I would argue that the three schools you earlier specified "Harrow, St Pauls and Eton" are all elitist only in the sense you need to have a lot of money to attend them. Harrow is not massively academic however, and even Eton is always below St Pauls in the school league tables, so only really St Pauls is a challenge to get into for the bright. None are particuarly exclusive anymore in terms of social class; you only need to pass an entrance exam to get in. They are exclusive only as far as you need to be able to pay the fees, which admittedly excludes the vast majority of people,