Her secondary education was at Colchester County High School for Girls.
[1] Elam was appointed as a lecturer in the history of art at the University of Glasgow from 1970 to 1972.
She taught the history of art at Westfield College, University of London from 1976 to 1987 before serving as editor of the Burlington Magazine from 1987 until 2002.
[citation needed] In 2005 she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Oxford Brookes University.
[1] Until his retirement, her older brother Nicholas served as a diplomat and cultural advisor, with postings in South Africa, Brussels, Bahrain, Luxemburg, Montreal, Zimbabwe and the Council of Europe.