Locating education documents can be a daunting prospect. There are lots of places to look and you may find that some online documents have been archived. You may also come across broken links, name changes and other unexpected obstacles. This page is designed to help you successfully navigate and retrieve the educational documents you need.
On the right you will find general guidance followed by links to key documents, both by theme and by subject. If there's a document you think is missing from these pages let us know by emailing library@bishopg.ac.uk.
Documents in the Library
Printed documents relating to the development of education, past and present, including reports, official papers, Acts of Parliament and curriculum documents are searchable via WorldCat. Current curriculum policies and official documents are located in the curriculum section of the Teaching Resources Collection (TRC). Previous versions of the National Curriculum are also available and listed in WorldCat.
Documents online
GOV.UK is the main hub for government information and includes links to all government departments. Searches can be filtered by organization; services & information; departments; and policy and publications.
The Digital Education Resource Archive (DERA) from the Institute of Education is a digital archive of documents published electronically by government and other relevant bodies in the areas of education, training, children and families.
The website Education in England: A Brief History of Our Schools has the full texts of more than 420 important documents, including reports, official papers and Acts of Parliament.
Older and archived documents
If you are unable to find a government document online it may have been archived, in which case you should check out The National Archives Web Archive. The archive is home to millions of historical documents, including records created or inherited by the Department for Education and its previous incarnations. Click here for an introduction to the contents of the National Archives or here for National Archives guidance to help you in your research.
Early Years (0-5)
Children and Youth (6-19)
It is very important that students go first to the GOV.UK website on Safeguarding Children to find the latest documents and document updates on Safeguarding and familiarise themselves with the contents.