One of the important institutes in Mattanur is the Pazhassi Raja NSS College. The college was established in 1964 and was founded by social reformer and educationalist Padma Bhushan-winning Mannathu Padmanabhan. The college now comes under Kannur University (earlier under the University of Calicut) and offers courses at graduate and postgraduate levels. The alumni of the college include Sri, a film actor; and Patyam Srinivasan, a prized Malayalam film industry person. Jagadeesh was a lecturer in this college, before coming to the film world.
Mattanur has a government, private schools, and colleges. The Mattanur Government Polytechnic College is one of the technical institutions. The Mattanur Universal College is one of the Parallel Colleges in Kannur District.
Mattanur has more than three CBSE-approved English medium schools. One of them is the Sree Sankara Vidyapeetam, which was established by the Sree Mahadeva Temple Trust. Kallur New UP school is situated near Mattanur. The Mattanur Government UP School is situated in Mattanur. Swathi Kalakshethram is one of the art academies situated in Mattanur and is coordinated by Babu Mattannur. Another academy is Nadabhramam, under K E Sankaran Namboodiri.