Agreed in part, especially the bit about parental support, but I know of examples of former sink schools in less affluent areas of inner London who are now oversubscribed with white middle class applicants trying to break down the door to get in who would normally have run a mile. I am thinking of one in particular in the middle of a large council estate. This and others like it have been turned around by government investment and also a rather aggressive policy of not accepting that children are defined by their social class or background and therefore raising their expectations.

To the best of my knowledge the Haberdashers schools are very oversubscribed despite being in New Cross and other less affluent areas.

My point is that things can change and hopefully will in respect of many Lewisham secondary schools. Not fantastically relevant I suppose but I have been less than impressed with some of the Dulwich College and James Allens pupils I've encountered on the P4 and in Dulwich Park; nice accents and clearly well off but manners, no. But I suppose if you are made for life no one is going to judge whether your tie in on straight or your hair needs a wash but I doubt whether these standards would be considered acceptable in some of the schools which I am familiar with.