Quick Tudor School Facts

Both girls and boys were permitted to attend local grammar schools during the reign of Henry VIII, however no girls/women were to be allowed to attend university. Not that this was a common issue as most girls were raised to help with the chores and learn how to be a perfect wife.

However although schools were available many Tudor children didn’t attend and instead started work in a trade which would bring in a income to support their families.

But what were Tudor schools like?

For the select few families which could afford to send their sons and daughters to school, schools taught a range of skills. Boys would often begin school at the age of 4 much like modern English kids start nursery/ primary school. Before moving to a grammar school if their parents could still

afford to send them. St Anthony's and St Paul's in London were the most popular. But for those who couldn’t afford it, the local schools taught basic reading and writing.

Unlike today it was common for these kids to go to school from 7am - 5pm and from 6am to 5pm in the summer months whilst also attending for six out of the seven days in the week. Smaller schools or those rare ones with free attendance had shorter hours to also allow the students to work on the side. For example many worked on farms with wheat.

Punishment

However along with the long hours and gruelling work loads, the punishment for bad behaviour was just as bad. So bad you would wish you were rich just to avoid it!. It was common in the class room for the students from wealthy backgrounds to have a child called the “Whipping Boy” accompany them. These were people employed by the parents to receive any of the child’s punishment for them. The common punishment was 50 strokes of the cane!

This was the punishment for anything ranging from being late to class to acting out. The punishments were so bad students were scared to attend for the fear of being hit.

Subjects learnt at school

Petty schools or the local schools taught young children to read as their main goal whereas the grammar schools were tasked with teaching the children Latin grammar hence the name. They also taught subjects like geography, languages, maths and most importantly religion. Henry VIII wanted only the best to work for him. It wasn’t until Edward VI’s reign that free schools started to appear to allow education to be wider accessible to England.