The DfE have announced this morning that NFER have 'won' the bid to provide the baseline assement for Reception children beginning in Autumn 2020. It seems from the various news pieces available that the other other two potential bidders Early Excellence and the Centre for Evaluation and Monitoring (CEM) both declined to bid saying that the Government's proposals did not make sense. It appears therefore, that although NFER 'won' the bid, they were the only contenders. You can read the DfE press release here. The TES piece is available on their site here. You can comment on this thread.