Morgan Sindall hands over £9m Pilgrims' Way Primary School rebuild in Canterbury

Morgan Sindall Construction has finished building the replacement Pilgrims' Way Primary School in Canterbury and handed the 420-place, two-form entry school to Veritas Multi Academy Trust, the contractor announced on 7 October.

The Department for Education (DfE) selected Morgan Sindall through its construction framework to demolish the school's 1970s building and replace it. Architect Lee Evans Partnership put the construction value at about £9m.

The new school has a hall, classrooms, a kitchen and a multi-use games area, and the existing nursery has been connected to the new building, Morgan Sindall said. The work took place alongside a live school, so building activity had to be planned around the school's day-to-day operations.

Guy Hannell, Area Director for Morgan Sindall Construction in the Southern Home Counties, said: "The whole team is really proud of this project, especially as our Canterbury office is just down the road from Pilgrims' Way Primary School so we know how essential it is for the local community".

Hannell said the firm looked forward to seeing the doors open later in the year.

The building

The school is gas-free. Morgan Sindall said air source heat pumps and roof-mounted photovoltaic panels were installed, and a fabric-first approach was taken to airtightness and insulation. The contractor used CarboniCa, its in-house digital carbon reduction tool, to measure whole-life carbon emissions across design, construction and operation.

According to Lee Evans Partnership, the building has an L-shaped footprint with a two-storey classroom section facing east and west. It was placed towards the east of the site to reduce its visual impact on neighbours.

The existing building stayed in use during construction, apart from a four-classroom wing that was removed, which meant four temporary classrooms were needed, the architect said.

Dr Kerry Jordan-Daus, CEO of Veritas Multi Academy Trust, said: "We are delighted with our new school and all the potential it offers for our children, our families and our community; where children can belong, believe and achieve."

Why the school grew

Kent County Council's Cabinet Member for Education and Skills approved the permanent expansion of the school on 22 September 2022. The decision takes the school from 1.5 to two forms of entry by raising its Published Admissions Number from 45 to 60 places.

The council said the need for places stemmed from housing growth, notably a 500-home private development on the former Howe Barracks site. Canterbury City Council's Local Plan identifies 16,000 new homes over the period to 2031, according to the county council's decision record. At the May 2019 school census the school had 261 pupils on roll and 31 in the nursery, 292 in total.

Lee Evans Partnership said the expansion takes capacity from 315 to 420 pupils.

Forms of entry	Capacity (pupils)
1.5 forms of entry (before)	315
Two forms of entry (new school)	420

The framework and the programme

The job is the first appointment for Morgan Sindall's Southern Home Counties business under the latest version of the DfE's construction framework, according to the contractor's project page. The DfE lists Morgan Sindall Construction and Infrastructure Ltd as one of six contractors on Lot 7 of its 2021 framework, the medium value band for the South East, intended for projects between £6m and £12m.

Morgan Sindall said the DfE selected it in February 2023 to develop plans for the replacement school, and planning permission was granted in October 2023. A steel signing ceremony on 11 December 2024 was attended by pupils, parents, staff and DfE representatives, including Luke Kennedy, School Rebuilding Programme Director at the DfE, who said he was delighted to see construction progressing.

The expected occupation date moved during the project. Morgan Sindall's January 2024 announcement gave September 2025; Lee Evans Partnership's November 2024 update gave November 2025, with demolition and landscaping to follow; and Morgan Sindall's December 2024 release gave early 2026. The completion announcement says the school was handed over ready for the September term, while Hannell referred to the doors opening later in the year.

Guy Scott, project manager, was Morgan Sindall's community contact for the scheme, which published newsletters from February 2025 to February 2026.