Useful Links

The Department of Education for Northern Ireland (DE) main statutory duty is to promote education and to ensure the effective implementation of the current education policy.

The Education Authority (EA) is responsible for ensuring that efficient and effective primary and secondary education services are available to meet the needs of children and young people, and support for the provision of efficient and effective youth services.

The Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) is the advocate for the Catholic Maintained Schools sector in Northern Ireland.  It supports the management of Catholic Maintained schools through boards of governors.

The Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE) was formed as a charitable organisation to co- ordinate efforts to develop Integrated Education and support parent groups through the process of opening new schools.  It also co-ordinates the efforts of the Council, Trusts and schools through its Board of Directors.

Comhairle na Gaelscolaíochta (CnaG) is the representative body for Irish-medium Education.  It was set up in 2000 by the Department of Education to promote, facilitate and encourage Irish-medium Education.

The Governing Bodies Association NI (GBA) is the representative organisation of the voluntary sector in Northern Ireland.  It provides policy information, advice and support for member schools as well as representing their views with politicians, policy makers, media and other educational stakeholders.

The Northern Ireland Council for Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment (CCEA)is a unique educational body in that it brings together the three areas of:  

Curriculum – advising government on what should be taught in Northern Ireland’s schools and colleges;

Assessment - ensuring that the qualifications and examinations offered by awarding   bodies in Northern Ireland are of an appropriate quality and standard;

Examinations - As Northern Ireland’s leading awarding body we offer a diverse range of qualifications, such as GCSEs, GCE A and AS levels, Entry Level Qualifications and Online Language Assessment (OLA).

The Northern Ireland Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI) promotes the dissemination of good and innovative practice identified across the education, training and youth sectors through inspection and evaluative work.

The General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI) is the statutory, independent body for the teaching profession and is dedicated to enhancing the status of teaching and promoting the highest standards of professional conduct and practice.

The Controlled School’s Support Council (CSSC) is the advocate for controlled schools.  It supports and represents the interests of controlled schools in Governance, school achievement and planning.