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The PSQ, explained for small firms

Since the Procurement Act 2023 came into force in February 2025, most public tenders in England, Wales and Northern Ireland ask for a Procurement Specific Questionnaire (PSQ). It replaced the old selection questionnaire. It isn't scored like the tender answers, but you can fail on it.

The short version: register your firm once on the government's Central Digital Platform (through Find a Tender) and keep it up to date. Then, for each tender, the PSQ asks you to confirm that information and answer the questions specific to that contract: insurance, financial standing, experience, and whether any exclusion grounds apply. Answer every question, keep evidence ready, and check whether the PSQ is due before the tender itself.

1. Two parts: once, and every time

Once, on the Central Digital Platform: your firm's core details, such as who you are, who controls the company, and your declarations about exclusion grounds. You enter them when you register as a supplier on Find a Tender, share them with each buyer, and keep them current.
Every tender, in the PSQ: you confirm that your platform details are up to date, then answer the questions this buyer sets for this contract. Each buyer can word its own PSQ, so they vary.

2. What the tender-specific part usually asks

Conditions of participation: the minimum you must meet to take part, such as insurance levels (public liability of £5 million or £10 million is common), a financial standing check, relevant experience, or an accreditation.
Exclusions: confirmation about mandatory and discretionary exclusion grounds for your firm, and for "connected persons" (people or companies with significant control over it).
Subcontractors and consortium members: whose capacity you're relying on, if anyone's.
Practical details: contact person, company number, sometimes references or a short description of similar contracts.

3. When it's due

In an open procedure, the PSQ usually goes in with the tender. In a competitive flexible procedure, it is often a separate first stage: the buyer reads the PSQs, picks a shortlist, and only those firms are invited to tender. Then the PSQ deadline can be weeks or months before the date on the notice. Always check which date applies. Read the documents, not just the notice.

4. How small firms fail it, and how not to

An out-of-date platform record. Update your Central Digital Platform details before you start, especially directors and people with control.
A blank answer. Answer every question, even with "none" or "not applicable". A blank can be read as a fail.
Missing the insurance level. If you don't hold the level asked for, many buyers accept an undertaking to get it before the contract starts. Check the wording, and get a quote from your broker early.
Missing the first-stage deadline. Diary the PSQ date separately from the tender date.
No evidence ready. Keep accounts, insurance certificates and two or three short descriptions of similar work in one folder, so each PSQ takes an hour, not a day.

Stuck on a PSQ? Send me the tender link. I'll tell you what it asks for, when it's due, and what you'd need to pass. It's free.

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General information, not legal advice. Each buyer's PSQ and the current Cabinet Office guidance set the exact questions. Scotland uses its own SPD (Scotland) questionnaire instead.