yudkin was raised in the east end of london in an orthodox jewish family that had fled the russian pogroms of 1905. his father's death left six-year-old yudkin and his four brothers to be raised by their mother in considerable poverty. he won scholarships to hackney downs school (formerly the grocers' company's school), and another from there to chelsea polytechnic. after gaining his bsc degree in 1929 he briefly considered a career in teaching, but then discovered that he could sit an examination for a scholarship to the university of cambridge. he matriculated at christ's college, cambridge as a scholar, and graduated in biochemistry at the age of 20 in 1931.