After his secondary education at the Rutherford Grammar School in Newcastle, from 1931 to 1938, Harry Wake attended King's College, Durham University, intially from 1938 to 1940, and later from 1946 to 1948.

In 1947 he gained a BA Hons in History, which he converted to an MA, and left Durham in 1948 with his Diploma in Education. He then went on to Carnegie College of Physical Education in Leeds, where he was awared his Diploma in Physical Education in July, 1949.

His first appointment (September, 1949) was at the Pendower Secondary Commercial School in Newcastle, and he moved to the South Shields High School in September, 1951. In 1970, he was made Head of Intermediate Department, replacing Jimmy Emerson, who had been promoted to Deputy Head.