He was, therefore, obliged to conform to her wishes until he was able to achieve financial independence.
Fleming began his education in 1916 at Durnford School on the Isle of Purbeck. Athletic prowess received greater emphasis at Durnford than did academic studies, reinforcing Fleming's lack of interest in scholarly pursuits. Fleming's lackluster academic career continued after he went on to Eton in 1921; there, despite a stellar performance in individual sporting events, he had difficulty in yielding to authority and refused to follow the rules set by his housemaster. In 1926, disappointed with his poor academic performance, his mother removed him from Eton so that he could prepare at a special tutorial college for the entrance examination at the Royal Military College (now the Royal Military Academy) at Sandhurst.
Fleming was never able to accommodate himself to the requirements of military discipline, and his penchant for leaving the grounds without permission to meet women in town did not bode well for the kind of military career his mother had envisioned. He contracted gonorrhea before completing his training course and left school to recuperate.
