The State Examinations Commission (SEC) is a statutory civil-service body which was established as an agency of the Department of Education and Science in March 2003 under Section 54 of the Education Act 1998. The SEC is led by five non-executive Commissioners appointed by Government on the nomination of the Minister for Education and by our fulltime Chief Executive Officer, Andrea Feeney. The SEC’s statutory functions are set out in a statutory instrument, the State Examinations Commission (Establishment) Order S.I. No. 373 of 2003, and can be broadly summarised as the holding, assessment and certification of the second- level State Examinations and of certain trade and professional examinations.