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The evaluator's checklist
12 reasons care tender answers lose marks, from someone who has marked them for a council. Check your draft against each one before you submit.
How to use it. Take one quality answer and go through all 12 points. Every “no” is a place an evaluator is likely to mark you down.
Answering the question
- 01
Answer every part of the question
Most questions ask several things. List each one from the question and the specification, and make sure each has its own clear answer. Evaluators mark what was asked.
- 02
Follow the question's order and wording
Use the council's headings and terms, in the order they appear. An evaluator with a marking sheet should never have to hunt for an answer.
- 03
Answer for this contract, not every contract
Name the service, the client group and the outcomes in this specification. Text that could be pasted into any tender scores like it.
Evidence
- 04
Say who does it
A role, not “staff”. The registered manager, the safeguarding lead, the shift leader.
- 05
Say how often
Daily, weekly, within 24 hours, every quarter. Frequencies turn a promise into a process an evaluator can score.
- 06
Show how you know it is working
Audits, KPIs, supervision, feedback from the people you support. Evaluators look for how you check, not just what you do.
- 07
Use your own numbers and examples
Staff retention, training completion, outcomes achieved, an anonymised case example. Proof beats adjectives.
Local and specific
- 08
Show you know the area
Local partners, services and pathways you will work with. Councils want providers who will fit their system.
- 09
Write about the people you support
Their needs, their voice and their outcomes, in plain language. Person-centred care should read person-centred.
- 10
Make social value measurable
Local jobs, apprenticeships, volunteering hours, with numbers and a way to report them. Vague pledges score low.
Compliance
- 11
Keep to every instruction
Word or page limits, font rules, file formats and named attachments. Breaking one can cost marks or the whole bid.
- 12
Make your policies match your answer
Policies must be current and say what your answer says. Evaluators and monitoring officers check both.
Want an evaluator to read it for you?
A bid review is £300: we read your complete draft against the marking scheme and show you where it will lose marks, and how to fix it.