"One and one are two. Two and two are four..."

Schooling in the 1800s was by no means equal.

If you were well-to-do, and male, you would be taught at home, by a governess or a tutor until you reached schooling age and then you were sent to public school. Most learning for young boys was geared towards learning the classics of literature and languages such as Latin as well as basic math. From public school, you would then progress to university (Oxford or Cambridge) and learn law, mathematics, philosophy and modern history.

At the time, there was no real need to go to school or university at all for rich gentlemen as they could have just as easily be taught at home, however at university was where they founded their connections to friends and peers that would aid them later on.

A lady's education was based almost entirely at home. Whilst there were some opportunities to go to school, these were mostly boarding schools. Young women could not attend university and were taught (and chaperoned) more often than not, by a governess. She would be taught the arts of drawing, painting and music and would also learned French. She did also learn some pratical skills such as sewing, embroidery and book-keeping which would help her later in life as a married woman.

Of course, all of the above was easily come by for people of wealth, however if you were of the common and working classes of people, you might have been lucky enough to learn to read and basic numbers from others - but only if you were very lucky.