Eight education building schemes worth more than £270 million have moved into the delivery phase after the Department for Education (DfE) approved the latest tranche of rebuild and refurbishment contracts. Kier secured the largest award with a £69 million full rebuild of Upton-by-Chester High School, reinforcing its strong position on the DfE’s School Rebuilding Programme. Tilbury Douglas won three schemes totalling just over £74 million, covering Pershore High School in Worcestershire, Applebee Wood Community Specialist School in Lancashire, and East Durham College. Bowmer & Kirkland has been appointed to deliver the £44 million rebuild of Gosford Hill School in Oxfordshire. In south-west London, Willmott Dixon has signed a £35 million contract for Barnes School and Hospital. Offsite specialist Reds10 also features among the winners with a £20 million SEND school in Suffolk, reflecting continued momentum for modern methods of construction across the education estate. The projects form part of the government’s multi-year programme to modernise and improve school and college facilities, addressing condition issues while creating energy-efficient, future-ready learning environments. Each scheme will now proceed through the DfE’s regional construction frameworks, which cover all nine English regions and are designed to streamline procurement, support local supply chains and maintain consistent standards. Collectively, the package represents a significant investment in education infrastructure, promising upgraded teaching spaces, specialist facilities and improved accessibility for pupils and staff. Ground investigations, detailed design and enabling works are expected to begin shortly, with build schedules to be confirmed via the respective framework lots as each project progresses. DfE School and College Project Awards Project Contractor Value (£m) Type Upton-by-Chester High School Kier £69.3m School rebuild Gosford Hill School Bowmer & Kirkland £43.8m School rebuild Barnes School and Hospital Willmott Dixon £34.9m School & hospital Appleby Grammar School Morgan Sindall £29.2m School rebuild East Durham College Tilbury Douglas £26.5m College rebuild Pershore High School Tilbury Douglas £26.4m School rebuild Applebee Wood Community Specialist School Tilbury Douglas £21.5m SEND school Angel Hill School Reds10 £20.3m SEND school Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

GRAHAM has been awarded a c.£14 million contract by Hillingdon Council for the design and construction of a new academic building for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) at Meadow High School in Harefield. Meadow High School is a mixed-gender SEND secondary school catering to 257 pupils in school years 7-14 (aged 11-19) with Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). There are SEND schools in Hillingdon, which are at full capacity and, with demand growing in recent years for support for pupils with additional needs, there is a pressing need to increase facilities in the borough. This new 2276m²’ sq ft, two-storey academic building will provide a supportive and best-in-class learning environment while enhancing existing capacity for up to 100 pupils. Works will include the creation of a range of learning spaces and a multi-use games area, along with extensive landscaping surrounding the building. Additionally, the installation of temporary classrooms, ancillary structures, heat pump and substation enclosures, along with revised vehicular access, car and cycle parking and associated external works. Cllr Susan O’Brien, Hillingdon Council’s Cabinet Member for Children, Families and Education, said: “We continue to deliver on our pledge to provide children in Hillingdon with a high quality and fully inclusive education. This exciting project will create more school places for children with SEND, helping them to reach their full potential in a supportive learning environment, and I’m looking forward to seeing it take shape.” Cllr Jonathan Bianco, Hillingdon Council’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Corporate Services and Property, added: “Our school improvement and expansion programme is delivering excellent facilities across the borough, and this new facility in Harefield will enhance our offer. Our continued investment locally will also help reduce the council’s reliance on expensive independent special school places.”  Pat O’Hare, Regional Director at GRAHAM, said: “This new building will significantly improve SEND facilities and capacity in Meadow High School, also contributing to meeting increasing demand in the wider borough. Thoughtfully designed to ensure an optimum, inspiring, safe and high-quality educational environment for pupils with a range of additional needs, we are excited to deliver this fantastic and much needed project.” GRAHAM will work in collaboration with a project team that includes architect Noviun Architects and structural and civil engineer Hydrock. Construction commenced this summer, with project completion anticipated in Summer 2026. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

