​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. It can be found at the "DES Services" link below.