Our Mission

To announce the joy of the Gospel by making Christ known today through securing, protecting and improving the provision of Catholic Education in the Archdiocese of Birmingham. 

Our Aims

To Secure

  • high quality Religious Education and Catholic Life in our schools through an advisory and support service
  • the quality and standard of Catholic Education through effective CSI inspection
  • the best training and development for the staff and ongoing formation of leaders in our schools

To Protect

  • the staff and governors/directors in our schools through effective school and governance advisory and support service
  • the sustainability of school buildings and Catholic Education through place planning and capital programmes
  • Catholic education in our schools through the selection, appointment, training and development of foundation governors and directors

To Improve

  • the quality of Catholic Education through strategic monitoring of educational standards and provision of appropriate organisational structures
  • educational standards through promotion of self-improving school system and brokering support from key partners and stakeholders
  • leadership in our schools through careful selection and appointment of the best Head teachers, Deputy Heads, Heads of Religious Education and lay chaplains

What We Offer

​Acting on behalf of the Archbishop, the DES has the responsibility of directing Catholic schools concerning the development of curriculum provision for Religious Education and strengthening Catholic life. This work is also extended to the recruitment, formation and ongoing training of school leaders and that of foundation governors, representatives and directors of multi academies. Under Section 48 of the Education Act and in accordance with the Code of Canon Law, the DES has the responsibility to inspect the provision of RE and Catholic life.   ​​
Services for Schools and Academies
As part of our mission and aims the Diocesan Education Service remains committed to providing the best possible service to all of our schools and academies in order that they are able to deliver the best possible Catholic education to all of our children and young people across the diocese. 

We hope to be able to develop and improve the range and quality of services that we deliver in order to meet the needs of our schools.

We are committed to working in partnership with all of our schools and academies and to this end we have compiled a guide which offers an outline summary of the services we aim to provide to schools and academies during the course of this forthcoming year. It is not meant to be an exhaustive list and is under constant review.