diff --git a/forms/CheckboxField.php b/forms/CheckboxField.php
index e88f7ca3c..b2a2895ac 100644
--- a/forms/CheckboxField.php
+++ b/forms/CheckboxField.php
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
  */
 class CheckboxField extends FormField {
 
+	protected $schemaDataType = FormField::SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_SINGLESELECT;
+
 	public function setValue($value) {
 		$this->value = ($value) ? 1 : 0;
 		return $this;
diff --git a/forms/CheckboxSetField.php b/forms/CheckboxSetField.php
index 6379c749d..898ffcd9c 100644
--- a/forms/CheckboxSetField.php
+++ b/forms/CheckboxSetField.php
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@
  */
 class CheckboxSetField extends MultiSelectField {
 
+	protected $schemaDataType = FormField::SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_MULTISELECT;
+
 	/**
 	 * @todo Explain different source data that can be used with this field,
 	 * e.g. SQLMap, ArrayList or an array.
diff --git a/forms/CompositeField.php b/forms/CompositeField.php
index f137b25e1..7aa7b3ac2 100644
--- a/forms/CompositeField.php
+++ b/forms/CompositeField.php
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ class CompositeField extends FormField {
 	 */
 	protected $legend;
 
+	protected $schemaDataType = FormField::SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_STRUCTURAL;
+
 	public function __construct($children = null) {
 		if($children instanceof FieldList) {
 			$this->children = $children;
@@ -394,4 +396,3 @@ class CompositeField extends FormField {
 	}
 
 }
-
diff --git a/forms/ConfirmedPasswordField.php b/forms/ConfirmedPasswordField.php
index ce426708d..e5e32fc47 100644
--- a/forms/ConfirmedPasswordField.php
+++ b/forms/ConfirmedPasswordField.php
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ class ConfirmedPasswordField extends FormField {
 	 */
 	public $children;
 
+	protected $schemaDataType = FormField::SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_STRUCTURAL;
+
 	/**
 	 * @param string $name
 	 * @param string $title
diff --git a/forms/CountryDropdownField.php b/forms/CountryDropdownField.php
index e68dd063d..b8ca28af3 100644
--- a/forms/CountryDropdownField.php
+++ b/forms/CountryDropdownField.php
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ class CountryDropdownField extends DropdownField {
 
 	protected $extraClasses = array('dropdown');
 
+	protected $schemaDataType = FormField::SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_SINGLESELECT;
+
 	/**
 	 * Get the locale of the Member, or if we're not logged in or don't have a locale, use the default one
 	 * @return string
diff --git a/forms/CurrencyField.php b/forms/CurrencyField.php
index 96a8842be..baef6c8bd 100644
--- a/forms/CurrencyField.php
+++ b/forms/CurrencyField.php
@@ -112,4 +112,3 @@ class CurrencyField_Disabled extends CurrencyField{
 			. " name=\"".$this->name."\" value=\"".$valforInput."\" />";
 	}
 }
-
diff --git a/forms/DateField.php b/forms/DateField.php
index 90065b7d7..ab6874581 100644
--- a/forms/DateField.php
+++ b/forms/DateField.php
@@ -60,6 +60,8 @@ require_once 'Zend/Date.php';
  */
 class DateField extends TextField {
 
+	protected $schemaDataType = FormField::SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_DATE;
+
 	/**
 	 * @config
 	 * @var array
@@ -677,4 +679,3 @@ class DateField_View_JQuery extends Object {
 		return preg_replace($patterns, $replacements, $format);
 	}
 }
-
diff --git a/forms/DatetimeField.php b/forms/DatetimeField.php
index e57847ef7..e34ac4f6a 100644
--- a/forms/DatetimeField.php
+++ b/forms/DatetimeField.php
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ class DatetimeField extends FormField {
 	 */
 	protected $timeField = null;
 
+	protected $schemaDataType = FormField::SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_DATETIME;
+
 	/**
 	 * @config
 	 * @var array
diff --git a/forms/FormField.php b/forms/FormField.php
index 9b0711338..982274537 100644
--- a/forms/FormField.php
+++ b/forms/FormField.php
@@ -29,6 +29,48 @@
  */
 class FormField extends RequestHandler {
 
