Top of the class as Morgan Sindall named Contractor of the Year
Morgan Sindall Construction has won Contractor of the Year at the Education Estates Awards 2026. The award recognises not simply the scale of education work we deliver, but the way our teams are working with clients, schools and supply chain partners to respond to changing needs, innovate and deliver better educational environments across England, Scotland and Wales.
Our Midlands team made it a double celebration, picking up Refurbishment of the Year for its work at the University of Gloucestershire.
Both awards reflect a sector we know well. Education has been at the centre of our business for many years, from nursery and primary through to secondary, further and higher education, SEND and specialist provision.
Much of that work has been for the Department for Education (DfE) which will continue following our appointment to CF25, the DfE's new £15.4 billion Construction Framework, where we achieved the highest overall procurement score of any contractor and secured places across seven of the ten lots.
Our Education Estates nomination focused on three projects that demonstrate the breadth of that approach: innovation at Little Reddings, collaborative problem-solving at Dixons Newall Green and carbon reduction at Carleton High School.
The first, Little Reddings Primary School in Bushey, Hertfordshire, was one of the first 102 schools in England to benefit from the DfE’s School Rebuilding Programme. We built the £14m two-form entry school while the existing school stayed open, timing deliveries and noisy work around lessons and neighbours.
The project was also a showcase for offsite construction. The building uses the Streif closed-panel timber system, and Little Reddings was the first school on the DfE’s 2021 framework to use Streif’s new factory facilities. The finished building achieved an airtightness rate of 2.38 m³/h.m²@50Pa against a design target of 3, and its embodied carbon came in at 585kg CO₂/m², nearly half the RIBA target of 1,000kg. Ultimately, that innovation was about creating a better environment for pupils.
Josh MacAlister, Minister for Children and Families, said:
It is fantastic to see pupils at Little Reddings Primary School are now learning in a school that is not only fit for the future, but somewhere that they can feel proud of and want to learn in every day.”
If Little Reddings was about innovation, Dixons Newall Green Academy in Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, was about handling the unexpected. What began as a light refurbishment developed into a much more complex transformation after intrusive surveys uncovered significant unforeseen issues with the existing building fabric, structure and hazardous materials. Working openly with the DfE and Arcadis, the team shared emerging information, reviewed changes weekly and helped establish the evidence required to agree the additional work and budget.
The benefits reached well beyond the school gates. Local supply chain spend reached £14.6m against a £10.1m target, and ten young people who were not in education, employment or training (NEET) completed a 12-week Construction Academy on site. All ten have since joined Morgan Sindall’s team.
Our third project, Carleton High School in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, showed what is possible on carbon. We replaced a fragmented 1960s campus with a £19.5m three-storey teaching block, delivered in 94 weeks, on time and on budget. Specifying Electric Arc Furnace steel for 56% of the structural frame saved almost 800 tonnes of CO₂e, and an in-slab solution removed 140m³ of concrete, saving a further 63 tonnes. Nearly 1,000m² of photovoltaic panels generate more than 194,000 kWh a year, 99% of construction waste was diverted from landfill, and the project scored 45/45 under the Considerate Constructors Scheme.
For the school, the change goes well beyond the numbers. Headteacher Shaheen Shariff said:
''This new school is not just a building; it is a place of opportunity and growth for our students and a place our staff can deliver outstanding education.”
The savings at Carleton reflect an approach now embedded across our business. The CarboniCa carbon modelling tool, externally validated by Arup and endorsed by RICS, measures whole-life carbon at every RIBA stage. In total, CarboniCa has helped our project teams identify and deliver carbon reductions of more than 70,000 tonnes of CO₂e across our projects, including more than 28,000 tonnes on education schemes.
That same focus on measurable outcomes extends beyond carbon to the social value our projects create in the communities around them. Between July 2024 and January 2026, our school projects engaged more than 9,300 pupils in STEM activities, created over 60 jobs for NEET individuals and delivered 560 apprenticeship weeks.
With work now continuing through CF25, our focus remains the same: working collaboratively with clients, schools and our supply chain to deliver better, lower-carbon educational environments and lasting value for the communities they serve.
Dave Wood, DfE Framework Director, Morgan Sindall Construction said:
Winning Contractor of the Year is fantastic recognition for everyone involved in our education sector delivery. What makes me particularly proud is that it reflects the hard work, commitment and professionalism of our teams who consistently go above and beyond to deliver the best possible outcomes for our clients, schools and the communities they serve.
Our success on the DfE frameworks has always been a collective effort, and I’m incredibly grateful to our project teams, regional businesses, consultants and supply chain partners who make that possible. This award belongs to all of them and is thoroughly deserved.”