# The Further Education (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2026

S.R. 2026/3 · made 8 January 2026 · revised to 27 February 2026

This is the first time that the enabling power under 19(7) has been used to amend the Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 to change the financial year of the Further Education Colleges.

Made under: The Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 (Article 19, Article 24)

PDFs: Printed copy https://openlegislation.uk/further-education-amendment-order-northern-ireland-2026/pdf/nisr_20260003_en.pdf; NI Explanatory Memorandum https://openlegislation.uk/further-education-amendment-order-northern-ireland-2026/pdf/nisrem_20260003_en_001.pdf

## Introductory text

Education
Made 8th January 2026
Coming into operation 27th February 2026
The Department for the Economy makes the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by Articles 19(7) and 24(6) of the Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 and now vested in it.

## 1 Citation and commencement

This Order may be cited as the Further Education (Amendment) Order (Northern Ireland) 2026 and comes into operation on 27th February 2026.

## 2 Interpretation

In this Order, the references to the 1997 Order are to the Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997.

## 3 Financial year for institutions of further education

In Article 19(6) of the 1997 Order for “31st July” substitute “31st March”.

## 4 Transitional provisions

(1) The period starting with 1st August 2025 for a statement of accounts required under Article 19 of the 1997 Order ends on 31st March 2026 (and any annual amounts in the statement of accounts are to be pro rated accordingly).
(2) A development plan submitted under Article 20(1) of the 1997 Order before the coming into operation of Article 3 of this Order, in respect of a period ending in a year after 2025, need not be revised in consequence of the amendment in Article 3.

## Signature

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department for the Economy on 8th January 2026.
L.S.
Kathryn McCamley
A senior officer of the Department for the Economy

## Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Order)
This is the first time that the enabling power under 19(7) has been used to amend the Further Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 to change the financial year of the Further Education Colleges.
Article 3 amends Article 19(6) to change the ending of the financial year from the period of 12 months ending on 31st July to the period of 12 months ending on 31st March, the same as the financial year of the Department for the Economy.
Article 4 provides the transitional provisions for the requirements relating to the statement of accounts and the development plan.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisr/2026/3 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/further-education-amendment-order-northern-ireland-2026
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.