The French Institute of Education is a component of the ENS de Lyon, but it has its own management bodies (director, governance council, strategic and scientific orientation council).

 It takes over from the National Institute of Pedagogical Research which it ensures all the missions and all the obligations, with the exception of the museographic mission.

The IFE is a national structure for research, training and knowledge mediation in education, based on ongoing interaction with educational communities, through the recruitment of seconded professors and associate professors.

At the international level, the French Institute of Education is included in all major research networks, from UNESCO to the OECD. Thanks to its documentary resources and a reception system as simple as effective, it is the gateway for foreign researchers working on the French education system.

The French Institute of Education will gradually cover the entire field of education, from kindergarten to university, from formal education to continuing education. He is interested in "educations à" (health, city, new technologies, etc.), which target audiences of all ages and all social and cultural capital.

At the same time, it opens up to other actors : local authorities, associations, companies.

It is also responsible for fostering public debate on the major contemporary issues of education, and for making scientific and technological resources available to the public.