 Strong then went to Magdalen College, Oxford; however, a long illness prevented any possibility of a first in "Greats".Strong graduated in "Literae Humaniores" (1900) and spent several months at the University of Marburg, Germany, before returning to read law with F. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead, then a rising barrister, afterwards to become Lord Chancellor of England.Strong became a member of the Middle Temple, but ill-health caused him in 1901 to return to Australia seeking a warmer climate.