Construction company Willmott Dixon has won the brief to build a new £19 million education hub for the University of Birmingham.

The firm, whose Midlands operation is based in Coleshill, will construct a new school and sixth form college for the institute in Weoley Park Road, Selly Oak.

The complex will be one of the first university training schools in the UK, an 'lab school' initiative modelled on similar projects in Finland and the US where innovative educational ideas are trialled.

As well as providing a broad academic curriculum, the university training school will provide initial and ongoing teacher training and research into improving educational practice.

The new facility has been designed by Birmingham-based Associated Architects and will comprise standard classrooms alongside subject-specific and innovation rooms.

Each school year will have its own teaching cluster grouped around a three-storey central atrium which will house the dining area and provide access to the physical activity and group gathering spaces.

The sixth form will also have space in part of an existing adjacent building which will be refurbished by Willmott Dixon as part of the contract.

Work to clear the site in preparation for the construction of the new school was carried out last summer with the demolition of a number of existing redundant buildings.

Construction of the new building will be completed in time for the start of the 2015 academic year.

The school will accommodate 750 11 to 16-year-old pupils and a further 400 at the sixth form college, it will be free to attend and admissions will be open to children from different areas across Birmingham, half of which will come from Selly Oak.

The remainder will be admitted from three other areas across the city, namely Hall Green, the Jewellery Quarter and Small Heath.

Matthew Raybould, operations director at Willmott Dixon, said: "The University of Birmingham School is a prestigious project and we are delighted to have been awarded the construction contract.

"Willmott Dixon has a strong track record in the education sector having recently completed Birmingham City University's award-winning Parkside Building and is currently engaged in the construction of Birmingham City University's £63 million Curzon Building, which is due to be completed in summer 2015."