GCA Alternatives for Schools | Value Match & GCA-Aligned Pricing
GCA RM6376 Is Not the Only Route: How Academy Trusts Can Use Value Match and Keep Their Preferred Recruitment Partner
Uniform Education: GCA-Aligned Pricing Through Value Match
If you are a Headteacher, School Business Manager, CFO, COO or academy trust procurement lead trying to understand the new rules around GCA RM6376, supply agencies and the Procurement Act 2023, there is one point worth establishing immediately:
GCA RM6376 is not the only permitted procurement route for academy trust supply staffing.
The Academy Trust Handbook 2026, effective from 1 October 2026, states that academy trusts must use the Government Commercial Agency Supply Teachers and Education Recruitment framework unless they have an alternative compliant agreement with rates which do not exceed those available through the framework.
The Department for Education's separate supply staffing guidance goes further and explains exactly what it means by a compliant alternative. A trust can use an alternative framework or contract where it is in line with the Procurement Act 2023, the relevant financial thresholds are dealt with correctly, and the rates do not exceed those available through GCA.
That is an important distinction.
The requirement is not:
“Every academy trust must only use agencies directly through GCA RM6376.”
The actual position is:
GCA, or an alternative compliant procurement agreement meeting the DfE conditions.
For eligible schools and academy trusts wanting to work with Uniform Education, our principal procurement route is Value Match, with pricing aligned to the relevant GCA requirements.
That allows procurement compliance to sit behind the relationship while schools continue receiving the direct, specialist recruitment service they actually need.
Do Academy Trusts Have to Use GCA Agencies?
This is probably the biggest question being asked by School Business Managers and trust finance teams in 2026.
The answer needs to be precise.
Academy trusts are required to follow paragraph 2.28 of the Academy Trust Handbook.
That paragraph establishes GCA as the DfE route for supply staffing unless the trust has an alternative compliant agreement with rates which do not exceed those available through GCA.
The word “unless” is fundamental.
It means the rules expressly contemplate an alternative procurement route.
So when somebody says:
“Academies can only use GCA agencies now.”
that statement misses an important part of the actual requirement.
Can Schools Use a Recruitment Agency Through Value Match Instead of GCA?
For an academy trust using an alternative route, the important questions are whether the arrangement is appropriately procured, whether the Procurement Act 2023 requirements have been addressed, whether the organisation is entitled to use the arrangement, and whether the applicable pricing remains within the DfE requirement.
Value Match provides a workforce procurement route covering education staffing, including teachers, teaching assistants, support staff and recruitment services for schools and multi-academy trusts.
Uniform Education is available through Value Match.
For eligible academy trusts, that means the conversation does not have to stop at:
“Are we purchasing through GCA RM6376?”
The more useful procurement question is:
“Can we appoint Uniform Education through Value Match under the DfE's alternative compliant agreement provision?”
Where the appropriate Value Match procurement process is followed and the DfE requirements are satisfied, that is precisely the type of alternative route contemplated by the official guidance.
Is Value Match Really Being Used as an Alternative to GCA?
Yes.
This is an important point because it takes the discussion beyond theory.
Published 2026 contract award information for Trinity Multi Academy Trust records supply teacher and education recruitment appointments made through the Value Match Managed Sourcing Service framework.
The published contract description explicitly describes the arrangement as an “alternative compliant route to market”, with rates that do not exceed those available through GCA RM6376.
That mirrors the two tests identified by the Department for Education:
a Procurement Act-compliant alternative arrangement and pricing that does not exceed the GCA framework rates.
So an alternative to GCA is not a loophole, workaround or theoretical interpretation.
It is expressly built into the DfE policy and is already being used in education procurement.
What Does “GCA-Aligned Pricing” Mean?
This is another phrase School Business Managers and academy trust finance teams are increasingly going to encounter.
Where an academy trust uses an alternative compliant agreement, the Academy Trust Handbook requires the applicable rates not to exceed those available through the GCA framework.