Work is set to begin at North Herts Education Support Centre (NHESC) at Briar Patch Lane in Letchworth,  where Ashe Construction is delivering a new multi-million pound, two-storey teaching centre for Hertfordshire County Council. NHESC, rated outstanding in all areas by Ofsted, provides an alternative education for excluded students, or students who are at risk of exclusion, with the aim of supporting a return to permanent full-time education. The expansion will increase capacity from 33 to 40 pupils, ensuring more children can access education through alternative provision. This latest award continues Ashe’s strong track record of successfully delivering projects for Hertfordshire County Council. Ashe has already completed several schemes for Hertfordshire County Council, thanks to the company’s reputation for quality, value and responsible project delivery. Over the past 18 months, Ashe has worked in partnership with the county council and NHESC in shaping the brief, developing the design, and securing planning permission. The new building will provide five general teaching classrooms and four specialist spaces, including IT, science, and food technology. A common room, fitness suite, administrative areas, and dedicated support spaces will also be included. Once the new centre is complete, pupils will move in and Ashe will then demolish the existing building and deliver enhanced outdoor spaces, landscaping, and car parking. Richard Clay, Finance Director at Ashe, said:  “Creating an inspiring, well-designed learning environment is central to helping the Council achieve its vision for this outstanding centre. This project demonstrates the strength of working in partnership with the council to deliver quality projects to benefit the local community. “We’ve built a strong relationship with Hertfordshire County Council based on trust, value, and quality delivery – and this project demonstrates that in action.” Cllr Mark Watkin, Executive Member for Education, SEND and Inclusion, Hertfordshire County Council, said: “We are committed to ensuring that every child and young person in Hertfordshire has the opportunity to thrive and receive the support they need to fulfil their potential. The expansion of NHESC is a vital step in that journey, providing high-quality, alternative provision in an environment designed to inspire and empower. This investment reflects our dedication to building a sustainable, inclusive and thriving Hertfordshire.” Environmental stewardship is also a priority for Ashe. The Briar Patch site is surrounded by mature trees and wildlife habitats, and while some trees must be removed, Ashe will plant two replacements for every one lost. The ecological plan also includes installing bat and swift boxes and ensuring space for badgers and other wildlife. The new building has been designed for energy efficiency with high levels of insulation, air source heat pumps, and LED lighting. The scheme has been designed by Saunders Boston, with Pellings as project manager and Gleeds as cost consultant. Completion is scheduled for Autumn next year and was procured under the Pagabo Medium Works framework. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

Caddick Construction has been selected for a £22 million re-build project at Harrogate College’s main campus and install a new green technology centre, becoming the second project to be delivered on behalf of Luminate Education Group. The new Harrogate College campus will include a 3,997 sq m multi-storey teaching block and a 988 sq m single storey workshop. Caddick’s appointment to the project follows the contractor’s completion of an £11.4m contract to build Pudsey Sixth Form College in Leeds, where building work commenced in 2024. Open in time for the 2025/26 academic year, Pudsey Sixth Form College included a new teaching facility to cater for 600 students aged 16 to 18 years, expanding the sixth form provision across Leeds. Building work in Harrogate will now see Caddick develop the town’s new college building, fulfilling Luminate Education Group’s ambition to better align the curriculum with the region’s green technology skills needs. Located at Hornbeam Park, the new development has received £20m funding from the Department for Education and will replace the former Harrogate College building, which is set for demolition. Caddick is expected to reach completion of the project in time for the 2026/27 academic year. Both Pudsey Sixth Form College and Harrogate College have been procured through the NEPO Construction Works solution, to which Caddick was appointed in 2023. Steve Ford, Regional Managing Director, Caddick Construction North East & Yorkshire commented: “Our appointment to Harrogate College is a mark of our experience in delivering high quality education projects and our presence on the region’s leading procurement frameworks, both of which will result in an efficient and exceptional delivery. We’re very pleased to be building on our relationship with Luminate Education Group following our completion of the new Pudsey Sixth Form College in time for the new academic year.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

