Elizabethan Education: The Home, Petty Schools and Grammar Schools
Education in Elizabethan England depended heavily on wealth, sex and location, so it looked very different depending on a child's family. Most poor children received no formal schooling at all and instead began working, often on the land or in a trade, from a young age. Wealthier children commonly began at home, learning basic manners and religion, before boys aged around five to seven might attend a petty school to learn to read; girls of wealthy families were more often taught at home by tutors or their mothers, in subjects such as reading, religious instruction, music and needlework, since formal schools were built almost entirely for boys. From about age seven or eight, boys of gentry or merchant families could progress to a grammar school, where the curriculum concentrated heavily on Latin and Greek grammar and classical texts, discipline was strict and often physically enforced, and the school day was long; the very small number who continued further might attend university, at Oxford or Cambridge, or study law at the Inns of Court in London, preparing for careers in the Church, law or royal service.
Before you start
Make sure you're comfortable with these topics first:
Method
- Learn how education differed by wealth: most poor children had no formal schooling and worked from a young age, while wealthier families could pay for tutors, petty schools and grammar schools.
- Learn how education differed by sex: boys of wealthier families had access to petty schools, grammar schools and university or the Inns of Court, while girls of the same families were usually educated at home by tutors or their mothers in subjects such as reading, religion, music and needlework.
- Learn the stages a wealthy boy might pass through in order: home instruction, petty school (from around age five to seven, learning to read), grammar school (from around age seven or eight, focused on Latin and Greek), and, for a small number, university or the Inns of Court.
- Learn what grammar school teaching and discipline were like: the curriculum concentrated on Latin and Greek grammar and classical texts, the school day was long, and physical punishment was common and accepted as a normal part of discipline.
- For 'describe two features of' questions, choose two specific features (e.g. the petty school curriculum, and grammar school discipline) rather than a general description of 'Elizabethan schools'.
- For 'explain why' and 16-mark judgement questions on education, keep the reasons different groups were educated differently distinct: economic reasons (families needing children's labour or unable to afford schooling), and social/gender expectations (about the future roles of boys versus girls), each supported by a specific fact.
Worked example
Explain why education for boys and girls in wealthy Elizabethan families was so different. You may use the following in your answer: home education, and grammar schools. You must also use information of your own.
- Plan the two given factors plus one of your own: home education, grammar schools, and a third point such as expectations about future roles for men and women.
- Develop the home education point: girls from wealthy families were usually taught at home by tutors or their mothers, in subjects such as reading, religious instruction, music and needlework, since formal schools were built almost entirely for boys.
- Develop the grammar school point: boys from around age seven or eight could attend a grammar school, where the curriculum concentrated on Latin and Greek grammar and classical texts, under strict, often physically enforced discipline, preparing them for careers in the Church, law or royal service.
- Add the own-knowledge point: contemporary expectations assumed men would take on public roles, such as clergy, lawyers or officials, while women were expected to manage a household, so formal, classical schooling was seen as necessary preparation for boys but not for girls.
- Conclude by linking the points: because Elizabethan society expected very different adult roles for men and women, wealthy families invested in formal, classical schooling for their sons while educating their daughters privately in a narrower, domestically focused curriculum.
Practice questions
Type your answer and press Check to be marked straight away, or reveal the answer and mark yourself.
Q1What kind of education did most poor children in Elizabethan England receive?Show answer
Answer: Little or no formal schooling; they usually began working from a young age instead.
Q2At roughly what age might a wealthy boy attend a petty school, and what did it teach?Show answer
Answer: Around age five to seven; petty schools taught young children to read.
Q3From roughly what age might a boy move on to grammar school?Show answer
Answer: Around age seven or eight.
Q4What subjects dominated the grammar school curriculum?Show answer
Answer: Latin and Greek grammar and classical texts.
Q5How were most wealthy Elizabethan girls typically educated?Show answer
Answer: At home, by tutors or their mothers, in subjects such as reading, religious instruction, music and needlework.
Q6Name two destinations a small number of grammar school leavers might go on to.Show answer
Answer: University (Oxford or Cambridge) and the Inns of Court, to study law.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE History exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Describe two features of an Elizabethan grammar school.
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 4 available
Explain why education for boys and girls in wealthy Elizabethan families was so different. You may use the following in your answer: home education, and grammar schools. You must also use information of your own.
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 12 available
'Elizabethan education mainly benefited wealthy boys.' How far do you agree with this statement? Explain your answer. You may use the following in your answer: grammar schools, and the education of the poor. You must also use information of your own.
Show mark scheme
Tick each line you got. Your score builds from the marks on the scheme.
Nothing ticked yet - 16 available
See real GCSE History past-paper questions, with official mark schemes →
Free printable worksheet
Want more practice on paper? Download the elizabethan education: the home, petty schools and grammar schools worksheet pack - 7 pages of exam-style questions with a full mark scheme. One email opens every download in this browser for 14 days - no account, no card. Print it for personal and classroom use.
Next topics
Not quite what you needed?
Tell us what is missing on elizabethan education: the home, petty schools and grammar schools, or which topic to write up next. Every request is read, and we reply to every one.
Build a full practice pack.
This topic is one of hundreds in the library - pick the ones a student needs and generate a printable PDF in minutes.