First private finance schools worth £300m

The Education Funding Agency has revealed the details of £300m worth of privately financed schools to come to market through the government’s flagship school building programme.

The EFA said it was working with schools in three areas that were likely to form the first three batches to come to market through the £1.75bn privately financed element of the Priority Schools Building Programme (see attachment, right).

The EFA said the first batch, in Hertfordshire, Luton and Reading, includes seven schools with a notional construction value of £112m. The EFA said expressions of interest from contractors would be invited in the spring - a year after the schools were initially expected to come to market.

The EFA said the next two batches would follow “soon afterwards”.

These are:

• North East - includes a batch of 13 schools with a notional construction value of £101m
• North West 1 - includes a batch of 14 schools, with a notional construction value of £94m

The news emerged as Building revealed that Bam Construct has beaten Kier for the second batch of Midlands schools tom come to market through the directly-funded element of the PSBP.

Bam’s win follows that of Sir Robert McAlpine, which won a £64m batch in the North-east and Wates, which won the first batch of Midlands schools, worth £36m.