Jane Austen attended Abbey School for reading for 18 months. Jane and Cassandra being able to attend school was pretty rare for the time as school was not mandetory for males, and not mandatory as well as quite rare for females. Jane was fourtunate to be born into a family where education was valued, as her father had also attended school, but also she was born into a family where education was seen as a means of life and earning a living. Unfourtunatly the harsh winter caused Mr. Austen's income to dry up, and the Austen girls had to drop out of school in December of 1786. Jane started to write shortly after Abbey School at the age of 12.