Smith described Notre Dame Middle School as "a very free-thinking establishment" with an experimental approach, a freedom he claims to have abused. On one occasion, he said that he wore a black velvet dress to school and kept it on all day because "the teachers just thought 'oh, it's a phase he's going through, he's got some personality crisis, let's help him through it'". According to Smith, "four other kids" beat him up after school, although Jeff Apter notes that Smith has given several conflicting versions of the story. Apter also reports that Smith put in minimal effort at Notre Dame, sufficient enough to pass tests, and quotes Smith as saying, "If you were crafty enough, you could convince the teachers you were special: I did virtually nothing for three years." St Wilfrid's was reportedly stricter than Notre Dame. In the summer of 1975, Smith and his school bandmates took their O Levels, but only he and Michael Dempsey stayed on to attend sixth form at St Wilfrid's from 1976 to 1977.