The Confusing Acronyms of UK Procurement, Explained: PQQ, SQ, ITT

You open a tender opportunity, feeling ready. Then you read the first paragraph.

"Bidders must complete the SQ prior to submission of the ITT response, in accordance with the requirements set out under the Act, and in line with MEAT evaluation methodology."

You have not even reached the actual requirement yet, and you already feel like you need a translator.

Here is something worth knowing early. That sentence is not complicated because the process is complicated. It is complicated because procurement, like every specialist industry, has its own shorthand. Once you learn it, the fog lifts completely. Let us clear it, one acronym at a time.

Why Procurement Loves Its Acronyms

Public procurement is a legally regulated process, governed in the UK by the Procurement Act 2023. Legislation gets shortened into official terms, official terms get shortened into acronyms, and those acronyms end up scattered through every tender document without explanation, because the people writing them assume you already know.

You do not need a procurement qualification to understand them. You need about ten minutes and a clear explanation. Here it is.

PQQ: Pre Qualification Questionnaire

This is the older term, and you will still see it referenced in some documents and conversations, particularly with buyers who have not fully updated their language since the Procurement Act 2023 came into force.

A PQQ was the original eligibility check. Insurance, financial standing, basic legal compliance, relevant experience. Its purpose has not disappeared, it has simply been replaced by a newer, more standardised version.

SQ: Selection Questionnaire

This is what a PQQ became. The Selection Questionnaire is now the standard eligibility check used across UK public procurement, and this is genuinely worth understanding properly, because almost every bid you ever submit will include one.

An SQ typically checks three things. First, exclusion grounds, confirming your business has no relevant legal, financial, or conduct issues that would disqualify it. Second, financial standing, usually through turnover thresholds or accounts. Third, technical and professional capability, your relevant experience, accreditations, and capacity to deliver.

The critical thing to understand about an SQ is that it is usually assessed on a pass or fail basis, not scored for quality. Get it wrong, and your bid ends here, before anyone reads a single word of your actual technical response. Treat it with exactly that level of seriousness.

ITT: Invitation To Tender

This is the full document itself, the one that can run to well over a hundred pages. It contains everything, instructions, specification, the SQ, method statement questions, pricing schedule, and contract terms.

Think of the ITT as the complete package, and the SQ as one specific section inside it.

RFQ: Request For Quotation

Used for smaller, lower value, or less complex procurements. Usually simpler than a full ITT, often just requesting a price and basic confirmation of capability, without the extensive method statement questions a larger tender would demand.

RFP: Request For Proposal

More common in the private sector, but you will encounter it in public procurement too, particularly for complex or innovative requirements where the buyer wants suppliers to propose a solution, rather than simply price against a fixed specification.

MEAT: Most Economically Advantageous Tender

This is the evaluation principle behind almost every public sector award decision. It does not mean cheapest. It means the bid offering the best overall value once quality, social value, and price are weighted and combined.

Understanding MEAT matters because it explains why a lower priced competitor sometimes loses to you, and why you sometimes lose despite a competitive price. The written quality of your response is genuinely part of the value calculation, not a formality around it.

FTS: Find A Tender Service

The UK's centralised platform for publishing procurement notices above certain financial thresholds, introduced as part of the Procurement Act 2023 reforms. This sits alongside Contracts Finder, which covers lower value opportunities. Both are free to search.

TOMS: The Social Value TOM System

The most widely used framework for measuring and reporting social value commitments in UK public procurement. If a tender asks about social value, referencing TOMS terminology in your response signals to the evaluator that you understand exactly how your commitments will be measured.

Quick Reference Table

Acronym	Meaning	Where it sits
PQQ	Pre Qualification Questionnaire	Older term for eligibility check, largely replaced
SQ	Selection Questionnaire	Standard eligibility check, pass or fail
ITT	Invitation To Tender	The full tender document itself
RFQ	Request For Quotation	Simpler process for smaller value procurements
RFP	Request For Proposal	Requests a proposed solution, common for complex needs
MEAT	Most Economically Advantageous Tender	The award principle, quality plus price plus social value
FTS	Find A Tender Service	Centralised UK procurement notice platform
TOMS	Social Value TOM System	Standard social value measurement framework

The Jargon Was Never The Hard Part

Here is what genuinely matters once the acronyms stop being a barrier. The SQ decides whether you are even read. The ITT contains everything you need to answer well. MEAT explains why quality carries real weight, not just price. None of it requires a procurement degree. It requires exactly the explanation you just read.

Every business that bids confidently today once stared at the same wall of acronyms you are looking at right now. The only difference is they decided to learn eight terms instead of closing the tab.

Once the language stops being the obstacle, the actual work, proving you can deliver, is something your business was already capable of doing.

Still unsure what a specific tender document is asking of you?

Send it over and we will translate it into plain English, section by section, and tell you honestly whether it is worth pursuing. No obligation. No sales pitch.

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