline backwards from the submission deadline and add a significant buffer. A response written with a week to spare is almost always stronger than one finished the night before.

Should You Use Professional Bid Writing Support for Your First Tender?

This depends on the contract value and what is at stake. For a first tender on a high-value contract, professional support almost always makes sense. The cost of the support is small relative to the contract value and the learning curve is steep.

For a lower-value first bid, a bid review — where a professional evaluates and improves your draft rather than writing from scratch — may offer better value. It keeps your costs proportionate while still catching the structural and language problems that first-time bidders consistently make.

Our post on whether bid writing is worth it helps you work through this calculation for your specific situation. And if you have submitted before but never won, our post on losing every tender you have ever entered addresses the most common reasons why.

Whatever level of support you choose, the principles in this guide apply. The businesses that win their first tender are rarely the ones with the most experience — they are the ones who prepare most thoroughly and respond most precisely to what the buyer actually asked for.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need to have won contracts before to tender?

No. The Procurement Act 2023 explicitly encourages contracting authorities to make tendering accessible to suppliers without extensive track records. You will need to demonstrate relevant capability, but previous contract wins in the public sector are not always required.

What is the difference between a tender and a quote?

A quote is an informal price submission. A tender is a formal, evaluated process with defined criteria, a structured response format and a legal framework governing how the buyer must assess responses. Tenders are significantly more rigorous than quotes.

How long does a tender process take?

Timescales vary widely. A straightforward below-threshold tender might run for four to six weeks. A major above-threshold procurement under the Procurement Act 2023 may take several months from publication to award. Check the timeline in the tender documents carefully before committing to a submission.

Can a small business compete against large organisations in tenders?

Yes — and the Procurement Act 2023 is specifically designed to make this easier. Government policy targets £1 in every £3 of public spend going to SMEs. Evaluators score what is written in front of them, not the size of the business behind it. A well-written response from a small business consistently outscores a poorly written one from a large organisation.

What happens after I submit my first tender?

The contracting authority evaluates all responses against the published criteria. Timescales for notification vary but are usually set out in the tender documents. Whether you win or lose, request detailed feedback. It is the most valuable resource available for improving your next submission.

If you would like expert support on your first tender — or a professional review of a response you have already drafted — visit our bid writing services page to find out how we can help.

Written by Joshua Smith, a seasoned bid-writing expert with experience across the UK, Middle East and US, helping organisations secure the contracts they deserve through high-quality, competitive tender responses.