Evison attended Lewisham Prendergast school until 1937, following this with a series of evening classes, in subject including archaeology, before studying BA English language and literature. Her studies were supported by working as a secretary for Kathleen Kenyon at the London University Institute of Archaeology. In 1947 she went to study archaeology in Stockholm under Nils Åberg. She also worked as a volunteer assistant at the British Museum, helping to unpack Anglo-Saxon objects (including grave goods from Sutton Hoo), once they were returned to the galleries after the Second World War.
