15 top public sector bid writing courses for 2025

Enhancing your bid writing skills can significantly improve your chances of securing public sector contracts. That's why, in this article, we've broken down 15 bid-writing courses and online learning resources being offered in 2025. 

Tussell does not directly endorse any of the bid-writing courses listed below. 

Skip ahead to find the course right for you:

• Is a bid-writing course right for you?
  
  
• Introductory Courses
• Intermediate and Advanced Courses
• Free Online Training Resources
  
  
• Conclusion

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🤔 Is a bid writing course right for you? 

A good bid sits at the heart of all public sector contract wins.

If you want to win more work in 2025, honing your business' bid writing skills could be a good place to start.

Public sector bidding courses can help you understand how the public procurement process works, what buyers are looking for, and how to make your bids stand out.

Keep in mind that for many suppliers, the key to winning more bids often lies less in training and more in gaining deeper insight into your competitors, market landscape, and target buyers.

Additionally, wherever possible, bidding should never be your first interaction with a buyer.

That's why, whether you choose to partake in a bid writing course or not, quality insights into the public sector market are essential for any business looking to do more business with government.

Book a chat with the Tussell team to learn why the top suppliers in your market are already using Tussell to build pipeline, find the right frameworks, and reach out to key stakeholders before tender notices are even published.
 

📗  Introductory Bid Writing Courses

Introductory bid-writing courses are designed for organisations or individuals who are new to the procurement process. 

They provide foundational knowledge you need to start writing and submitting bids for public sector contracts.

1 👉 Introduction to public sector tendering - Executive Compass

Executive Compass's half-day, CPD-accredited online course introduces businesses to UK public sector tendering. Tailored to your sector, it builds confidence to identify opportunities, interpret tender documents, and approach bids effectively, all guided by experienced professionals.

💷 Price: Enquire on website

📍 Location: Online (half day)

2 👉 An introduction to bid writing - Thornton & Lowe

Thornton & Lowe's 90-minute introductory bid-writing course provides an overview of important terminology, the Procurement Act 2023, bid/no bid decisions, and what it takes to write strong bids.

💷 Price: £48 incl. VAT (as of April 2025)

📍 Location: Online (90 minutes)

3 👉 Bid writer induction and skills training - Executive Compass

Executive Compass's tailored bid writer induction course is designed to fast-track skills, boost confidence, and minimise disruption so new bid writers can contribute effectively to winning bids from day one.

💷 Price: Enquire on website

📍 Location: Online (3 days +)

4 👉 Bid training classes - Tender VLE

Tender VLE's four-part courses are intended to take you from the start to the end of the tendering journey. The courses are free if you sign up.

💷 Price: Free upon sign-up

📍 Location: Online (4 x 1 hour)

📙  Intermediate & Advanced Bid Writing Courses

The following bid-writing courses are designed to give groups and/or individuals a deeper knowledge of bid writing, research and strategy.

5 👉 Bid to win - Bidright UK

This practical, interactive online course equips beginners and more experienced professionals with essential bid writing skills, covering opportunity sourcing, planning, writing, social value, and submission. It also includes tailored one-to-one support to apply your learning to real bids.

* Participants must reside in West Yorkshire.

💷 Price: £300 or £420 per person incl. VAT (as of April 2025)

📍 Location: Online (6 weeks - 20 guided learning hours)

6 👉 Bid writing course - Thornton & Lowe

Thornton & Lowe's 1 Day Online Workshop is aimed at anyone involved in completing and writing tenders for commercial contracts. The course covers bid writing, presentations, and understanding what buyers want.

💷 Price: £250 or £350 per person excl. VAT (as of April 2025)

📍 Location: Online or in Manchester (1 day)

7 👉 Writing strong tenders - Silverlock

This course aims to provide you with skills, tools and knowledge on how to write strong tenders and manage the bid writing process. The course covers the very basics of tender writing, and moves through to more advanced techniques.

💷 Price: £350 excl. VAT (as of April 2025)

📍 Location: Online  (1 day)

8 👉 Bid, tender and sales (proposal writing) - Emphasis

Whilst not specifically focussed on the public sector, this intensive, tailored course aims to equip teams with the skills to write winning bids, proposals, and tenders, combining expert training, real-life examples, and personalised feedback for rapid, targeted improvement.

💷 Price: Enquire on website

📍 Location: Online or at your office (flexible length)

9 👉 Bidding for public sector work - DPSS

This course offers a step-by-step guide to writing and submitting public sector tenders, with expert tips, practical insights, and interactive learning to boost bid success rates and preparation confidence.

💷 Price: £395.00 excl. VAT or £445.00 excl. VAT. (as of April 2025)

📍 Location: Online or in-person (1 day)

10-11 👉 Level 2/Level 3 bid and tender writing - Executive Compass

These intermediate and advanced bid and tender writing courses are here to help bidding professionals make bid/no-bid decisions and conduct analytical, evidence-based tendering.

💷 Price: Enquire on website

📍 Location: Online (1 day)

💸  Free Online Training Resources

These training resources offer a free alternative to traditional classes. In this section, we've listed podcasts, blogs and guidebooks that can help you take your bidding to the next level.

12 👉 How to write bids with authority - Tussell & Executive Compass

This bid-writing masterclass from Matthew Walker from Executive Compass is here to help you infuse your bids with authority and boost your bid win rate. 

📖 Podcast (approx. 17 minutes)

13 👉 SMEs: a guide to working with government - Cabinet Office

In this 25-page PDF guide, the Cabinet Office provides advice on how SMEs can do more business with the public sector. Pages 12-16 specifically cover tendering and how to meet government briefs.

📖 Guide (25 pages)

14 👉 Social value: a supplier's guide - Tussell

Accounting for at least 10% of public contracts' bidding criteria, getting social value right is vital to succeeding in the public sector. This guide to social value provides suppliers with insight into one of the most misunderstood areas of public sector bidding.

📖 Blog (approx. 8-minute read)

15 👉 The Procurement Act Webinar - Cabinet Office, Tussell, CMA

Tussell, the Cabinet Office, and the CMA's free Procurement Act webinar covers everything bidding teams should know about the new procurement regime. With data-driven advice and dozens of top tips, the webinar is a must-watch for anyone selling into the public sector.

📖 Webinar (approx. 50-minute watch)

🌅  Conclusion

A bid writing course could be just what you need to start winning more work with the public sector - and luckily, there are plenty to choose from.

Embedding good bid writing practice into your team is crucial for success in this market.

But it's only one part of the equation - you also need to know which opportunities are worth bidding on in the first place. Plus, you want to make sure your bids are properly informed.

Tussell's market intelligence platform is already being used by SMEs, VCSEs and most of the UK Government's Strategic Suppliers to:

• Build a pipeline of relevant opportunities

• Accelerate and optimise bid/no-bid decision making

• Learn everything about your target accounts and competitors

Book a Tussell demo to discover what you've been missing out on, and see for yourself why Tussell is the market's trusted source of public sector market intelligence.