However, before the mid-19th century, girls were often educated at home, or were not educated at all. On this point, there were great differences in different parts of the world. In England and Wales, universal primary education was set up by the Elementary Education Act of 1870, and attendance from the ages of 5 to 10 was compulsory. This was extended in another Act of 1880. Since then. almost all primary education in the United Kingdom has been co-educational, and so it is in many other countries.