Young William attended a grammar school in Stratford, a prestigious institution where pupils were taught by Oxford and Cambridge magisters. The young Shakespeare learned Latin, history, ancient literature, rhetoric, basic grammar, and modern languages.

Raised a Catholic, he was very familiar with the Bible. As a city councilman’s son, he did not have to pay the tuition. He had to suspend his education because of his father’s financial troubles related to the illegal wool trade (harassed by creditors and lawsuits; he divested himself of his assets and then resigned from public office). There is no record that William continued his education afterward.