a friend and former neighbor of mine was a college physics professor. He is vehemently against education tracking and early bucketing of students into potential career tracks. His early scores would have led him to a life of manual labor, yet his true love and gift was mathematics, and he shared that with the world for a whole career.
The 11+ in the UK was extremely reliable -- and it was possible to get an education later if one really wanted to (and could find the time). The 11+ was basically an IQ test that didn't depend (much) on the curriculum.
