How are tenders scored, and what does a 5 out of 5 answer look like?
Public buyers mark each written quality answer against published criteria, often on a 0 to 5 scale, then multiply the score by that question's weighting. A 5 goes to an answer that meets every requirement and leaves the evaluators fully confident you can deliver. The scale, the weightings and any minimum score are set out in the tender documents, so read them before you write.
This guide covers tenders run under the Procurement Act 2023 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Procurements started before 24 February 2025 still follow the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.
What the buyer must tell you
- The award criteria and the assessment methodology, or a summary of them in the tender notice, with the detail in the tender documents.
- How much each criterion counts, by weightings, by ranking them in order of importance, or by describing it another way.
- Any pass/fail criteria. If failing one would disqualify your tender, the methodology must say so.
- The scoring matrix evaluators will use, where there is one. GOV.UK's guidance treats it as part of the assessment methodology.
Source: GOV.UK guidance on assessing competitive tenders under the Procurement Act 2023.
A real 0 to 5 scale
Scales differ between buyers. This one is from the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee's published scoring matrix, and is a common pattern: each score describes how far the answer meets the requirements, and how confident it makes the evaluators.
| Score | Label | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Excellent | Excels at meeting the requirements |
| 4 | Good | Meets the requirements for delivering the service |
| 3 | Satisfactory | Information given, but concerns the firm may lack some essential requirements |
| 2 | Doubtful | Brief, with concerns the firm lacks the knowledge or provision |
| 1 | Poor | Information incomplete |
| 0 | Fail | No information, or totally inadequate |
Wording shortened from the published matrix. In that methodology each panel member scores every answer alone, and the average becomes the final score.
Notice what separates a 4 from a 3 on this scale: not style, but whether the evaluators still have doubts about something the specification requires.
How weightings turn scores into marks
Southdown Housing Association's 2026 responsive repairs tender gave price 40% and split 60% across eight quality criteria:
| Quality criterion | Weighting |
|---|---|
| Organisational profile | 5% |
| Arranging access | 5% |
| Safeguarding | 10% |
| Challenging behaviours | 10% |
| Resource availability | 10% |
| Health and safety | 5% |
| Complaints | 5% |
| Social value | 10% |
Check the methodology for how scores convert. Where they convert in proportion, a 4 out of 5 on a 10% criterion is worth 8 marks and a 3 is worth 6. Across all eight criteria here, a bid scoring 3 everywhere gets 36 of the 60 quality marks; a bid scoring 4 everywhere gets 48. That 12-mark gap is 30% of the 40 marks available for price. The arithmetic is ours, as an illustration; Southdown's own conversion method is in its tender documents.
What a 5 out of 5 answer has
- It answers every part of the question, in the order asked, using the buyer's own headings where that helps evaluators find each part.
- It meets each requirement in the specification that the question touches, explicitly, so nothing is left for the evaluator to assume.
- It proves rather than promises. Figures, named processes, real examples from your own contracts, the policy or accreditation that backs a claim.
- It is about this contract. The buyer's homes, tenants, response times and priorities, not a description of your firm that could go in any bid.
- It stays inside the word limit and follows the format rules. If the instructions say text over the limit won't be read, anything past it scores nothing.
An illustration: arranging access
"Arranging access" was one of Southdown's criteria. Below are two openings to an answer on it. Both are illustrations we wrote for this guide. They are not from a real bid and have not been scored by any buyer. The square brackets mark where a real answer needs the bidder's own facts.
ILLUSTRATIVE: LIKELY TO SCORE LOW
We pride ourselves on excellent communication with residents. Our friendly team will always arrange a convenient time and do everything possible to gain access, keeping disruption to a minimum.
No process, no figures, no link to the buyer's tenants. An evaluator can't tell how access is actually arranged.
ILLUSTRATIVE: WRITTEN TO SCORE HIGHER
We book every appointment with the tenant at the first call, offering morning, afternoon or school-run slots, and confirm by text the day before. If we can't get in, the operative calls the tenant from the door, leaves a card and the planner rebooks within [X] working days. After [three] failed attempts we pass the job to your housing officer with the dates and evidence of each attempt. On our current contract with [buyer], first-visit access was [X%] in [year]; tenants with a vulnerability flag get a named contact and a call 30 minutes before arrival.
A clear process, an escalation route back to the buyer, a measured result and a specific step for vulnerable tenants. The bracketed facts must be the bidder's own and true.
Use your assessment summary
Under the Procurement Act 2023, every supplier whose tender was assessed gets an assessment summary before the contract award notice is published. If you lost, it shows the winning tender's score for each criterion and the reasons. Put your scores and the winner's side by side: the gaps show exactly which answers to fix next time. A Health Check can do that comparison for you.
Questions
What score do I need to pass?
It depends on the tender. Some set a minimum score for certain questions, and a lower score rules the bid out. Under the Procurement Act 2023, if failing a criterion would disqualify a tender, the assessment methodology must say so, so check it before you write.
Is price scored the same way?
No. Price is usually scored by formula rather than by evaluators. The North Wales methodology quoted on this page compares each price with the lowest compliant price. Government guidance on the Act warns buyers about relative price scoring of that kind, so methods vary. We don't write or advise on pricing.
Can I see how the winner scored?
Under the Procurement Act 2023, every supplier whose tender was assessed gets an assessment summary before the contract award notice is published. If you lost, it includes the winning tender's score for each award criterion and the reasons. Use it to see exactly where you dropped marks.
What is a weighting?
The share of the total marks a criterion or question is worth. A 10% question scored 4 out of 5 adds 8 marks to your total if the buyer converts scores in proportion, as in the worked example above.
How much do quality answers count on repairs and care tenders?
In our award data the median repairs tender gave quality 50% of the marks; the median home care and supported living tender gave it 77%.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Procurement Act 2023 guidance: assessing competitive tenders (updated 17 August 2026). Award criteria, assessment methodology, weightings, pass/fail criteria
- GOV.UK, Procurement Act 2023 guidance: assessment summaries (updated 17 August 2026). What every bidder is told after assessment
- North Wales Corporate Joint Committee, scoring matrix, published on Sell2Wales. 0 to 5 scoring scale, panel scoring and price formula
- Find a Tender notice 013760-2026, Southdown Housing Association, Responsive Repairs. Award criteria and weightings
- ClearBid award statistics. Quality weighting medians
Public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Spotted something wrong? See how our figures are built and how to report a correction.