Social value guide · part 3 of 6
Social value worked examples
The fastest way to understand what scores is to see the same question answered badly and well. These examples are written for small firms on contracts they could realistically win. The businesses are invented; the patterns are the ones evaluators reward and penalise.
Last checked: 6 October 2026
How to read these
Each tender sets its own question, weighting and scoring scale, so the scores here are illustrations using the 0 to 4 scale from the 2020 central government guide, not predictions. How social value is scored explains the scales and the arithmetic.
The arithmetic first
Suppose social value is worth 10% of the total score, marked out of 4. A weak answer scoring 1 earns 2.5 of the 10 points; a strong answer scoring 3 earns 7.5. Five points of the whole tender is more than the gap between first and second place in many close competitions, and it costs nothing but thought.
| Score out of 4 | Points from a 10% weighting | Points from a 20% weighting |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | 2.5 | 5 |
| 2 | 5 | 10 |
| 3 | 7.5 | 15 |
| 4 | 10 | 20 |
Example 1: office cleaning for a district council
The business: a cleaning company with 12 staff. The contract: cleaning three council buildings for three years, about £120,000 a year. The question: describe the social value you will deliver through this contract, how you will measure it and how you will report it.
Weak answer
“We are passionate about our community and committed to social value. We support local causes, pay our staff fairly and care about the environment. We will work with the council to deliver social value throughout the contract.”
Strong answer
“We will deliver three commitments through this contract, each reported to your contract manager every quarter.
1. A job for someone furthest from work. Of the four cleaners we will recruit for this contract, at least one will be someone referred by the council's employment support service, recruited within the first three months. Our operations manager, Sarah Jones, will mentor them, and we will report retention at six and twelve months. We did this on our contract with a housing association in 2025: both people referred are still with us.
2. Pay above the minimum. Everyone working on the contract will be paid at least the real Living Wage for its full term, and we will confirm the rates paid in each quarterly report.
3. Less chemical use. We will move these three buildings to concentrated, refillable products in month one, and report litres used against our current average each quarter.”
The weak answer would struggle to score at all, because it contains no specific, measurable and time-bound commitment, which the central government model treats as the minimum to score. Every sentence is a claim nobody can check, and nothing is tied to this contract. The strong one could score 3 or 4: three commitments, each with a number, a deadline, a named person and a report, one with evidence it has been done before, all relevant to a cleaning contract and all deliverable by a firm this size.
Example 2: IT support for a central government agency
The business: an IT support firm with six people. The contract: desktop support for two years, about £200,000 a year. Under the current central government rules (PPN 002), social value is worth at least 10% of the score, and the question is usually linked to one outcome the buyer chose from the Social Value Model, here skills.
Weak answer
“As an SME we bring social value by our very nature. We will consider offering an apprenticeship and will look for opportunities to give back to the community where possible.”
Strong answer
“You have asked us to address skills. We will take on one IT support apprentice for this contract, starting within four months of the start date and working on your service under supervision from our senior engineer, Tom Patel. They will work towards a recognised apprenticeship standard with a local training provider.
We will also give 40 hours a year of our engineers' time to two local schools to run basic cyber security sessions for pupils, and report the sessions delivered and pupils reached each quarter.
We trained our current junior engineer through an apprenticeship that finished in 2025, so we know how to support one alongside live work.”
“By our very nature” earns nothing: being an SME is not a commitment. “Will consider” is not a promise either. The strong answer responds to the outcome the buyer actually chose, makes two measurable promises in proportion to a six-person firm, and backs one with experience.
Example 3: a school refurbishment for a small builder
The business: a building contractor with 25 employees. The contract: refurbishing a primary school over the summer holidays, about £450,000.
Weak answer
“We will use local suppliers where possible, minimise waste, and offer work experience if requested. We have a strong track record of delivering social value.”
Strong answer
“Local spend. At least 60% of our subcontract and materials spend on this project will be with businesses within 20 miles of the school. On our last two school projects the figure was 64% and 71%; we can share the supplier list. We will report it at practical completion with invoices summarised by postcode.
Waste. We will divert at least 90% of construction waste from landfill, evidenced by waste transfer notes, reported monthly during the works.
Young people. In the term before the works we will run a careers session at the school for Year 6 pupils with our site manager and apprentice, and offer two week-long work placements to students from the local secondary school or college.”
“Where possible” and “if requested” tell the evaluator nothing will necessarily happen. The strong answer sets targets the firm has already met, says how each will be proved, and links one commitment to the school itself, which an evaluator is likely to value.
Example 4: catering from a social enterprise
The business: a community interest company running a café that trains people recovering from addiction. The contract: catering for a council's events, about £60,000 a year.
Weak answer
“As a social enterprise, everything we do is social value. Please see our website for our impact.”
Strong answer
“Every event on this contract will be staffed partly by trainees from our programme: at least two trainee shifts per event, with a supervisor. Last year 14 trainees completed our programme and 9 moved into paid work; our annual impact report sets out how we count that.
For this contract we will add places for two trainees referred by the council's own services each year, and report starts, completions and moves into work every six months.”
A social enterprise still has to answer the question. Evaluators score what is written in the tender, not a website. The strong answer turns the organisation's mission into commitments specific to this contract, with numbers the council can check.
What made the difference
- Specific: a number, a date and a named person, instead of “where possible”.
- Relevant: linked to the contract, its location and the outcome the buyer asked about.
- Proportionate: what a business of that size can actually deliver on a contract of that value.
- Evidenced: proof it has been done before, so the evaluator can believe it will be done again.
- Reportable: a way for the buyer to check, and a timetable for telling them.
- Additional: something this contract makes happen, not a description of what the firm does anyway.
Writing a social value answer turns these into a structure and a list of phrases to use and avoid, and building a track record covers how to have evidence like this ready.
One warning
Every commitment in a winning tender can become an obligation in the contract, reported and monitored. Promise only what you are prepared to deliver and prove.
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Common questions
Worked examples
What does a good social value answer look like?
Specific commitments tied to this contract, each with a number, a timescale, a named person responsible and a way of reporting it, plus evidence that you have done something similar before. A short answer with three deliverable commitments usually outscores a long list of good intentions.
Can a small business score well on social value?
Yes. Evaluators judge commitments against the contract, not against the largest bidder. One apprentice, a set number of volunteering hours or a measured share of local spend from a ten-person firm on a modest contract can score as well as a large firm's programme, provided it is specific, relevant and believable.