Born in Southwark,[5] Starmer was the second of four children of Josephine (née Baker), a nurse, and Rod Starmer, a toolmaker.[6] He was named after the founder of the Labour Party Keir Hardie.[7] He passed the 11-plus examination and gained entry to Reigate Grammar School,[7] then a voluntary aided school. He studied law at the University of Leeds and graduated with a first class Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in 1985. He then undertook postgraduate studies at St Edmund Hall, Oxford, and graduated from the University of Oxford with a Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) degree in 1986.[8]