Alpha Testing: School Management System Integration with NHS Identifier Service

The Department for Education (DfE) is inviting market engagement for the Alpha phase of the Single Unique Identifier (SUI) programme, which aims to improve child identification across safeguarding services by integrating NHS Numbers into school Management Information Systems (MIS). Up to two MIS suppliers will be selected to participate in this testing phase. Selected suppliers must integrate their MIS platform with the DfE-hosted Get an Identifier service to enable authorised access to NHS numbers and GP details from NHS England's Personal Demographics Service. Participating suppliers will support school onboarding, conduct technical testing and implementation activities, complete NHS England onboarding and assurance processes, operate the system during the Alpha phase, and provide evidence on implementation effort, costs, timescales, technical barriers, and operational impacts. The Alpha phase will generate critical evidence on technical feasibility, implementation complexity, supplier readiness, operational requirements, user value, scalability, and future delivery models to inform national rollout decisions. This notice is indicative only and does not commit the DfE to procurement, contract awards, agreements, or funding. The DfE encourages bids from Small to Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprises (VCSEs), as well as consortia and collaborative bids from all organisation types.