How much do I factor in Primary School friends when looking for a Secondary School?

[BernadetteRostankowskiWolowitz]

Looking for advice from parents who've gone or are going through the secondary school selection process.

Did having the bulk of their classmates going to a school make that school more appealing?

Did your dc insist/request to go to the school most of their classmates were going to?

Would you say its an advantage or a disadvantage to go to a secondary school with the bulk of your primary school friends?

Dc1s classmates are (mainly) going to a school which would be our third choice (of three). Happy for them to go there if they don't get into 1 or 2.

But now I'm wondering if the fact that most of the friendship group is going to that school, should I move it up the list of preferences?

Dc1 is currently saying they don't care either way which is lucky - but when the time comes they may feel differently.

We kind of had the opposite problem in that DS wanted to go to a school where he didn’t know anyone so could make a fresh start, but we struggled to look past our nearest school which was just as good or better than ones further away - seemed silly to not have a 5 minute walk to school. He ended up going there with about a third of his primary class, but they did get split up into new form groups. He did end up in a form with one kid from primary that he would have preferred to avoid but I haven’t heard him mention him for ages (now year 8). He’s made loads of new friends and is doing well.
I do think strictness is a big factor. We chose a more relaxed school rather than a super strict one with detentions for everything. DS is a good kid and gets very upset when he gets told off so we thought he would struggle somewhere strict. However the downside is that it sounds like classroom disruptive behaviour can be quite a problem and maybe he would prefer an environment where that is less tolerated. I gather it’s only certain teachers this is an issue with so he’s just having to catch up with those subjects a bit more at home as it sounds like they don’t get much teaching.