How to handle tender clarification questions
A tender clarification question is a formal query you raise through the procurement portal to resolve an ambiguity, a missing document or a contradiction in the published ITT, and the buyer's answer is shared with every supplier in the process. That last point is the one that catches care providers out: under the Procurement Act 2023 your anonymised question and its answer go to all participating bidders, so you must phrase it narrowly and factually rather than signalling your strategy. The clarification deadline is set in the ITT and typically falls 7 to 10 business days before the submission deadline, according to guidance from Executive Compass and Tender VLE, so genuine issues need spotting in the first week, not the final scramble. Read the whole pack on day one, list every ambiguity, and batch your questions early. We check you qualify for free before you write a word.
What a clarification question actually is
A clarification question is a formal query, raised through the buyer's portal, that asks them to explain or correct something in the tender documents before you submit. It is not a request for help writing your bid, and buyers will not answer questions that amount to "please tell me what to put." Good clarifications resolve genuine ambiguity that affects how you score: a word or character limit that contradicts itself between the ITT and the response template, a weighting split that does not add up to 100 percent, a date that conflicts between two documents, a TUPE schedule that is referenced but not attached, or a policy listed as both mandatory at selection and scored at quality. Keep one distinction clear. This page covers a clarification you ASK the buyer during the open tender window. It is different from a bid clarification the buyer asks YOU after submission, where they query your answer, your pricing or an inconsistency before award. Both run through the portal, but the rules, timing and risk differ. If you are unsure whether your query is a clarification or a complaint about how the process is being run, treat it as a clarification, raise it early, and keep it in plain factual terms. Every answer you receive becomes part of the contract documents, so it can override an ambiguous clause you were worried about. See our guide to the invitation to tender for how the ITT sets the rules you are clarifying.
Why every answer is public, and why that matters
Under the Procurement Act 2023, which took effect on 24 February 2025, the buyer must share clarification questions and answers with every participating supplier, according to guidance from tender consultants on the new regime. Your question is anonymised, but the answer reaches all your competitors at the same time. This is the single biggest gotcha on a care tender, and it is the reason a careless question can cost you an edge you did not know you had. Write questions narrow and factual. Ask "Is the policy listed at Appendix C mandatory at selection or scored at quality?" rather than "We propose a twin handover model for night calls, is that acceptable?" The first confirms a fact every bidder can already see in the pack. The second hands your method statement to the field and tells the buyer exactly who is asking. A hyper specific question, for example one that names an unusual service model, a niche staffing ratio or a single local authority you already deliver for, can reveal your approach to the buyer and, through the published answer, to rivals. Anonymisation is real but imperfect, so assume the buyer can infer your identity and never put strategy, pricing logic or a unique selling point into a question. If a clarification is so revealing that you would rather not ask it, you usually have your answer: bid on the safe reading and keep your method to yourself.
When to ask: the clarification deadline
Ask early. The clarification deadline is set in the ITT and is usually 7 to 10 business days before the submission deadline, according to guidance from Executive Compass and Tender VLE, which means a problem spotted in the final week may be too late to fix. Buyers have no obligation to answer questions submitted after the clarification deadline, so a late query can leave you bidding on your own risky interpretation of an ambiguous requirement and carrying the consequence at evaluation. Submit in the first third of the clarification window. That gives the buyer time to answer thoroughly, gives slow or committee buyers time to come back if they consult internally, and gives you time to fold the answer into your response before you draft the scored sections rather than reworking finished text. Read the whole pack on day one, list every ambiguity in one place, and send your questions in a single early batch rather than drip feeding them, which irritates the buyer and risks some arriving after the cut off. Note that 7 to 10 working days is a typical pattern, not a statutory fixed number, so always read the exact date and time in the ITT and the portal timeline rather than assuming. See our guide to care tender timescales for how the clarification window sits inside the wider programme, from notice to submission to award.
What to ask, and what not to ask
Use clarifications to confirm hard facts that change how you bid: word and character limits, the weighting split between quality, price and social value, whether a named document or policy is mandatory at selection or merely scored, TUPE staff information such as headcount and terms, contract value and annual volume, geographic lots, and any conflicting dates across the documents. These are legitimate, the buyer expects them, and the answers protect you from a compliance fail that no amount of good writing can recover. Do not ask the buyer to evaluate your idea, confirm your pricing is competitive, or explain how to win. Those questions either go unanswered or, worse, broadcast your thinking to the whole field through the published answer. There is a useful upside to a well placed factual question: a clarification answer that materially changes a requirement can trigger the buyer to extend the submission deadline for all bidders, so spotting a genuine contradiction occasionally buys the entire market more time, including you. That is a side effect, not a tactic to engineer with fake confusion. Before you submit anything, run your draft questions against our care tender checklist so you only raise issues that genuinely affect your response, and so you have already self answered the ones that are sitting in plain sight in the pack.
