The school population also reveals some interesting information. Little Thurlow has been lucky enough to retain its village school, although there have been several threats to its continuing existence in recent years as numbers have þuctuated. There are three pre-school age children in the village, who attend the new pre-school play group in the grounds of the village school. There are 10 first school age children, of whom half attend the village school and half attend schools outside the area. The 14 middle school age children attend schools in Haverhill, with only two attending a middle school in Bury St Edmunds.

The pattern changes again as the children reach senior school age when they attend a much wider range of schools: 3 at Castle Manor Upper School in Haverhill; 2 at Linton Village College; 1 at King Edward VI School in Bury St Edmunds; and 1 each at the Sixth Form Colleges at Long Road and Hills Road in Cambridge.

It appears that some parents chose first schools out of the area so that their children could access the village colleges in neighbouring Cambridgeshire.