[zefman]

Strangely grammar schools still exist in Kent.

You have to sit an exam called the 11+ to enter which is much more like an IQ test than a standard subject based exam.

The most comman argument against them is that privelleged families can afford to tutor their kids specifically to pass this exam.

I was lucky enough to pass the exam, and while there definitely were instances of well off kids who had massive amounts of tutoring, the vast majority were from all kinds of different backgrounds, and levels of education.

For me it was an overwhelmingly positive experience, but I completely understand both sides of the argument.