Women’s Education in the 19th Century
History: KS3, topic 15.1.3
Women’s Education in the 19th Century
Education for working-class women focused on domestic skills and basic literacy and numeracy.
Formal education for women
- The 19th century marked the start of women having access to formal education.
- Schools such as Cheltenham Ladies College (est. 1853) were created to provide boarding school education for wealthy families.
- By 1864, there were 12 secondary schools for girls.
University for women
- Women were not expected to go to university.
- Oxford and Cambridge did not found their first women's colleges until between the 1860s and 1870s.
Test yourself on Women’s Education in the 19th Century
How many secondary schools for girls had been built by 1864?
Which two universities did not find their first women's colleges until between the 1860s and 1870s?