The contract is part of the £106m Middlesbrough Building Schools for the Future programme which will see a total of eight schools transformed.

Financial close with Middlesbrough Council is expected to be reached in November.

The deal will see the creation of two new schools, one to replace the existing Acklam Grange school and the other to co-locate Ormesby and Priory Woods schools.

It was appointed on the BSF programme under the academies framework and aims to negotiate the rest of the BSF schemes next year.

 Working with Aedas Architects, Willmott Dixon plans to start on the new Acklam Grange school in November, while work on the new school for Ormesby and Priory Woods will start in January next year.

The company aims to agree contracts for the remaining schools under the programme in 2009.