1871 King William Street Church of England School opens and is described as "very impressive".

1878 Holy Rood, Swindon's first Roman Catholic school opens in Regent Street. It was for fee-paying pupils,

1880 education for five to 14-year-olds becomes compulsory.

1881 records show there are places for 2,415 pupils in district board schools and 794 in voluntary schools.

1881 to 1891 Overcrowding is being reported at some schools. Cloakrooms are being used as classrooms at Gilberts Hill Girls' and Infants. The central Swindon School Board opens two new schools and extends two others.

1891 to 1901 local government boundary changes result in transfer of Gorse Hill and Even Swindon schools to Swindon School Board.

1891 Swindon and North Wilts Technical Institute, later to become the College, opens in Victoria Road and replaces technical classes which had been provided for GW apprentices and workers at the Mechanics Institute. End of fees at elementary schools in the town.

1893 Swindon Schools Board introduces evening classes for the first time.

1894 Swindon schools are graded as "excellent".

1897 Euclid Street Higher Elementary School becomes training centre for pupil teachers.

1907/8 School dinners provided for the first time in some Swindon schools. Medical inspections for schoolchildren become compulsory by law.

1912 Swindon Schools Athletic Association is formed to promote sport.

1914 Full time schools medical officer appointed.

1916 The first class for children with learning difficulties opens at Westcott Infants School.

1918 school leaving age is raised to 14.

1927 Commonweal Grammar School opens, with 13 classrooms and 276 pupils.

1928 Boundary extensions force need for more new schools building.

1930 Pinehurst schools open for children living on the first Swindon council estate to be built after the 1914-18 war.

1943 The College and Euclid Street secondary school amalgamate to become Headlands Grammar School.

1944 School leaving age is raised again, this time to 15.

1952 Headlands students move into their own new building.

1961 Park Grammar School, Swindon's third, opens in Marlowe Avenue. It later became Oakfield Secondary School and closed in .2000.

1964 the 11-plus ends. Grammar schools and secondary modern schools re-organised as comprehensives.

1973 School leaving age goes up again, to 16.

1988 O levels replaced by GCSEs. A levels continue.