 He was educated at Westminster School before attending the Royal Military College, Sandhurst.Hoskins commissioned into the North Staffordshire Regiment on 23 May 1891, was promoted to lieutenant on 9 January 1895, and in 1896 was posted to the Egyptian Army.He first saw active service in the Dongola Expedition that same year, and also fought in the Mahdist War between 1897 and 1899, during which he was Mentioned in Dispatches.