Free AI bid answer grader: score your tender answer out of 5
Paste the question and your draft. See the score an evaluator would likely give, where you lost marks, and the three fixes worth the most.
Free, no sign-up UK public-sector 0 to 5 scoring Your answer is never stored
Your score appears here
Paste a question and your answer, or load an example. You get a 0 to 5 score, the same scale UK evaluators use, plus the three fixes worth the most marks.
- Answers every part
- Concrete detail
- Evidence and proof
- Measurable commitments
- Buyer focus
- Structure
- Safe, provable claims
How the grader scores
Seven checks. The same ones evaluators run in their heads.
Each check scores 0 to 100. We weight them, with the first four counting most, and map the result to the 0 to 5 scale on your tender.
Heaviest weight
Answers every part
Most questions ask for three things. Monitor, fix, report. Miss one and the evaluator can't give you more than a 2, no matter how good the rest reads.
High weight
Concrete detail
"Regularly" scores nothing. "Fortnightly, by two area supervisors covering 11 sites each" scores. We count numbers, roles, frequencies and named standards.
High weight
Evidence and proof
An audit score from a similar contract. A retention rate. BS 7858 or ISO 9001 by name. "15 years' experience" is not proof.
High weight
Measurable commitments
Fix times, KPI targets and reporting dates the buyer could hold you to. "As soon as possible" is a promise nobody can check.
Medium weight
Buyer focus
Is the answer about their sites, their users and what lands on their desk? Or could you paste it into any tender?
Medium weight
Structure
First sentence answers the question. Headings mirror the question's parts. Evaluators score 40 answers in a day. Make ticking boxes easy.
Medium weight
Safe, provable claims
"Fully compliant with all relevant legislation" makes evaluators twitch. Named laws and checkable targets don't. Higher here means safer.
What a 5 out of 5 answer has
Numbers, proof and a first line that answers.
Top answers are rarely longer. They are denser. Every sentence gives the evaluator something to tick. Read six real pairs side by side in our bid writing examples guide, from cleaning to social value.
Writing a cleaning bid? The cleaning method statement template gives you the structure, and the list of cleaning tender mistakes shows what costs firms marks before anyone reads the method. Security firms lose most often on vetting detail, which is why security tender bids fail.
“Our supervisors regularly check the work and issues are dealt with quickly.”
“We will audit every one of the 22 sites at least monthly and fix any failure within 4 working hours.”
- First line: the headline commitment, with a number.
- Headings: one per part of the question, in the order asked.
- Every promise: a time, a target or a date.
- Proof: at least one real figure from a similar contract.
- Reporting: what the buyer gets, and when.
How UK buyers score answers
The 0 to 5 scale, and why 2 marks matter.
Most councils, NHS trusts and schools score each quality question from 0 to 5, then multiply by the question's weighting. Brent Council's published ITT scoring matrix is a typical example: quality at 60%, price at 40%, and one question alone worth 23%. On a 23% question, moving from 3 to 5 is worth 9.2 marks. You'd need to cut your price by roughly a quarter to win that back on cost.
- 0Unacceptable
No answer, or nothing relevant to the question.
- 1Poor
Big gaps. Little confidence you can deliver.
- 2Weak
Some parts covered, others missing or vague.
- 3Good
Meets the requirement. Few concerns.
- 4Very good
Detailed, evidenced, covers every part.
- 5Outstanding
Exceeds it. Concrete, proven, no doubts left.
Wording varies by buyer, so always read the scoring guide in your tender pack. If you're new to public-sector bids, start with how to bid for a government contract, or the sector version, how to bid for cleaning contracts.
Stop grading one answer at a time.
CleanTender writes every answer in the tender from your company profile and evidence, inside the word limit, for cleaning, security, grounds, waste and catering contracts. 14 days free, no card.
Questions, answered.
Weighing up a bid writer against software? Our bid writer vs AI bid tool comparison runs the numbers, and the AI tender software roundup compares the options. Plans start on the pricing page.
Is there a free AI bid writing tool?
Yes. This grader is free, needs no sign-up, and scores a tender answer out of 5 in about 20 seconds. It tells you where you lose marks and the three fixes worth the most. It grades rather than writes. If you want the full answer drafted from your company profile, within the word limit, CleanTender does that on a free 14-day trial with no card. Most free AI chat tools will write something, but they don't know how UK evaluators score, so you get fluent paragraphs full of "committed to excellence" that land at 2 out of 5.
How do I score my tender answer before I submit it?
Paste the buyer's question and your draft into the grader above and add the word limit. You get an overall score on the 0 to 5 scale most UK councils and NHS trusts use, a bar for each of 7 criteria, and three numbered fixes. Doing it by hand works too: split the question into its parts, then check each part has a number, a named person or role, a time and some proof. If any part lacks all four, that part is dragging you down. Fix it, then grade again.
What makes a tender answer score 5 out of 5?
A 5 answers every part of the question with concrete detail and proof, and leaves the evaluator no doubts. In practice: the first sentence states your headline commitment with a number, headings mirror the question, every promise has a time or target, and at least one figure comes from a comparable contract. Our bid writing examples guide shows side-by-side weak and 5 out of 5 answers for cleaning, security, grounds, waste, catering and social value. The gap is almost never writing talent. It's numbers and proof.
How do evaluators score tender answers in the UK?
Most UK public buyers use a 0 to 5 (sometimes 0 to 10) scale per quality question, with a written description for each score, then multiply by the question's weighting. A 20% question scored 3 instead of 5 costs you 8 marks overall. Two or three evaluators score alone, then agree a moderated score. They can only mark what the answer says. They won't assume you do something because you're experienced. Many buyers set a minimum, often 2 or 3, on key questions and exclude bids below it.
Is it safe to paste my bid answer into this grader?
Yes. We don't store the question or the answer, and we never log the text. It goes to our checker, gets scored, and the result comes back to your browser. Nothing is saved against you unless you choose to email yourself the results, and even then we only keep the scores and fixes, not your answer. Still, strip out anything commercially sensitive such as prices or named staff before you paste. That's good practice with any online tool.
Why did my answer score low when it reads well?
Because evaluators don't score good writing. They score evidence against the question. An answer can read smoothly and still say nothing checkable: "our supervisors regularly check standards and issues are dealt with quickly" is fluent and worth about 1 out of 5. Look at the lowest bars in your results. Concrete detail and evidence are the usual culprits. Swap every vague word for a number, add one real result from a similar contract, and you'll often jump two bands.
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