Submit through the portal, never off it
All clarification communication must go through the procurement portal, or the exact method the tender specifies, and an off portal email or phone call to the buyer can breach the rules and risk disqualification. Care frameworks are run on systems like ProContract and Due North, Atamis, In-tend, Jaggaer Bravo and Proactis, and each has a messages, correspondence or clarification area where questions are logged, timestamped and answered for the record. Use it, submit well before the cut off time on the deadline day rather than at the last minute, and save a copy of every question and answer into your bid file so your writer is working from the binding interpretation, not a remembered one. Do not ring the contracts officer to ask a quiet question, however reasonable it feels. Direct contact undermines the equal treatment the buyer must give every supplier under the Procurement Act 2023, and a single off portal exchange can taint your bid even when the answer would have been harmless. If the portal is genuinely down near the deadline, the safe move is to screenshot the error and log a portal message about the outage as soon as it recovers, rather than switching to email or phone. Our ProContract and Due North guide walks through exactly where the clarification function sits on the most common UK care portal, and how to confirm your question has been received.
Tender clarification questions: do and do not
How to use the clarification window on a care tender without tipping off rivals or missing the deadline.
| Do | Why | Do not | Why not |
|---|---|---|---|
| Read the full pack on day one and list ambiguities | The clarification deadline is often 7 to 10 working days before submission | Wait until the final week to ask | Late questions may go unanswered and you bid on a risky guess |
| Phrase questions narrow and factual | The answer is shared with every bidder under the Procurement Act 2023 | Describe your service model or method in a question | Anonymised or not, it can reveal your strategy to rivals |
| Ask in the first third of the window | Gives the buyer time to answer and you time to fold it into the draft | Batch everything at the last minute | Buyers have no duty to answer after the deadline |
| Confirm limits, weightings, mandatory docs, TUPE, volumes, dates | These are genuine facts that change how you bid | Ask the buyer to evaluate your idea or pricing | Those queries go unanswered or broadcast your thinking |
| Submit through the portal only | Keeps communication compliant and on the record | Phone or email the contracts officer directly | Off portal contact can breach the rules and risk disqualification |
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Common questions
What is a clarification question in a tender?
A clarification question is a formal query you raise through the procurement portal to resolve an ambiguity, contradiction or missing document in the published tender, such as a conflicting word limit, an unclear weighting split, or a TUPE schedule that is referenced but not attached. It is not a request for help writing your bid. Buyers will answer factual queries about the requirements but will not tell you what to put in a scored answer, and the answer they give becomes part of the contract documents.
When is the deadline to ask clarification questions?
The clarification deadline is set in the ITT and is typically 7 to 10 business days before the tender submission deadline, according to guidance from Executive Compass and Tender VLE. That is a common pattern, not a fixed statutory number, so always read the exact date and time in the tender documents and the portal timeline. Aim to submit in the first third of the window so the buyer can answer fully and you can fold the answer into your draft before writing the scored sections.
Are tender clarification answers shared with all bidders?
Yes. Under the Procurement Act 2023, which took effect on 24 February 2025, the buyer must share clarification questions and answers with every participating supplier. Your question is anonymised, but the answer reaches all your competitors at the same time. Because anonymisation is imperfect and a specific question can reveal your approach, keep every clarification narrow, factual and free of any hint about your service model, pricing or strategy.
Can you contact the buyer directly during a tender?
No. All clarification communication must go through the procurement portal, or the exact method the tender specifies. Phoning or emailing the contracts officer directly can breach the equal treatment rules and risk disqualification, however reasonable the question feels. Care frameworks run on portals like ProContract and Due North, Atamis and In-tend, each with a messages area where clarifications are logged and answered for the record.
What happens if you miss the clarification deadline?
If you miss the clarification deadline, the buyer has no obligation to answer your question, so you may have to bid on your own interpretation of an ambiguous requirement. That is risky: guess wrong on a mandatory document, a word limit or a volume figure and you can fail at selection or lose marks at quality. This is why you should read the whole pack on day one and raise every genuine ambiguity in a single early batch rather than in the final week.
How much does it cost to have Selective Care Match write your bid?
Your first tender is £795. We only take bids we believe you can win, and if a loss is clearly down to our writing error we rewrite the next one free. Our win rate is 96 percent. Standard tenders after the first are £3,000, with £50 per extra lot. We start with a free eligibility check so you only ever pay to write a bid you have a real chance of winning.
Keep reading
Invitation to tender (ITT)
How to respond to a care tender
Care tender timescales
ProContract and Due North
Care tender checklist
Browse all care tender guides, or see care tender writing by service.
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