Section 13. Guidelines will not apply to the providers of education to children under compulsory school age i.e. pre-school providers. Compulsory school age is defined in the Education and Libraries (Northern Ireland) Order 1986. If any regulations are made under section 14 these will, however, apply.
Section 14. The Department of Education can make regulations which allow school uniform guidelines to apply to pre-school education i.e. the providers of education to children below compulsory school age. Pre-school education is defined in Article 17(8) of the Education (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 as education provided for a child who has attained the age of 2 but is below compulsory school age. This applies whether the provider of pre-school education is connected to a primary school or not. Regulations can amend Chapter 1 and override section 13 e.g. so that guidelines or some aspect of them can apply to the providers of education to children below compulsory school age. Regulations are subject to draft affirmative procedure in the Assembly.
Commentary on Sections Part 1 School Uniform Policies Chapter 2 Nursery ages within guidelines