Morgan Sindall Construction has officially broken ground on the Orchard View Academy site. The construction firm was appointed by Buckinghamshire Council to deliver a new primary school within the Kingsbrook development in Aylesbury. Procured through the Southern Construction Framework, the scheme will deliver a two-form entry primary school designed to accommodate 420 pupils, along with a 60-place nursery, 12 place SEND provision and a variety of outdoor play areas. The building has also been laid out allowing capacity to be expanded to 630 pupils. Scheduled for completion in summer 2026, the school will be operated by Inspiring Futures Partnership Trust. Its two-storey main building will feature classrooms for each year alongside the main hall, catering areas, staff and office areas, a Learning Resource Centre, activity studio, and a space to teach practical food tech, science, and design & technology lessons. The site’s main building will also include a SEND unit, consisting of two classrooms, two safe rooms, sensory rooms, a therapy room and life skills spaces. An adjoining one-storey building will house a nursery with two playrooms as well as WC, kitchenette, and storage facilities. Externally, the project will create a Sports England standard pitch, multi-use games area (MUGA), hard court, and dedicated playgrounds for nursery, SEN, and specific Key Stage pupils. The building’s structure will include offsite manufactured timber frame walls, supporting a first-floor structure of pre-cast hollow core concrete planks and an insulated timber roof cassettes system. The main building will also include a pre-cast lift shaft and staircases. Morgan Sindall has leveraged its Intelligent Solutions approach to ensure the school’s design, construction, and operation are as sustainable as possible. This method aligns with Buckinghamshire Council’s environmental strategy and commitment that this new school will be Net Zero in Operation. The digital whole life carbon assessment and reduction tool CarboniCa has been utilised to inform the school’s creation, which has seen the design team adopt a fabric-first approach to make the site as efficient as possible. The school’s external envelope has been designed with a highly efficient U-Value (a measurement of heat transfer) to ensure optimal thermal comfort and with an airtightness performance that will minimise energy losses. The window glazing has similarly been designed to balance heating and thermal comfort from natural sunlight while avoiding excessive heat levels. A large photovoltaic (PV) panel array will be installed on the roof and ventilation will predominantly be achieved through natural means where possible, such as opening windows and ventilation stacks to circulate fresh air. Passive ventilation will also be supported by local NVHR (Natural Ventilation with Heat Recovery) units, positioned in teaching spaces to enhance airflow and maintain indoor air quality while optimising energy efficiency. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

Morgan Sindall Construction has completed the first phase of transforming Gloucester’s Art Deco Debenhams building, creating a new City Campus for University of Gloucestershire. Designed by ADP Architecture and delivered through the Pagabo Major Works framework, the adaptive reuse of the former department store offers a state-of-the-art centre for teaching, learning, and community services. The scheme is set to be a major catalyst in the reinvigoration of Gloucester’s high street and its wider city centre regeneration. The City Campus in Kings Square is home to University of Gloucestershire’s Education, Psychology and Social Work programmes, forming a new city-centre base for 1,200 students and staff. It is also set to house public-facing services, including Gloucester’s central library, and is already home to a new Arts, Health and Wellbeing Centre. These developments are anchoring the University firmly in the community to create a thriving city hub. The project has embedded learning and innovation into the everyday life of the city, making education a visible and integral part of urban regeneration. To date, the team has completely transformed the ground and first floors of the building to offer lecture and seminar rooms, study spaces, and space for a city library, while upgrading the whole building envelope. Future phases of the project will see all five-storeys of the 20,000m² building fully modernised. The complex retrofit has been sensitively carried out across different sections of the site, dating back to the early 1900s, 1930s, and 1950s. Working closely with a conservation officer, the team retained original features to preserve the heritage and character of the iconic building, which sits in the heart of Gloucester City Conservation Area. To bring the scheme up to contemporary energy standards, low-carbon design technologies and intelligent building systems for heating, cooling, ventilation, and lighting, including air source heat pumps, were implemented throughout. The team also carried out upgrades to ensure fire safety regulations are met in the conversion from retail to educational use. Externally, the team renovated and