- Finance Branch: looks after accounting, budgeting and financial management and provides auditing services and special grants to school boards, libraries and universities.
- Human Resources Division: responsible for negotiating collective agreements with the Nova Scotia Teachers Union and the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
- Marketing Educational Industries Branch: develops economic opportunities in Nova Scotia's education sector to stimulate the creation of knowledge-based jobs.
- Policy Branch: composed of six divisions: Testing and Evaluation, Planning and Research, Information Technology, Regional Education Services, Provincial Libraries, and Publishing and Document Management.
- Program Branch: responsible for English language curriculum and professional development, and services to Mi'kmaq and African Nova Scotian communities; it has five divisions: English Program Services, Student Services, African Canadian Services, Mi'kmaq Services, and Learning Resources and Technology.
- Training and Financial Assistance Branch: contains five divisions: Apprenticeship Division, Private Career Colleges, Adult Learning and Innovation, Student Assistance and Community College Liaison.1
