How much formal education did Robert Burns receive?

Robert Burns did not receive an extensive formal education, though he was far from illiterate. He received some formal schooling from a teacher, supplemented by sporadic instruction from other sources.1

Despite his limited formal training, Burns was a dedicated reader who educated himself by studying many important 18th-century English writers, as well as works by Shakespeare, Milton, and Dryden. Through these efforts, he acquired a superficial reading knowledge of French and a basic understanding of Latin.1

It is important to note that while Burns sometimes exaggerated his lack of education to appeal to contemporary sentimental views of the "noble peasant," he was a conscious and skilled craftsman who took a deep interest in the technical aspects of poetry and versification from an early age.2