+	/** @see $schemaDataType */
+	const SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_STRING = 'String';
+
+	/** @see $schemaDataType */
+	const SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_HIDDEN = 'Hidden';
+
+	/** @see $schemaDataType */
+	const SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_TEXT = 'Text';
+
+	/** @see $schemaDataType */
+	const SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_HTML = 'HTML';
+
+	/** @see $schemaDataType */
+	const SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_INTEGER = 'Integer';
+
+	/** @see $schemaDataType */
+	const SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_DECIMAL = 'Decimal';
+
+	/** @see $schemaDataType */
+	const SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_MULTISELECT = 'MultiSelect';
+
+	/** @see $schemaDataType */
+	const SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_SINGLESELECT = 'SingleSelect';
+
+	/** @see $schemaDataType */
+	const SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_DATE = 'Date';
+
+	/** @see $schemaDataType */
+	const SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_DATETIME = 'DateTime';
+
+	/** @see $schemaDataType */
+	const SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_TIME = 'Time';
+
+	/** @see $schemaDataType */
+	const SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_BOOLEAN = 'Boolean';
+
+	/** @see $schemaDataType */
+	const SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_CUSTOM = 'Custom';
+
+	/** @see $schemaDataType */
+	const SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_STRUCTURAL = 'Structural';
+
 	/**
 	 * @var Form
 	 */
@@ -170,7 +212,7 @@ class FormField extends RequestHandler {
 
 	/**
 	 * The data type backing the field. Represents the type of value the
-	 * form expects to receive via a postback.
+	 * form expects to receive via a postback. Should be set in subclasses.
 	 *
 	 * The values allowed in this list include:
 	 *
@@ -192,6 +234,8 @@ class FormField extends RequestHandler {
 	 *     or simply be a block of stand-alone content. As with 'Custom',
 	 *     the component property is mandatory if this is assigned.
 	 *
+	 * Each value has an equivalent constant, e.g. {@link self::SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_STRING}.
+	 *
 	 * @var string
 	 */
 	 protected $schemaDataType;
diff --git a/forms/HiddenField.php b/forms/HiddenField.php
index 052d97d5d..d03f76b18 100644
--- a/forms/HiddenField.php
+++ b/forms/HiddenField.php
@@ -7,6 +7,9 @@
  * @subpackage fields-dataless
  */
 class HiddenField extends FormField {
+
+	protected $schemaDataType = FormField::SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_HIDDEN;
+
 	/**
 	 * @param array $properties
 	 *
diff --git a/forms/MoneyField.php b/forms/MoneyField.php
index d8c4f15fa..5d5161a88 100644
--- a/forms/MoneyField.php
+++ b/forms/MoneyField.php
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ use SilverStripe\Model\FieldType\DBMoney;
  */
 class MoneyField extends FormField {
 
+	protected $schemaDataType = FormField::SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_TEXT;
+
 	/**
 	 * @var string $_locale
 	 */
diff --git a/forms/MultiSelectField.php b/forms/MultiSelectField.php
index be1354088..15ba9f16d 100644
--- a/forms/MultiSelectField.php
+++ b/forms/MultiSelectField.php
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ abstract class MultiSelectField extends SelectField {
 	 */
 	protected $defaultItems = array();
 
+	protected $schemaDataType = FormField::SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_MULTISELECT;
+
 	/**
 	 * Extracts the value of this field, normalised as an array.
 	 * Scalar values will return a single length array, even if empty
diff --git a/forms/NumericField.php b/forms/NumericField.php
index 6a40c2778..39616cb4c 100644
--- a/forms/NumericField.php
+++ b/forms/NumericField.php
@@ -9,6 +9,9 @@
  * @subpackage fields-formattedinput
  */
 class NumericField extends TextField {
+
+	protected $schemaDataType = FormField::SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_DECIMAL;
+
 	/**
 	 * Override locale for this field.
 	 *
diff --git a/forms/SingleSelectField.php b/forms/SingleSelectField.php
index 186e006bf..567688fda 100644
--- a/forms/SingleSelectField.php
+++ b/forms/SingleSelectField.php
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@ abstract class SingleSelectField extends SelectField {
 	 */
 	protected $emptyString = '';
 
+	protected $schemaDataType = FormField::SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_SINGLESELECT;
+
 	/**
 	 * @param boolean $bool
 	 * @return self Self reference
diff --git a/forms/Tab.php b/forms/Tab.php
index 3773528d2..14d53b5e1 100644
--- a/forms/Tab.php
+++ b/forms/Tab.php
@@ -82,4 +82,3 @@ class Tab extends CompositeField {
 		);
 	}
 }
-
diff --git a/forms/TextField.php b/forms/TextField.php
index f374500f8..e14ef47ef 100644
--- a/forms/TextField.php
+++ b/forms/TextField.php
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ class TextField extends FormField {
 	 */
 	protected $maxLength;
 
+	protected $schemaDataType = FormField::SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_TEXT;
+
 	/**
 	 * Returns an input field.
 	 *
diff --git a/forms/TimeField.php b/forms/TimeField.php
index 0dc023274..6dc7c754e 100644
--- a/forms/TimeField.php
+++ b/forms/TimeField.php
@@ -50,6 +50,8 @@ class TimeField extends TextField {
 	 */
 	protected $valueObj = null;
 
+	protected $schemaDataType = FormField::SCHEMA_DATA_TYPE_TIME;
+
 	public function __construct($name, $title = null, $value = ""){
 		if(!$this->locale) {
 			$this->locale = i18n::get_locale();