Department for Education and Skills


Department for Education and Skills (DfES)

the UK government department responsible for administering the government's general educational programmes, including schools, colleges and universities and vocational training schemes aimed at improving work-related skills.

The emphasis in education is one of providing young people with a basic general education through schools, followed by further education opportunities at colleges and universities with a commitment thereafter to ‘lifetime learning’ so as to equip people with the necessary basic and vocational skills to adapt to the changing needs of the workplace. This is augmented by more specialised vocational schemes to match up peoples' educational capabilities with the practical requirements of specific work tasks through ‘on-the-job-training’ (See TRAINING) and the provision of courses designed to teach people new skills (e.g. computer programming courses).

Department for Education and Skills (DfES)

the UK government department responsible for administering the government's general educational programmes, including schools, colleges and universities, and vocational training schemes. The Department for Education and Skills replaced part of the former Department for Education and Employment in 2001. The emphasis in education is one of providing young people with a basic general education through schools, followed by further education opportunities at colleges and universities, with a commitment thereafter to ‘lifetime learning’ so as to equip people with the necessary basic and vocational skills to be able to adapt to the changing needs of the workplace. This is augmented by more specialized vocational schemes to match up people's educational capabilities with the practical requirements of specific work tasks through ‘on-the-job-training’ (see TRAINING) and the provision of courses designed to teach people new skills (e.g. computer programming courses). See LEARNING AND SKILLS COUNCIL.