Common Application System Design and Strategic Design Support Services

The procuring entity seeks a vendor to provide service design and strategic design support for a common application system for primary and post-primary school admissions in Ireland. The engagement is intended to guide the project team through a structured design process and develop an evidence-based understanding of the current admissions experience for families, schools, and other stakeholders, as well as the policy, organizational, and technical environment in which the system will operate.

The scope includes qualitative research with families, schools, and system stakeholders, including hard-to-reach groups and special education cohorts. Required outputs include user personas for key user groups, analysis of future-state opportunities and constraints, and iterative design concepts developed through co-design and prototyping. The selected vendor will be expected to develop and test low-fidelity concepts before major design investment is made.

The work also requires collaboration with technical, legislative, and procurement workstreams to assess feasibility and support specification development. Deliverables include a service blueprint covering front-stage and back-stage processes, systems, and organizational responsibilities for both primary and post-primary admissions, along with a service specification suitable for use by a technology procurement or development team, informed by a high-fidelity interactive prototype showing key user journeys.