Published
By Ashley Cox
Having officially launched in the final quarter of 2025, our Crescent Learning platform is now well up and running, with scores of informative resources for institutions to make use of on their procurement journey, completely free of charge.
Bringing together an extensive array of informed guidance and industry expertise, Crescent Learning can act as a useful first port of call for education professionals, presenting invaluable information, whatever your level of prior purchasing experience.
It can also provide supplementary support, a reference point for those already making use of our Crescent Consultancy team, our (free!) RPA service or our range of compliant procurement frameworks. Whether starting at the beginning, or dipping in to address a specific issue, Crescent Learning is all set up to assist you - and further some of the core objectives of our charity.
By providing priceless access to the Crescent Learning platform and empowering your purchasing projects, CPC is once again demonstrating its commitment to Giving Back to education, while solidifying its place as Your Procurement Partner of Choice.
But what might our 10,000+ members find in this newly-updated L&D section of the Crescent Purchasing Consortium website?
After dipping your toe into the wealth of learning available by exploring CPC’s six-chapter guide, Procurement Essentials, our online offerings are spread across the following categories, in line with the four distinct stages of the commercial procurement pathway outlined by Procurement Act 2023, the revised rules governing public buying in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Explores procurement training and strategy, as well as spend analysis, contracts registers and policy establishment.
Contains information covering risk assessment, market research, supplier identification and specification writing. ✒️
Examines and details processes for quotations, competitive tendering, evaluation of bidders and contract awards.
Compiles final chapters on supplier management and monitoring, covering poor performance, plus process review.
As well as the aspects above, there are a number of additional L&D resources, housed under the Crescent Learning marquee.
Our Procurement Toolkit compiles a host of downloadable documents and sample procurement templates for all four stages, as well as containing additional resources, while there’s also our Procurement Act Portal, which collates extensive information on the new public purchasing regulations first implemented in February 2025. The Procurement Act Portal has been a trusted, signposted resource promoted by the Department for Education over the transition period and continues to provide support.
Crescent Learning is also your place to go for various procurement training opportunities, where, working in partnership with CPC's training providers CIPS, BIP Solutions, Whitepaper and Weightmans, our resources allow members to self-inform and upskill at their own pace. Housed together in a dedicated area of our site, our training resource pack is presented as follows:
Introductory
Procurement planning
Tendering/sourcing
Contract management
Contract and procurement law
Supplier/bidding support
The driving force behind the establishment of Crescent Learning, in its new form, has been our in-house Procurement L&D Lead, Mark Pearson. In 2025, Mark addressed the UK Government's Procurement Act Communities of Practice, affirming a status as a trusted advisor and authority, as he continued to help education stakeholders navigate procurement challenges.
💬"It was CPC’s willingness to invest resources to support its members with guidance and templates that first attracted me to join the charity as a procurement consultant, directly supporting our clients with their procurement needs", Mark commented.
"Being handed responsibility for completely revising these resources to align with new legislation and the Schools Exemption, was both humbling and an absolute pleasure".
"Crescent Learning is an organic resource, which will continue to grow and be refined to better suit the needs of our members, in support of CPC’s charitable objectives of supporting and advancing procurement activity in the education sector".
Mark meanwhile observed how Plan "covers the tools to deploy in your organisation to be match-fit for procurement", Define represents "the fundamentals of preparing to procure", Procure "covers routes to market and compliant tendering and award processes", while Manage is "an essential part of the procurement virtuous circle, often overlooked and under-resourced".
With the contents of Crescent Learning under recurring review, CPC encourages all members to revisit the platform across the months ahead, as we look to enhance and refine its ability to meet your procurement learning and development requirements.
To that extent, we also welcome feedback, including on issues or areas you may benefit from further training or information on.
Contact CPC today and help us make this free learning resource the best it can be for the education sector and its learners.
"Crescent Learning is a fantastic resource that I would encourage professionals to use on a regular basis. It has been invaluable to me when drafting updated procurement, sustainability and social value policies"