Tender evaluation criteria: what evaluators look for and how to score higher

Every government tender is evaluated against published criteria — and understanding those criteria is the difference between a bid that scores well and one that misses the point entirely. Here's how evaluation works and how to make it work for you.

Types of evaluation criteria

Mandatory (pass/fail) requirements

These are non-negotiable: hold the right licence, carry the right insurance, meet the minimum experience threshold. Fail any mandatory requirement and your bid is excluded before scoring even begins. Always check these first — they're the foundation of your bid/no-bid decision.

Weighted (scored) criteria

These are where bids are won. Each criterion carries a weighting (percentage or points), and evaluators score your response against each one. Common weighted criteria include:

Technical capability and methodology (often 25–40%) — How you'll deliver the work. Evaluators want specifics: approach, methodology, tools, innovation.

Relevant experience and past performance (often 20–30%) — Proof you've done this before, delivered well, and can provide references.

Key personnel (often 10–20%) — Who'll actually do the work? Qualifications, experience, availability.

Price (often 20–40%) — Not always lowest wins. Evaluators assess value for money, which includes quality and risk alongside price. See our guide on how to price a tender.

How scoring works

Most government evaluations use a structured scoring methodology. A common approach:

Each evaluator independently scores each criterion on a scale (e.g., 0–10), then scores are moderated in a panel discussion. The weighted scores are totalled to produce a final ranking. Some agencies use more complex approaches (value for money assessments, multi-stage evaluations), but the principle is consistent: score against published criteria, weight by importance, rank.

How to score higher

Address every criterion explicitly

Structure your response to match the evaluation criteria — use the same headings, in the same order. Make it impossible for evaluators to miss your content. See our tender response template for the structure that scores.

Be specific, not generic

Evaluators read dozens of responses. "We have extensive experience" scores poorly. "We delivered three projects of this type in the last 24 months, including [specific project] for [specific client], completed on time and under budget" scores well.

Evidence everything

Claims without evidence score poorly. Case studies, referee details, certifications, metrics — every claim needs backing. The best responses make the evaluator's job easy by providing clear, verifiable evidence for every scored point.

Use AI to check coverage

Connect your AI to AskTender, pull the tender's evaluation criteria, and ask your AI to gap-check your draft response against every criterion. It's the fastest way to catch what you've missed before the evaluators do.