Balfour Beatty wins £83m contract to deliver new Forres Academy in Moray

Balfour Beatty wins £83m contract to deliver new Forres Academy in Moray

Balfour Beatty has been awarded an £83m contract to build the new Forres Academy in Moray, Scotland, marking another major education win for the contractor north of the border. The project will replace the existing school with a modern 12,143 square metre secondary campus designed for 1,120 students, along with a 3G sports pitch and new car park.

Project overview

Forres Academy is a major school replacement scheme for Moray Council, delivered through Hub North Scotland. The new campus is being designed to provide a modern, energy-efficient and sustainable learning environment for pupils, staff and the wider community.

The school is being developed under the Scottish Government’s Learning Estate Investment Programme Phase 3 criteria. That means the project is being assessed not just on build quality, but also on broader educational, environmental and asset-performance outcomes.

Delivery partners and key stakeholders

Balfour Beatty is the main contractor for the scheme and will be responsible for the construction delivery on site. Hub North Scotland is acting as the delivery body for the programme, working on behalf of Moray Council.

The school is being procured within a public sector framework that links local authority investment, Scottish Government learning estate policy and private sector construction delivery. That combination is typical of major school replacement programmes in Scotland, where capital investment is often paired with wider social and educational objectives.

Construction and technical details

The project covers a 12,143 square metre secondary school campus, which is a substantial education build for a regional authority. In addition to teaching space, the scheme includes a new 3G artificial grass sports pitch and a car park, giving it a broader campus footprint than a simple classroom block replacement.

The design team is being led by jmarchitects, which suggests a coordinated approach between architecture, delivery and the performance standards required under the learning estate programme. Because the existing school is being replaced rather than simply refurbished, the project also involves careful sequencing of site works and transition planning.

A modern school of this type has to balance durability, energy efficiency, flexibility and operational efficiency. That usually means a focus on robust materials, good daylighting, low-carbon strategies and layouts that can serve different teaching methods over time.

Timeline

• The contract was awarded in late May 2026.

• Works are due to commence imminently.

• Mobilisation activity is expected to begin in early June 2026.

• Completion is currently scheduled for 2029.

The timing matters because school projects often have to work around academic calendars and local operational constraints. Even when the main construction phase starts quickly, early mobilisation and enabling works are usually essential to make the site ready for full delivery.

Strategic importance

This project is important for Moray because it represents a major investment in the local education estate. Replacing an existing school with a new campus usually has knock-on benefits for teaching quality, community use and long-term maintenance costs.

It is also strategically relevant for Balfour Beatty, which has built up a strong track record in Scottish education work. The company has previously delivered other Moray school projects, including Elgin High School, Lossiemouth High School and Linkwood Primary School, so this award extends an established local relationship.

For the wider construction market, the contract shows that education remains one of the most reliable public sector pipelines. While some larger infrastructure programmes face uncertainty, school replacement schemes continue to offer structured, publicly funded work with clear social value and long-term community visibility.

Writer’s opinion

This is the kind of contract that may not generate dramatic headlines, but it is exactly the sort of project that matters on the ground. A new school is one of the clearest examples of construction delivering long-term public value, and Forres Academy looks like a well-structured replacement scheme rather than a token upgrade.

What stands out is the combination of scale and practicality. The campus is large enough to feel significant, but it is still clearly grounded in the needs of a specific community. That usually makes for better outcomes than oversized flagship projects that are disconnected from local demand.

There is also a broader lesson here about Balfour Beatty’s position in the market. The company continues to win work across different sectors, and education remains one of the areas where repeat capability matters. Projects like Forres Academy reinforce that reputation and keep the public sector pipeline active in Scotland.

Take it further

UK project pipelines, funding routes and regional forecasts behind stories like this are analysed in full in our UK Construction Market Intelligence Report 2026, available now on the Emilecon store.