The history of education in England can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxons settlement of England. During the Middle Ages, schools were established to teach Latin grammar,
In the 19th century the Church of England was responsible for most educations until the establishment of free, compulsory education towards the end of that century. University College London was established, The 1944 Education Act established the Tripartite System of grammar schools, secondary modern schools and Secondary Technical Schools

Many independent schools were charitable foundations. A group of these charity schools, much later, invoked the name, public schools to indicate they were open to all the public regardless of their religion.
Robert Raikes initiated the Sunday School Movement. The movement started with a school for boys in the slums. Raikes had been involved with those incarcerated at the county Poor Law (part of the jail at that time) and saw that vice would be better prevented than cured. The best available teachers, were lay people. For poorer families, ensuring their children attended school proved difficult, as it was more tempting to send them working if the opportunity to earn an extra income was available.

The first millennium and the few centuries preceding it saw the flourishing of higher education at Nalanda, Takshashila University, Ujjain, & Vikramshila Universities. Amongst the subjects taught were Art, Architecture, Painting, Logic, mathematics, Grammar, Philosophy, Astronomy, Literature, Buddhism, Hinduism, Arthashastra(Economics & Politics), Law, and Medicine Reference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_education