The education system of the Song Dynasty can be divided into three categories. One is the official schools run by the court, such as Guozixue, Four Schools, Taixue, Wushu (ancient military academy), Cantonese Academy, Medicine, Arithmetic, calligraphy, painting, etc., the second is the local government schools and county schools, and the third is the private academies. Taixue began in the fifth year of the founding of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and established doctors of the Five Classics. Guozixue began during the reign of Emperor Wu of the Western Jin Dynasty. Guozixue in the Song Dynasty only admitted the sons of officials above the seventh rank. The Four Schools began in the 20th year of Taihe in the Northern Wei Dynasty. By the 3rd year of Qingli, all sons of officials and common people below the eighth rank could enroll. It can be seen that the scale of education at that time was very large.

Since the Tang Dynasty, Confucius temples have been established in colleges across the country. In the Song Dynasty, the academy added additional sacrificial buildings such as the East Veranda, West Veranda, and Guangxian Temple. Veranda refers to corridors and verandahs. Generally, there is a Dacheng Hall with a statue of Confucius in it, a statue of Mencius in the east and west verandas, etc. The word "Dacheng" comes from "The Second Ten Thousand Chapters of Mencius": "Confucius calls Dacheng", which means that Confucius compiled the knowledge from three generations to the Duke of Zhou, and was a scholar who compiled Dacheng. The building was named after this to highlight the characteristics of the Confucius Temple. In addition, if the emperor's edict is obtained, the college will build a royal book pavilion. For example, the Yushu Pavilion of Pingjiang Prefecture, formerly known as the Liujing Pavilion, is a two-story double-eaves building near the pond. It was later destroyed and rebuilt into the three-story Yushu Pavilion.

Pizhi Pagoda is located in Lingyan Temple at the northwest foot of Mount Tai, Changqing County, Jinan, Shandong Province. It is 54 meters high and was built in the eighth year of Jiayou reign of Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty (1063)

In addition to the Yushu Pavilion, most colleges have lecture halls for teaching purposes; studios for student dormitories; and shooting gardens for sports training. The overall layout of the building complex can be divided into three categories. The front temple and the back school, that is, the Confucius Temple, lecture hall, and library form a central axis, with studios distributed on the left and right sides. A typical example is Jiankang Fuxue. The second category, the right-miao-left school, has Lin'an Imperial College as a typical example, while the third category, the left-miao-right school, is represented by Pingjiang Prefecture School.

The layout of the academy is much more flexible than that of the government school. It seems that the Mingdao Academy founded by Cheng Mingdao arranged the buildings in two groups with an I shape. The former group has a two-story Chunfeng Hall, a seven-bay lecture hall downstairs, a lecture hall in the middle, and a five-bay Yushu Pavilion on the second floor. , displaying ancient classics. The latter group has the main hall, which occupies three bays and is used as a venue for tea gatherings. Behind is the ancestral hall of Cheng Mingdao and the Yanju Hall where the portraits of Confucius and Mencius are placed. There are fifteen corridors on the east and west sides of the ancestral hall. However, the offices of the academy chief and the dean are on both sides of the main hall. Other ancillary buildings are located on both sides of the academy.

The Bailudong Academy, which was rebuilt in the Song Dynasty, is located under the Wulao Peak of Mount Lu. The entire academy covers an area of ??nearly 3,000 acres, with a construction area of ??3,800 square meters. The academy is composed of five juxtaposed courtyards, namely the Rites Hall. , Xianxian Academy (west of the Li Temple), Bailudong Academy, Ziyang Academy and Yan Guest House. Other buildings include Lingxing Gate, Panchi, Zhuangyuan Bridge, Zhuzi Temple, Lisheng Gate and Lidui Hall. The Ceremony Hall, also known as the Dacheng Hall, is the core of the architectural complex and the place where Confucius is worshipped.