Raymond Chapman was born and lived in east London, and was educated at the Leyton County High School for Boys from 1920. He left in 1928 to attend East London College, part of London University, where he studied Mathematics (with Physics and Geography as subsidiary subjects).

He completed a 1st class honours BSc in 1931, and went on to gain his Teaching Diploma in 1932. In February 1933, he joined the staff of West Ham Grammar School. However, he was not there very long, and he left on 12th April, 1933. Four months later, on 1st August, 1933, he was at Down High School in Northern Ireland, where he stayed for five years.

In September, 1938, he joined the staff of the South Shields High School for Boys, where he stayed for only two years, leaving in August 1940 to teach at the prestigious Royal Latin School, Buckingham.