UK Multi-Academy Trusts (MATs) procure IT through specific frameworks — CCS, NEUPC, NWUPC, ESPO, KCS — plus direct purchase routes. Each has trade-offs on price, supplier breadth, and procurement effort. This is the playbook for MAT IT directors + business managers.
The 5 main procurement frameworks
CCS (Crown Commercial Service) — broadest UK public-sector framework. G-Cloud (cloud + software + support), Technology Services 4 (managed services), Cyber Security Services 4.
NEUPC + NWUPC — university procurement consortia. Strong for hardware + software at scale.
ESPO (Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation) — broad public-sector framework with strong UK education adoption.
KCS (Kent County Supplies) — specific to Kent + South-East but used more widely.
TUCO Frameworks — specific to FE / HE catering + facilities; increasingly broader.
Common MAT IT priorities 2026
KCSIE filtering + monitoring — Smoothwall, Lightspeed, Senso, Securly deployments.
Microsoft 365 + Intune across all schools — autopilot device deployment + tenant consolidation.
Cyber Essentials Plus — DfE Cyber Security Standards alignment + insurance discount.
Network refresh — Aruba / Meraki rollout across schools + central network.
Immutable backup — protecting M365 + on-prem against ransomware (NCSC warnings increased 2024-25).
MAT-specific considerations
Multi-school consistency — single Microsoft 365 tenant + standardised Intune profiles vs school-by-school autonomy. Read our tenant consolidation playbook for post-merger MATs.
Budget — MATs often combine school budgets for IT procurement. Trust-level frameworks unlock volume discount, often layered with Microsoft EA vs CSP licensing negotiations.
Cyber Security Standards (DfE 2023) — minimum baseline including MFA, backup, multi-factor for admin, incident planning.
Charity / education pricing on Microsoft + Google + many software vendors — meaningful savings via TechSoup + direct vendor charity programmes. Pair with Cyber Essentials Plus + the insurance-premium dividend.
What Servnet does
Servnet supplies MATs via CCS + NEUPC + ESPO frameworks. See our Education IT practice. Engagement: 1) framework selection advice, 2) cyber + KCSIE gap analysis, 3) multi-school standardised deployment, 4) ongoing managed support. We also brief MAT trustees on the reseller vetting framework they should hold their supplier accountable to.