Uniform Education therefore works with GCA-aligned pricing through our Value Match route.
For a trust, that means procurement and finance teams can assess the Uniform Education arrangement against the relevant GCA pricing requirement rather than assuming that using an alternative framework means paying outside the DfE parameters.
Uniform Education can provide the relevant pricing information and procurement documentation to the trust so that the appropriate assessment can be made.
GCA or Value Match: What Should a School Business Manager Actually Be Asking?
The question should not simply be:
“Is this agency on GCA?”
That only establishes whether a supplier is available through one particular procurement framework.
A much more complete question is:
“What compliant procurement route are we using to appoint this agency, and does the pricing satisfy the DfE requirement?”
That gets to the substance of the rule.
GCA RM6376 is one procurement route.
An alternative framework or contract that satisfies the DfE's requirements is another expressly permitted route.
The Department for Education itself uses the heading “Compliant alternatives” in its guidance and confirms that single and multi-academy trusts can secure another framework or contract where the relevant conditions are satisfied.
Can We Continue Using Our Existing Supply Agency After the GCA Changes?
Potentially, absolutely.
A procurement change does not automatically have to become a recruitment supplier change.
If your school has spent years building a relationship with an education recruitment agency that knows your pupils, leadership team, SEND provision, safeguarding expectations and the type of staff who succeed in your setting, it is sensible to establish whether that supplier can be retained through an appropriate procurement route before replacing them.
For schools already using Uniform Education, that means considering Value Match.
Once the relevant procurement process is completed correctly, your everyday recruitment relationship can remain direct.
Your school can continue speaking to Uniform Education about vacancies, candidates, trial days, interviews, bookings, compliance, timesheets, long-term staffing and permanent recruitment.
Procurement provides the commercial structure. It does not need to replace the relationship.
Our Trust Has Been Told “We Can Only Use GCA”
This is exactly where the wording of the Academy Trust Handbook matters.
Paragraph 2.28 does not end after saying trusts must use GCA.
It continues by expressly allowing an alternative compliant agreement with rates which do not exceed those available through the framework.
The DfE's dedicated guidance then confirms that the alternative can be another framework or contract, provided it is in line with the Procurement Act 2023, the relevant financial thresholds are addressed and the GCA rate condition is met.
Therefore, if somebody within a trust says:
“We are legally only allowed to use agencies through GCA RM6376.”
it is worth asking them to review the complete current DfE guidance.
The rules are more flexible than that statement suggests.
Is GCA the Only Procurement Act 2023-Compliant Route for Education Recruitment?
No.
GCA RM6376 is a particular government framework.
The Procurement Act 2023 is the wider procurement legislation within which public procurement operates.
The DfE expressly acknowledges that academy trusts may use an alternative framework or contract where the relevant conditions are satisfied.
That means GCA should not be confused with the Procurement Act itself.
Nor should “being on GCA” be treated as synonymous with “being legally procurable”.
What matters is the procurement route actually being used and whether that route has been followed correctly.
Is Value Match a GCA Workaround?
No — and it should not be described that way.
A workaround implies avoiding the rules.
Value Match is about applying the rules through an alternative procurement route.
The DfE expressly permits an alternative framework or contract where its conditions are satisfied.
The distinction is important:
This is not about avoiding GCA requirements. It is about meeting the DfE requirements through another permitted procurement route.
For Uniform Education clients, Value Match provides that route for eligible organisations, subject to the applicable procurement and award process.
What Is GCA RM6376?
RM6376 is the Government Commercial Agency Supply Teachers and Education Recruitment framework.
It provides public-sector education organisations with access to temporary, fixed-term and permanent education recruitment services.
The GCA agreement includes direct agency recruitment, managed services and other education workforce solutions.
Schools may also still see the term CCS used online.
Crown Commercial Service became the Government Commercial Agency — GCA — on 1 April 2026, although older framework documents may continue to contain the CCS name.
