Supporting Materials

The governance of education services in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter. This means that the decisions about how education develops in Northern Ireland are made at the level of the Northern Ireland Assembly. The Minister of Education is responsible for policy and strategy, which is set by the Department of Education (DE). The Northern Ireland Assembly's Committee for Education scrutinise the work of DE. This includes the work of the Arms-Length Bodies of DE, such as the Education Authority (EA), the Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA) and the General Teachers' Council, Northern Ireland (GTCNI).

Schools and Arms-length Bodies are tasked with the operational work required to enact the policies and strategies developed by DE. The main policies, strategies and documents are:

The School Improvement Policy, 'Every School a Good School' (ESaGS)

The Sustainable Schools Policy, 'Schools for the Future'

The Teacher Professional Learning Strategy, 'Learning Leaders'

The Northern Ireland Curriculum