Mr Addison's secondary education was at the AJ Dawson Secondary School, which he left in 1937 to attend Bede College, Durham.

He left Durham in 1940 with a BSc (Hons) in Physics, with Mathematics and Chemistry as subsidiary subjects. However, it wasn't until 1946 that he returned to Durham for a year's teaching course, after which he gained his Diploma in Education.

His first teaching job was at the South Shields High School for Boys, but this lasted only until April, 1950, when he left to join the Ministry of Supply.