Top Mistakes to Avoid in Social Care Tender Submissions
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What Not to Do in a Social Care Tender Submission
Submitting a tender for a social care contract is a high-stakes process — often with only one chance to get it right. Yet many excellent providers lose marks or fail to pass initial scoring because of common and avoidable mistakes.
Here’s what to watch out for — and how to fix it.
❌ 1. Reusing Generic Responses
Copy-pasting old answers without tailoring them to the new specification is one of the quickest ways to lose marks. Commissioners want to see that you understand their local context and specific service requirements.
- ✔️ Fix it: Rewrite each answer to match the tender question and use local references, demographics, and outcomes.
❌ 2. Missing or Weak Evidence
Stating what you will do isn’t enough — you need to show how you’ve done it before or how you’ll measure it in future. Unsupported claims don’t score well.
- ✔️ Fix it: Include data, feedback, KPIs, inspection results, or case studies to prove your approach works.
❌ 3. Ignoring the Evaluation Criteria
Many bids focus on what the provider thinks is important — not what the commissioner is asking. This leads to off-topic answers that miss the mark.
- ✔️ Fix it: Read the evaluation criteria carefully and structure your response to match every point.
❌ 4. Writing Too Much or Too Little
If the word limit is 500 words and you write 800, you risk disqualification. If you write 100, you’re probably not answering in enough depth.
- ✔️ Fix it: Stick to the word count, use clear headings, and be concise but comprehensive.
❌ 5. Overlooking Policies and Attachments
Even a strong written answer can be undermined if your policies are out of date, inconsistent, or missing. This can affect pass/fail scoring.
- ✔️ Fix it: Update your safeguarding, recruitment, business continuity and quality assurance documents regularly — and label them clearly.
📥 Need Help Writing or Reviewing a Bid?
Impact Guru Ltd offers a full range of support for social care providers — from one-off reviews to fully outsourced bid writing. We also offer downloadable method statements tailored to key tender topics like safeguarding, recruitment, social value, and business continuity.
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.