Thread should really be called 'the myth of choice in school selection'

There is some, but the figures on how many people get their first or second choice schools at secondary level show that it's by no means all.

At primary level things are a bit clearer and mostly either sibling or distance based. But because there are a lot of (relatively small) schools quite close together (in forest hill) and differently regardeed by parents you do get some strange overlaps. It also seems to vary a lot year by year.