Children from the Middle/Upper classes stayed in school longer, typically from the age of 7 into their twenties. Their education also differed significantly from that of the poor and working class child. Boys went to private schools and then on to secondary schools and universities. They lived at home or attended boarding schools where they came home only on holidays. The girls on the other hand received their education from governesses or went to day- and boarding schools that were not as prominent as those of boys. By the end of the period, the girls began attending secondary schools but few attended the universities. Girls were always expected to marry so it wasn't as important for them to have the same educational opportunities as the boys.

As previously mentioned, middle- and upper-class girls started their education at home learning from their nannies, governesses and their mothers. Education received at home had an emphasis on literature and history, but little to no math or science. Parents actually were given a choice as to whether to send their daughters to school prior to the School of Acts making school mandatory. Many of the towns had private schools for girls run by widows and spinsters stressing language study and the piano. When a girl reached her teens she was sent to a "finishing" school where she learned the feminine graces.

Girls received less corporal punishment than boys, but there were times, when they suffered abuse from their governesses resulting in their being denied supper for weeks because of a missed date in a history lesson.⁷ Some parents even discouraged their daughters from complaining and they feared retaliation if they did in fact say something.

Later in the century girls were also sent to boarding schools where the education they received did include math and science. But in many cases the schools were more intent on teaching the girls on how to be a proper young "lady". The fees were reasonable and the girls in attendance ranged from ages 12 to 18.

Frances Buss and Dorothy Beale who were active in educational reform for women opened schools where the girls could receive an education that would allow them entrance into the universities. In the 1870s and 1880s girls were welcomed to such schools as Girton College in Cambridge, Smerville and Lady Margaret College in Oxford and the University of London. They were still treated as "second class" as compared to the boys with the education available to them, but this would change later in the period. There were still some schools however, Oxford and Cambridge, that did not grant girls a degree until the 20th century.⁸

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