At the Baghdad Central Secondary School, he excelled in mathematics and showed sufficient promise to be selected as one of 50 students to be awarded a scholarship to study in England.[4] He travelled to England in 1935 and spent his first year learning English and preparing for the matriculation exams.[5] He enrolled at Liverpool University, School of Architecture, graduating with a bachelor's degree in architecture (1941) and a diploma of civic design, (1942).[6] He later enrolled at King's College, Cambridge, where he completed a PhD (1946). His dissertation was entitled The Influence of Climate on Architecture in the Mediterranean Region.[7]