Desmond Luke attended the Prince of Wales Secondary School in Freetown for two years, before going to England in 1949 to continue his education at King's College, Taunton, Somerset. From 1954 to 1958 he studied at Keble College, Oxford University, earning a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1957, but staying for a further year to study West African medieval history under the historian Thomas Hodgkin.
Desmond Luke attended Prince of Wales Secondary School in Freetown for two years, before going to England in 1949 to continue his education at King's College, Taunton, Somerset. From 1954 to 1958 he studied at Keble College, Oxford University, earning a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1957, but staying for a further year to study West African medieval history under the historian Thomas Hodgkin.