When I was seven I went to a public school (which in the UK is sort of like a posh private school, from a US perspective). To get in, at seven, we had to take an entrance exam on maths, science, and English. So to pass this I went to a feeder school from literally the age of two and a half to prepare for the exam. My entire class came from others who went to feeder schools. This in turn prepped us for the public school exam to get into senior school (which had a 100% success rate). And that in turn prepped a lot of people for the Oxbridge exams and so on.

So yes, money is the trick, but it’s not worth it. I burned out at school hard because I’d been going at it for so long.

Obviously money talks, but a school like Eton would be more willing to take a somewhat wealthy aristocrat than a common as muck lottery winner.

If you come into a hundred million overnight, that doesn’t make up for your previously deprived life and the associated markers (lower register, lack of childhood polo lessons, no time/money/inclination to go play white saviour in the third world)