NO and N2O formed in fluidised-bed combustion of coal derives from the nitrogen released with the volatiles and from that remaining in the residual char. In this investigation the objective was to study the relative importance of combustion routes during the initial step of volatile and char oxidation. Time-resolved data for the combustion of small batches of coal are reported. The experiments were carried out in a small-scale fluidised-bed quartz reactor. A bed of SiO2 sand was fluidised with He/O-2 mixtures. Batches of 100-200 mg of coal of two particle sizes (1-2 mm and 4 mm) were added to the bed, and the off-gas composition was monitored as a function of time, for a range of oxygen concentrations (4-20%) and temperatures (1023-1123 K). The off-gases were analysed for N2O, NO, NO2, CO, CO2, CH4, SO2 and NH3 by means of FTIR. A low-volume multi-path FTIR gas cell ensured a reasonable time resolution. In addition, the NOx concentration was monitored continuously by means of a conventional chemiluminescent NOx analyser. Carbon and nitrogen balances were calculated for each experiment. These results show that the volatile nitrogen and char nitrogen both contribute to emissions in FBC, with the char being of equal or greater importance. As a batch of coal particles is burned, the evolution and subsequent combustion of the volatiles results in a peak in the NO and N2O concentrations. As the residual char burns out, the NO and N2O concentrations are lower, though the longer time scale for char combustion, relative to the combustion of the volatiles, makes the contribution to the NO and N2O emissions from char combustion significant relative to that from the volatiles.