enhanced the building’s iconic Art Deco elevation, including restoration of the leaded tracery from the original shop windows. Since construction began, the Campus has delivered over £44 million in social value to the local community, which is a 74% return on the total project cost. This has been achieved through job creation, strengthened partnerships with local businesses and the third sector, and environmentally conscious building practices. A key driver of this impact has been the active engagement of 53 SME’s, helping to boost local supply chains and support inclusive economic growth. By bringing university students into the heart of Gloucester, the development is revitalising the high street, boosting footfall and vibrancy, and fostering a renewed sense of local pride. Richard Fielding, Area Director for Morgan Sindall Construction in the Midlands, said: “It’s been brilliant to see this old Debenhams building get a new lease of life as a university campus. These big retail spaces have sat empty for too long, so to transform one into a place that will bring thousands of students into the heart of Gloucester is exactly what the city needs. “The building had real character that we wanted to preserve – working with those Art Deco features and the different sections dating back over decades was a fascinating challenge. It’s always satisfying when you can retain that sense of history while creating something completely new and fit for purpose. “The University has been fantastic to work with, and knowing that it is now home to more than 1200 students and staff makes it a really meaningful project for the local area.” Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

Caddick Construction has reached completion of a new campus for the University of Cumbria in Barrow, forming part of the university’s investment in engineering, advanced manufacturing and health. The dockside campus, which spans 2.6 hectares, has a unique design inspired by Barrow’s maritime heritage and includes accessible and flexible teaching spaces, offices and catering facilities. Now launched, hosting higher education provisions from the Institute of Engineering, Computing and Advanced Manufacturing, and the Institute of Health, the striking new development includes exhibition and meeting spaces and specialised workshops. Designed with sustainable measures incorporated, the campus includes features to optimise natural light, solar panels to power mechanical services, a cloud BMS system and an air source heat pump to eliminate the need for gas. The new building, which has been designed to resemble a submarine surfacing from water, includes a bespoke rain screen cladding system and curved roofline with glazing, all of which have achieved a U value of 0.15W/m2k. Throughout construction, Caddick also created £1.8m of social value for the community by partnering with a range of organisations and charities. This included support for a school reading programme led by Hello Future, as well as donations made to the Furness Homeless charity, which is dedicated to providing wrap-around support for adults facing homelessness Dave Saville, Regional Managing Director of Caddick Construction North West, commented: “We’re proud to have delivered this landmark project, which sets a new benchmark in educational design and demonstrates the power of construction when it’s rooted in community impact. Beyond the campus itself, we’re especially proud of the social value created by the team in Barrow, which has ensured the benefits of this project extend well beyond its walls.” University of Cumbria’s Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Brian Webster-Henderson OBE, said: “The opening of our Barrow campus marks a transformative moment for both the University of Cumbria and the town itself. It is the result of nearly a decade of collaboration, vision, and belief in Barrow’s potential. This development directly supports our T2030 strategy, focusing on place, people, and partnership, by expanding access to higher education, nurturing local talent, and strengthening ties with industry and community. Barrow is now a university town, and that unlocks new possibilities for regional growth, national resilience, and lifelong opportunity.” The University of Cumbria adds to a growing portfolio of education projects being delivered by Caddick across the North West, including the newly completed 24,000 sq. ft expansion of Loreto College in Hulme.  Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

