How Government Agencies Score Your Tender
Demystify the evaluation process. Learn how weighted criteria work, what assessors are looking for, and how to maximise your score on every criterion.
When government agencies evaluate tender responses, they don't read them like a story. They score them against a pre-defined set of weighted criteria. Understanding how this process works — and designing your response around it — is the single biggest advantage you can have as a bidder.
How weighted criteria work
Most government tenders use a weighted criteria scoring system. Each criterion (e.g. 'Technical Capability', 'Demonstrated Experience', 'Price') is assigned a weighting — typically expressed as a percentage. Your score on each criterion is multiplied by its weighting to give a total score.
This means a criterion worth 40% of the total score deserves 40% of your writing effort. Many bidders spend 80% of their time on price when price is only worth 20% of the score.
Common criteria and what they really mean
While every tender is different, most federal government tenders use variations of the same 5–7 criteria. Knowing what assessors are actually looking for under each helps you write more targeted responses.
- •Technical Capability / Methodology: Does your approach to delivering this contract make sense? Include a delivery methodology, risk management plan, and how you'd quality-assure the work.
- •Demonstrated Experience / Track Record: Have you done similar work before? Provide case studies. The more similar the project scope and value, the better.
- •Value for Money: This is not the lowest price. It's the best ratio of quality to cost. Justify your price by explaining what's included.
- •Management Capability: Who runs the contract day to day? Assessors want to see named personnel with CVs, not generic role descriptions.
- •Local Industry Participation / SME Commitment: Many tenders score you on Australian content, local subcontracting, or SME engagement. Address this explicitly if the criterion exists.
- •Compliance / Risk: Will you create problems for the agency? Insurance, WHS plans, and your approach to managing risks all sit here.
How assessors actually score responses
Most agencies use a numerical scale (1–5 or 1–10) for each criterion, with descriptors at each level. A score of 1 means 'does not address the criterion' and a score of 5 means 'fully addresses with compelling evidence'.
Assessors typically work independently and then moderate their scores. They are looking for specific evidence against each criterion, not general claims.
The most common reason for a low score on any criterion is not answering the question asked. Read the criterion description carefully — it usually contains sub-questions. Answer each one.
The weighting trap: where bidders lose
A tender with a 20% price weighting and 80% quality weightings will be won by the best-quality response that is competitively (not necessarily lowest) priced. Yet many small businesses price low and write weak quality sections.
Before you begin writing, calculate how much of the contract value each criterion represents and allocate your effort accordingly. A $500,000 contract with a 30% technical capability weighting means $150,000 in score value rides on that one section.
Let AI extract the criteria for you
TenderFinder's bid generator reads the RFT document and writes a structured response for each evaluation criterion, with evidence sections and a compliance matrix included.
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