Raju Narayana Swamy attained his school education at Sacred Heart High School, Changanacherry and at St. Berchmans College, Changanacherry. He obtained his computer science graduation from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras. He stood first rank in the state of Kerala in Class 10 examination SSLC (1983), pre-degree examination (MGU-1985) and Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) (1990 – in terms of percentile) conducted for admission to postgraduate engineering courses in India. He attained 10th rank in IIT Joint Entrance Examination for admissions into the Indian Institutes of Technology. In 1991, he obtained the first rank in Civil Services Examination and entered the Indian Administrative Service.