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Understand comparable awards and counted figures in a forecast

Learn how to read the counts of past awards in the How to win it box, and why they are not facts about this forecast.

Written By GovPreneurs

Last updated 21 days ago

The How to win it box on a forecast page uses counted figures. Each figure is a count over past award records. It is not a fact about this forecast, and it does not say who will bid.

The rows you may see

RowWhat it tells you
Who has won work like thisThe number of firms that won comparable awards, and the firms with the most of these awards. It can also give the median number of offers that these awards got.
What work like this was worthThe median value of comparable awards, and the middle half of them.
This office's recordHow many of this office's past awards had a set-aside, and how many other active forecasts the office has.

The box shows only the rows that have counted figures. If Grant's call is Skip or Expected date passed, the box does not show.

How to read a figure

  • A median is the middle value. Half of the awards were above it, and half below.
  • The middle half runs from the low end to the high end of the central half of awards.
  • For a federal forecast, the page compares the buyer's estimate with the middle half. The text says if the estimate is below, inside, above, overlapping or spanning the middle half. Neither figure is a price paid.

Example

The box says that 4 firms have won comparable awards. The buyer's estimate is inside the middle half of these awards. This tells you that the size is usual for such work. It does not tell you who will bid.

Where each figure comes from

Each row shows its basis. The basis says how many records were counted, what they matched on and which award years they cover. The row also names the source and the date of the last check.

What the figures cannot know

  • They are not about this forecast. A count of past awards is not a plan for this one.
  • Records can lag. The source line may add a note about the delay.
  • Grant does not say who will bid, because that is not known until the bids are in.

✅ What to do next: To study past winners in full, read Awards: see who won work like yours. To find firms to approach, read Partners: find companies to approach.

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