This means searches such as CCS supply teacher framework, CCS RM6376, GCA supply teacher framework and GCA education recruitment agencies are now largely referring to the same current procurement landscape.
Is GCA Mandatory for Multi-Academy Trusts?
The Academy Trust Handbook requirement applies to academy trusts, including MATs.
However, again, the complete rule matters.
A MAT must use GCA for supply staffing unless it has an alternative compliant agreement satisfying the applicable requirements.
The DfE also says expenditure should be considered across the combined spend of all schools within the trust, rather than artificially assessing each academy independently.
That makes the procurement route particularly important for larger MATs.
For MATs looking to continue working with Uniform Education, Value Match should therefore be considered at trust procurement level rather than simply academy by academy.
Does GCA Apply to SEND Recruitment Agencies?
SEND staffing sits firmly within the education recruitment procurement landscape.
For specialist schools and SEND academies, however, procurement is only part of the decision.
The quality of the recruitment service remains critical.
Uniform Education specialises in SEND recruitment across London and the Home Counties, supporting schools and provisions requiring experienced staff across ASD, SEMH, PMLD, alternative provision, PRUs, specialist LSAs, Teaching Assistants, SEND teachers and outreach tuition.
That expertise does not disappear because procurement rules change.
For an eligible organisation, Value Match can provide the procurement structure while Uniform Education continues providing the specialist SEND recruitment service.
So searches such as:
GCA SEND recruitment agency
Procurement Act compliant SEND agency
SEND supply agency Value Match
SEN LSA recruitment framework
SEMH staffing agency London
and:
Can a SEND school keep using its existing recruitment agency?
all lead back to the same fundamental issue:
establish the appropriate procurement route, then choose the recruitment partner capable of delivering the staff you actually need.
Does GCA Mean Schools Have to Change Recruitment Agency?
No automatic requirement in paragraph 2.28 says a trust must abandon a successful recruitment partner merely because procurement rules have changed.
The trust needs to establish how that supplier will be procured.
Where a suitable alternative compliant agreement exists and the DfE requirements are met, the rules provide a route for that alternative arrangement.
That matters because recruitment agencies are not interchangeable.
Particularly in SEND and specialist education, a school can spend significant time building a recruitment partner's understanding of its pupils, behaviours, staffing structure, leadership expectations and culture.
Changing supplier purely because somebody has misunderstood the GCA mandate can therefore create an unnecessary operational problem.
Before changing agency, establish whether the agency can instead be correctly appointed through an alternative compliant arrangement.
Why Use Uniform Education Through Value Match?
Uniform Education has worked within education recruitment since 2015 and specialises particularly in SEND and specialist education staffing across London and the Home Counties.
Our approach is deliberately relationship-led.
A procurement framework should provide transparency, governance and commercial control.
It should not make recruitment less responsive.
Through the relevant Value Match arrangement, eligible organisations can put the procurement structure in place while continuing to deal directly with Uniform Education for their actual recruitment requirements.
That means maintaining named consultants, direct communication, candidate matching, compliance support and an understanding of the individual school.
And crucially:
Uniform Education provides GCA-aligned pricing through the Value Match route.
For a Headteacher or School Business Manager, that provides a simple proposition:
a permitted alternative procurement route, GCA-aligned pricing and the ability to retain a specialist recruitment relationship that already works.
Can We Use Uniform Education Through Value Match and Still Contact Uniform Directly?
Yes.
The procurement route sits behind the service.
Once your organisation has completed the appropriate Value Match process, the operational recruitment relationship remains with Uniform Education.
You do not need to lose the direct relationship with your consultant.
Your school can continue discussing staffing requirements directly with us, receiving candidates directly, arranging interviews or trials and managing ongoing placements in the normal way.
For schools concerned that procurement frameworks inevitably mean adding another layer between themselves and their recruitment agency, this is an important distinction.
What Does a School Need to Do to Use Value Match?
Your trust should confirm its eligibility to access the relevant Value Match arrangement and follow the applicable award or call-off procedure.
