The Department for Education and Skills is responsible for education and lifelong learning in England. These include strategic responsibility for nursery education and childcare, primary and secondary education, further and higher education, and adult education and skills. It also has wider responsibilities for a range of policies, some of which it shares with other government departments, to ensure children and young people are safe, well and ready to learn.

The Department’s aim is to help build a competitive economy and inclusive society by:

			Creating opportunities for everyone to develop their learning.
			Releasing potential in people to make the most of themselves.
			Achieving excellence in standards of education and levels of skills.

The Department’s objectives are to:

			Give children an excellent start in education so that they have a better foundation for future learning.
			Enable all young people to develop and to equip themselves with the skills, knowledge and personal qualities needed for life and work.
			Encourage and enable adults to learn, improve their skill and enrich their lives.