Your editorial on Building Schools for the Future (3 November, page 3) got the wrong end of the stick. The real challenge for Tim Byles is not to deliver 3,500 schools or to spend £45bn; it is to find a way to marry quantity with quality.

Changing an inefficient procurement process is comparatively easy, if he has the backing. Much harder, in his leadership of Partnerships for Schools, is giving equal weight to the design quality of what gets built. No one will remember the target or the expenditure in a few years’ time, but we will get stuck for a generation with the quality, functionality and impact of each school.

So, the real question for Tim Byles, as with every incoming chief executive, is what success looks like. The answer is a well-designed school that delivers better teaching and better learning. Simply on time and to budget is not enough.

Matt Bell, director of campaigns and education, Cabe

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