Bouygues UK is proud to announce its recent selection as the main contractor for the redevelopment of the Rosedale College site, awarded by the Department for Education (DfE) as part of the School Rebuilding Programme. Located in the London Borough of Hillingdon, this significant project will enhance Rosedale College, futureproofing the campus as a leading technology and applied learning specialist institution. The redevelopment involves demolishing outdated 1960s structures and replacing them with modern facilities, including new teaching and performing arts blocks, a comprehensive refurbishment of the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) block, enhancement of sports fields and Multi-Use Games Areas (MUGAs), providing contemporary dining and social canopies, and new infrastructure. Temporary accommodation will also be removed to reinstate the sports field. Bouygues UK will be supported by Stride Treglown and NVB Landscape as part of the design team. Mark Cesenek, Managing Director at Bouygues UK, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership: “We are excited to work with the DfE and deliver a transformative project for Rosedale College, to create a vibrant and progressive learning environment.” Stewart Duguid, Chair of the Rosedale Hewens Academy Trust said “We are delighted that the Department for Education (DfE) has chosen to support Rosedale College in this transformative rebuild project. This investment marks a significant milestone in our journey to provide an exceptional learning environment for our students. Bouygues UK has demonstrated a deep understanding of our vision and values, and we are confident they will deliver a campus that truly reflects the aspirations of our college community.” A key feature of this project will be its dedication to achieving net zero carbon in operation, highlighting the importance of sustainability to the Department for Education and Bouygues UK. Regarding social value, Bouygues UK will run the ‘Adopt a School’ initiative led by Class of Your Own, supporting the award-winning Design Engineer Construct! (DEC) Learning Programme. This initiative ensures active engagement of children and young people, nurturing their skills, knowledge, and enthusiasm for pursuing careers in the Built Environment sector. They are empowered to understand the positive impacts they can make on society and the natural environment. This project demonstrates Bouygues UK’s commitment to excellence in educational infrastructure, supporting the development of innovative learning environments in the UK. It is set for completion in Autumn 2028. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals

Bouygues UK proudly announces a pivotal milestone in the transformation of Stanmore College, with the construction project successfully reaching topping out – the highest point of the new building structure. This significant achievement marks a crucial step forward in delivering the £60 million state-of-the-art further education facility, funded by the Department for Education’s Further Education Improvement Programme under the CF21 Framework. The topping out ceremony symbolises the emerging reality of a transformed educational environment that will serve thousands of students for years to come. With the structural framework now complete, the project moves into the next exciting phase of creating inspiring learning spaces designed to enhance student outcomes and opportunities. “Topping out is always an incredibly proud moment for our team, but this project holds special significance as we’re constructing the future of further education in this community,’ said Mark Cesenek, Managing Director at Bouygues UK. ‘Our standardised ‘kit of parts’ approach, combined with our commitment to net-zero principles, is creating a building that will be flexible, sustainable and designed to inspire learning“ The ambitious project involves complete reconfiguration of Stanmore College’s existing site, replacing four outdated buildings with four cutting-edge new builds. Utilising Bouygues UK’s proven educational building methodology, the new facility integrates sustainability principles whilst ensuring an efficient and timely build. Beyond the physical construction, the project is already delivering educational value through innovative partnerships. Bouygues UK has inducted its first cohort of T Level students into Design Surveying and Planning internships, developed in collaboration with social enterprise Class Of Your Own. The second cohort will include students from Stanmore College. These internships form part of the award-winning ‘Design Engineer Construct!’ learning programme, giving future professionals hands-on experience with cutting-edge construction projects. “The college’s Principal Anette Cast expressed her enthusiasm about the progress:  ‘The speed and quality of this build is amazing. It’s inspiring to see the new campus taking shape so quickly and to such a high standard. This transformation will give our students access to world-class facilities and create opportunities that will benefit the wider community for years to come.“ With construction progressing smoothly towards the 2027 completion date, the topping out milestone demonstrates Bouygues UK’s commitment to delivering high-quality educational infrastructure to the Department for Education. The new facility will feature modern teaching spaces, advanced technical workshops, and collaborative learning areas designed to meet the evolving needs of further education. The project reinforces Bouygues UK’s position as a leading contractor in the education sector, with a proven track record of delivering inspiring and sustainable learning environments across the UK. Building, Design & Construction Magazine | The Choice of Industry Professionals