The school system, especially at secondary level, is still a lottery. It really does depend where you live and what kind of state schools are available and how the admissions system works. Ideally, all comprehensives would provide a good standard of education to all children. For all sorts of reasons, some of them don't, but to say grammar schools and private schools are the answer is, quite frankly, nonsense. They might provide a quick fix for a handful of children, but not the majority. Some private schools are very good, but others are a scam and waste of money. In my opinion, parents who send their children to such schools, when there are perfectly good state alternatives, are well-meaning but misguided. I've tutored pupils from two of the most prestigious public schools in the country. Both were very unhappy and both achieved results at GCSE worse than my own children, who went to a comprehensive.