Angela and Anthony Smith live in a four-bedroom house in southwest England. Mr Smith is an academic and his wife works in housing for a local authority.

Mr Smith regularly encountered groups of students who had attended independent schools and achieved high academic attainments but were “clueless and hadn’t woken up to the world”.

The couple have two daughters, Sadie and Maddie. Many friends of the family moved when their children reached the end of primary school to be in the catchment area for a nearby high-performing former grammar school. Others “rediscovered” their Catholic faith.

Mrs Smith said: “There was only one house that we could afford, that we liked, but that got sold a week before our chain came in place, and we just thought, ‘blow it’. And we did, even then, think, ‘shall we just go over and rent somewhere on that side?’.

“We had lots of discussions. Really, we made the decision but it felt like it was Sadie’s decision too.

"She kind of agreed with us, but we were very much guiding her and she has found it very hard.”

After Sadie started at a socially and ethnically mixed comprehensive with below-average results, she suffered some initial bullying for being “posh”, but teachers stamped it out.

After a year at the school, Sadie is doing well. She said: “I’ve settled in and I probably have changed too. Me and all my new friends made a pact not to change schools unless we were forced to.”

But she added: “I have two completely different groups of friends and some hate each other.”

All names have been changed.

Explore Education

• Young Times

• Schools

• A Level & GCSE Results

• Good University Guide

• Sunday Times University Guide

• Student

Times recommends

• Authors unite against toddler literacy drive
• State schools join boycott of A-Level
• Vocational courses double in popularity