 But Arnold Lawrence expressed outspoken anti-religious views; he once stated "All religion is vermin".He attended the City of Oxford High School for Boys before joining New College, Oxford, obtaining a diploma in Classical Archaeology in 1920 and graduating with a third in "Literae Humaniores" in 1921.Classical archaeology was his second choice; the young A. W. Lawrence had wanted to specialise in South-American archaeology, but no British university offered a course.