Let $G$ be a finite group. Is there necessarily a finite primitive permutation group $P$ and a normal subgroup $N>1$ of $P$ such that $P/N \cong G$?


If not, what restrictions are there on quotients of finite primitive permutation groups?



Is every finite group a proper quotient of a finite primitive group?
Yes. We can assume that $G$ is a transitive permutation group. Let $S$ be any primitive finite simple group, such as $A\_5$ in its natural representation. Now let $P$ be the wreath product of $S$ with $G$ using the product action, which has degree $d(P) = d(S)^{d(G)}$. This gives a primitive group, and the quotient of $P$ with the base group $S^{d(G)}$ of the wreath product is isomorphic to $G$. 


Note that the primitive wreath product action of $S \wr G$ can also be described as its action by multiplication on the cosets of its maximal subgroup $T \wr G$, where $T$ is a point stabilizer in $S$.


