If you're looking for a solid primer on schools in the U.K., you could do worse than this article from the London Review of Books, which breaks down nicely that country's educational evolution. Britain is a famously class-oriented society, and until 1944, its educational system was class-based, too. Long story short: After a half-century of attempting to make its schools less divisive, in today's U.K., according to the article's author, "There is no longer any significant political support for a universal system of comprehensive education."