The trust should also ensure the procurement is considered against its expected spend, contract duration, internal procurement requirements and the applicable Procurement Act 2023 rules.
Using a framework does not mean those responsibilities disappear.
Equally, those responsibilities do not mean GCA is the only available framework.
Value Match describes its Workforce Services framework as providing compliant, cost-effective workforce services to schools and multi-academy trusts across teaching, teaching assistant, support and recruitment requirements.
Uniform Education can work alongside your finance or procurement team by supplying the relevant information needed for that process.
GCA Versus Value Match: Is One Legally “Better”?
That is not really the right legal question.
GCA has been selected by the DfE as its default framework for academy trust supply staffing.
However, the DfE has simultaneously written an alternative route directly into the requirement.
The issue is therefore not whether another compliant framework is somehow “less legal” because it is not GCA.
The issue is whether the alternative arrangement satisfies the DfE conditions.
Where it does, the Handbook expressly permits that alternative.
The procurement route should enable the trust to obtain the right staffing service within the rules — not dictate the recruitment relationship for the sake of it.
The Bottom Line for Headteachers and School Business Managers
Uniform Education offers GCA-aligned pricing through our Value Match procurement route.
If you remember one thing from this article, make it this:
GCA RM6376 is not the only permitted procurement route for academy trusts.
The Academy Trust Handbook expressly allows academy trusts to use an alternative compliant agreement, provided the relevant procurement requirements are met and the rates do not exceed those available through GCA.
The Department for Education confirms that the alternative can be another framework or contract that is in line with the Procurement Act 2023, deals correctly with the relevant financial thresholds and satisfies the GCA pricing requirement.
That is where Uniform Education and Value Match come in.
For eligible organisations, Value Match provides a procurement route through which Uniform Education can be appointed, subject to the trust completing the appropriate process.
Uniform Education provides GCA-aligned pricing, allowing the trust to assess the arrangement against the DfE pricing requirement while maintaining the recruitment relationship it wants.
So the question for a Headteacher, School Business Manager or CFO should not simply be:
“Are we using GCA?”
It should be:
“Are we using an appropriate compliant procurement route with pricing aligned to the GCA requirement?”
For schools and academy trusts wanting to use Uniform Education, the route we would ask your procurement team to consider is:
Value Match.
The position can therefore be summarised very simply:
GCA is the DfE's default procurement route.
GCA is not the only permitted procurement route.
The Academy Trust Handbook expressly permits an alternative compliant agreement.
The DfE confirms that another framework or contract can satisfy that alternative.
The applicable alternative rates must not exceed those available through GCA.
Uniform Education provides GCA-aligned pricing through Value Match.
And once the appropriate procurement arrangement is in place, your school's operational relationship with Uniform Education can continue in the normal way.
Want to Continue Working With Uniform Education?
If your school or academy trust is reviewing its supply agency arrangements following the 2026 GCA changes, speak to Uniform Education before assuming you need to change recruitment partner.
We can provide your Headteacher, School Business Manager, CFO, COO or procurement team with information about the Value Match route, GCA-aligned pricing and the documentation needed to consider the appropriate appointment process.
If your trust has been told “we can only use GCA agencies”, we would also recommend reviewing the complete wording of paragraph 2.28 of the Academy Trust Handbook and the DfE's official guidance on compliant alternatives.
For a more detailed explanation of the GCA requirements themselves, read our main guide:
Do Schools Have to Use GCA? RM6376 Rules Explained 2026
For information specifically about our procurement route, read:
Value Match Approved Suppliers – Clear Procurement. Direct Relationships. Better Staffing.
Uniform Education Recruitment to Shape Future Generations
SEND and education recruitment across London and the Home Counties.
Important procurement note
This article provides general information rather than legal or procurement advice. Individual academy trusts remain responsible for confirming eligibility to use a particular procurement arrangement, completing the applicable procurement or call-off process, considering expected expenditure and financial thresholds, obtaining any necessary internal approvals and retaining appropriate procurement records.
