I think even though many SE22 residents would be seen to have a decent income if you have more than one child, trying to find the extra for private education is really difficult. My daughter will transfer to secondary in two years from one of the really good local state primary schools and I find most parents are crossing their fingers and hoping that if enough kids who go to a good primary and have good parental support go to the local state secondary schools, then these schools will get better. Agree with the banding thing being frustrating too - when my son applied to Haberdashers many years ago it was suggested to me that he would be better off being at the bottom of the top band, or the top of the middle band. I didn't ask him to dumb down and we managed to find another school that we liked.