Wates Construction has been appointed by the Department for Education to deliver an approximately £36m contract in Coventry, as part of the Priority Schools Building Programme.

The contract will see Wates deliver the rebuild or refurbishment of four primary schools, one secondary school and a special educational needs school, totaling 3,687 pupil places.

The contractor was awarded the work having been shortlisted two months ago alongside BAM Construct. The Coventry batch is one of two in the first round of the £2.4bn capitally funded Priority School Building Programme – the second of which covers the North East and Yorkshire.


The EFA has launched the procurement exercise for a second batch of schools in the Midlands.

Wates will now work closely with the Education Funding Agency and the schools to develop the designs for the new facilities ahead of the start of building works.

Phil Harrison, Managing Director for Wates Construction, Midlands and North, commented: "We are delighted to have been named as the main contractor for the first batch of Priority Schools in the Midlands. This programme of works calls for a great deal of efficiency without a compromise on quality and our extensive expertise in producing innovative solutions in order to create outstanding education facilities places us as a trusted partner to the EFA."

The Priority School Building Programme (PSBP) was launched in July 2011 and has been centrally procured by the EFA on behalf of the Department for Education. 261 of the UK’s schools will be rebuilt or renovated under the programme.

Schools included in the Coventry Priority Schools Building Programme are:

•Whitmore Park Primary

•St Thomas More Primary

•Wyken Croft Primary

•Richard Lee Primary

•Ernsford Grange Secondary

•Alice Stevens Special School

(CD)