education

• • only 15-20% of population could read and write
• grammar schools:

  • for boys aged 10 to 14
  • 42 found in 1560s and 30 more in 1570s
  • private shools for boys of gentry, merchants, yeoman farmers and craftsmen
  • boys taught Bible, Latin, Greek, philosophy
  • sons of yeomen and merchants taught practical subjects
  • necessary to learn family business
• petty schools:

  • up to age 10
  • run in teacher's home privately
  • attended by both boys and girls, by those who could afford it
  • learn reading, writing and basic arithmetic
  • had harsh punishment
• dame schools:

  • run by local educated woman
  • provided basic education for women
  • taught more about home life
  • taught how to bake, sew, treat injuries
• private tutors:

  • private education to nobility
  • finished education in houses of other nobility
  • boys taught sports for men
  • eldest sons taught how to become future noble and business men
  • girls taught how to make useful social contacts
• universities:

  • from ages 14/15 onwards
  • two universities - Oxford and Cambridge
  • taught geometry, law and divinity, medicine, rhetoric etc
  • possible qualification was doctorate
• • 30% of men and 10% of women were literate by end of Elizabeth's reign
  • therefore, improvement in education for boys, and not for girls