Primary education is the first stage of formal education, coming after preschool/kindergarten and before secondary education. Primary education takes place in primary schools, elementary schools, or first schools and middle schools, depending on the location. Hence, in the United Kingdom and some other countries, the term primary is used instead of elementary.

There is no commonly agreed on duration of primary education, but often three to six years of elementary school, and in some countries (like the US) the first seven to nine years are considered primary education.

The International Standard Classification of Education considers primary education as a single phase where programs are typically designed to provide fundamental reading, writing, and mathematics skills and establish a solid foundation for learning. This is ISCED Level 1: Primary education or the first stage of basic education.

The ISCED definition in 1997 posited that primary education normally started between the ages of 5 – 8 and was designed to give a sound basic education in reading, writing, and mathematics along with an elementary understanding of other subjects. By 2011 the philosophy had changed, the elementary understanding of other subjects had been dropped in favour of "to establish a solid foundation for learning".

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), believes that providing children with primary education has many positive effects. It:

The ages cited cover a rapidly developing phase of child development. This is studied in the discipline of developmental psychology, which attempts to describe how children learn.

In the United Kingdom, reception, the first year of primary school, is part of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

The philosophy of education—teaching and learning—has, over the millennia, occupied many great minds. It attempts to say what children should be taught.