Schools in Swadlincote include Granville Community School at Woodville, William Allitt School at Newhall, Pennine Way Junior School in Church Gresley, Belmont and Springfield Junior Schools and The Pingle School on Coronation Street; which with 1,500 pupils is Swadlincote's largest secondary school.
The closest university is the University of Derby, 18 miles to the north, with Staffordshire University's Lichfield campus an equal distance to the southwest.