Hackney council has selected a shortlist of private sector bidders for its £167m Building Schools for the Future programme.

The consortiums selected to go through to the “invitation to participate in dialogue” stage are led by: EC Harris, QED Education Environments, Apollo in Education, Mouchel Parkman, Babcock Education and Bouygues Partnership for Education and Community.

Hackney council aims to cut the list to three bidders later this year, with a preferred partner to be selected by 2007. The programme involves the renewal or rebuild of six secondary schools and four special needs schools in the borough. The project will be based on the Local Education Partnership whole-life model and does not include a PFI element.

Nicole Wood, BSF programme director for Hackney council, said: “I’m delighted that we’ve got such high quality bids for Hackney’s BSF programme.”

BSF was launched by the Department for Education and Skills in February 2003, and its aim, through investment, is to transform educational standards by providing 21st-century learning environments.