From 1 January 2026, a goods or services contract with a sub-central government authority is above the Procurement Act 2023’s threshold at £207,720, including VAT. Whether that matters for a campus app turns on two questions your procurement team answers: is your university a contracting authority under the Act, and what is the contract’s value over its whole life?
The thresholds
The Procurement Act 2023 has applied since 24 February 2025. The Procurement Act 2023 (Threshold Amounts) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 set the amounts that apply from 1 January 2026, and Procurement Policy Note 023 announced them. The Cabinet Office’s guidance says they include VAT.
| Contract for goods or services with | Threshold from 1 January 2026 |
|---|---|
| A central government authority | £135,018 |
| A sub-central government authority | £207,720 |
A sub-central government authority is any contracting authority that is not a central government authority, a private utility or a public undertaking (Schedule 1).
Is your university a contracting authority?
Section 2 of the Act defines a public authority as one that is “wholly or mainly funded out of public funds” or “subject to public authority oversight”, and in either case “does not operate on a commercial basis”. The Cabinet Office’s guidance says the definition “does not list individual entities or categories of entities explicitly”, and that “entities will need to consider their own structure, oversight, funding and commercial circumstances”. It adds that bodies that were contracting authorities under the previous rules should still be, “unless their status has changed”. So your university has to assess itself against the test in section 2, and your procurement team may already have that assessment on record.
Scotland is different. The Cabinet Office’s guidance says devolved Scottish authorities are “generally excluded” from the Act and follow Scottish law, such as the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014, though sections 2(5) and 115A can bring the Act in for joint procurements and some frameworks.
How the value is worked out
Schedule 3 sets the rules, and three of them matter for a campus app:
- The whole life of the contract. The estimated value is “the maximum amount it could expect to pay under the contract”, including amounts that would be payable if an option to extend or renew it were taken up.
- Contracts that could be one. Where two or more contracts could reasonably be a single contract, each is valued as including all of them, “unless the authority has good reasons not to do so”. A pilot followed by a full contract is the case to think about early.
- No estimate means above the threshold. If the value cannot be estimated, for example because the duration is unknown, the contract is treated as above the threshold.
Section 4 adds that an authority must not use its discretion over the estimate to avoid the Act.
What other universities have done
Public notices show campus app contracts of different sizes. Cardiff Metropolitan University renewed campusM with Ex-Libris (UK) Ltd for October 2025 to September 2026 at £31,000 excluding VAT. The University of Cumbria awarded Collabco Ltd, then myday’s maker, a “Student Hub Software System” contract for April 2025 to March 2028 at £89,827 including VAT. Both notices record the award as below threshold, without competition. Cumbria’s notice says little about what its contract covers, so these are examples, not prices to compare.
Practical steps
- Ask your procurement team whether the university treats itself as a contracting authority, and which rules apply in your nation.
- Price the whole term, with every extension and renewal option, before deciding on a route.
- If you plan a pilot, decide early with procurement how it relates to any later contract.
- Ask each supplier for one written price that covers the whole term, so the estimate rests on figures rather than guesses.
How Varsio is priced
Varsio starts with a one-term paid pilot at one written price, fixed for the term, under a non-exclusive contract, and we send pilot pricing before your demo if you ask. How much does Varsio cost? has the detail.