Two finalists bid for £180m schools programme
Balfour Beatty and Galliford Try are competing for Oldham's £180m Building Schools for the Future contract.
The Greater Manchester town council put the contract out to tender earlier this summer. The facilities will be financed by a mixture of Private Finance Initiative and design-and-build arrangements.
Under Oldham Council's plans, all its schools will be rebuilt, replaced or substantially refurbished by 2014. The council was one of the last authorities on Wave Four of the scheme to put work out to tender.