 John Goldman attended the Westminster School and performed in the school choir, but was barred from singing in Westminster Abbey, likely due to his Jewish background.Goldman attended Magdalen College, Oxford, where he studied psychology and physiology despite originally applying to study classics.At one point during his Oxford years, Goldman and some friends drove across Eurasia to reach India; the Iranian authorities briefly arrested them during the journey, forcing Goldman's group to drug their guards with barbiturates to escape.