I have been looking at the National School registers and log books 1870-1914 that have been recently released by Findmypast.   

Geographical coverage is still patchy and some registers give more details than others.  The registers from individual schools give you:

• Date of birth of pupil
• Date of admission
• Name of father/guardian
• Address of guardian
• Previous schools attended
• Date discharged

National school registers however give you the name of school and date of admision only.

Hit the right register and they can be very helpful especially as some pupils have comments next to their names.