How Commissioners Score Your Tender Responses: What Providers Need to Know
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📊 How Commissioners Score Your Tender Responses: What Providers Need to Know
🔍 Why Understanding Scoring Matters
Tender writing isn’t just about answering the question — it’s about answering it in a way that maximises your score. Understanding how commissioners score responses can help you structure your answers, avoid common mistakes, and achieve better outcomes.
📋 How Scoring Works in Social Care Tenders
- Questions are usually weighted by importance (e.g., safeguarding might carry more marks than environment)
- Responses are scored against published criteria (e.g., 0–5 scale for poor to excellent)
- Higher marks are awarded for detailed, evidenced, tailored responses
- Generic or vague answers score lower — even if you meet the basic requirement
- Evaluation panels score individually, then moderate as a group
💡 How to Improve Your Scores
Focus on clarity, structure, and evidence. Write with evaluators in mind — make it easy for them to find the information they need to award high marks.
Address each part of the question, align with contract priorities, and demonstrate how your service delivers measurable outcomes.
🛍️ Bid Writing Support from Impact Guru
Ready to achieve higher scores? Visit our Bid Writing for Social Care Providers page to see how we can help.
🔑 Final Thought
The best tender responses aren’t just well-written — they’re written with the scoring criteria in mind. Understanding how you’re evaluated is key to writing answers that win.
Written by Mike Harrison, Founder of Impact Guru Ltd — specialists in bid writing and strategy for social care providers.
Visit impact-guru.co.uk to browse downloadable strategies, method statements, or get in touch about tender support.