The Department for Education has picked a fresh line-up of 23 firms to deliver its £15bn school rebuilding programme over the next eight years.

The next-generation deal – Construction Framework 2025 – splits delivery between national big guns handling £12m-plus major projects and a wider field of tier 2 contractors taking on lower-value regional school jobs.

The shake-up has opened the door to several new firms while confirming the status of long-standing DfE builders.

Ten majors secured places on the national high-value lot, with Galliford Try and McLaren Construction winning spots for the first time.

Bouygues UK missed out after failing to renew its place in the new framework which is in 10-day award standstill and is due to come in force in the New Year.

The lower-value project bands delivered the biggest shake-up, with newcomers Guildmore, Meldrum Construction, Neilcott Construction and Speller Metcalfe securing spots alongside established players.

In another shift, modular specialists McAvoy Modular Offsite and Reds10 move into the main construction framework rather than occupying standalone modular deals, marking a significant broadening of their DfE workload.

The two modular specialist secured places on all regional lots.

Morgan Sindall followed closely with seven wins, cementing its position as one of the DfE’s most relied-upon delivery partners.

Bowmer & Kirkland and Galliford Try also performed strongly, each securing five places.

Traditional regional builders such as Caddick, Clegg and Conlon enjoyed a bumper outcome too, taking four lots apiece.