Skanska Educational Partnerships, HBG and Excell Learn are all bidding for a role in the city's Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme.

This will see four secondary schools - Brislington, Hartcliffe, Speedwell and Whitefield Fishponds - rebuilt and reopen by autumn 2007.

Work has already begun on rebuilding four other secondary schools in the city, worth �120m over 25 years.

HBG won that contract to rebuild and maintain Henbury, Portway, Bedminster Down and Monks Park schools under the Private Finance Initiative.

Councillor Claire Cook said: "We are currently engaged in the biggest transformation of secondary education in Bristol for more than half a century."

The BSF programme is a national scheme aiming to revamp all secondary schools in England over the next 15 years.