What Schools Were Like In Victorian England In The 1870's

Until the 1870’s, schools in the Victorian era England did not require kids to attend them. The kids who did attend them were usually from rich families. However, in 1870 a law was passed that demanded all students from the age of 5-10 years old to attend school. Let’s take a look at what schools were like in Victoria era England.

Who attended School? When Queen Victoria of England came to the throne in 1837, schools were only for the rich. The majority of children during that time never went to school and struggled to even read and write. Children from rich families were taught at home until they were 10 years old. They would then go to public schools such as Rugby or Eton. Girls, however, would continue to be taught at home. Then, a law was passed requiring all children to go to school from the ages of 5-10.

They were imposing building with window high up so the children could not see out of them. Within most poor inner city areas there could be as many as 70 or 80 children in one class! It also was not common for some village schools to have a six-year old child working with a 10-year old. Due to the size of the classrooms, most teaching lacked much creativity and usually consisted of the children copying whatever the teacher wrote down on a chalkboard.

The Typical Victorian Teacher If you were to ask someone what a teacher was like during the 1870’s, they probably would have said two words: Strict and Scary. During the Victorian era, the majority of teachers were unmarried women who were to be called ‘miss’ at all times. Usually, teaching was something that they picked up while on their jobs and every lesson was a challenge for them as well as the teachers. Teaching was also something that was passed on to the brightest kids in the school, were they would be taught by the headmaster and would then pass this onto small groups of children.

Punishment on Victorian era