ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV

Wates and Bam Construction have been shortlisted for the first £36m batch of schools to be built under the government’s flagship priority schools programme, ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV can reveal.

The two contractors have been chosen from the long-list of 12 bidders for the first batch of six schools in the Midlands

The schools form the first of eight batches to be procured through the £400m directly-funded part of the Priority School ºÃÉ«ÏÈÉúTV Programme (PSBP).

The batch, valued between £32-36m, consists of four primaries, one secondary and one special school in Coventry.

The EFA held a bidder’s day for the schools last month.

Wates and Bam Construction now go into the Invitation to Tender, with the contract award expected in the coming weeks.

The contractors were chosen from the EFA’s contractor’s framework for the North and Midlands region, which includes big names such as Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Vinci, Kier and Willmott Dixon.