David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said: "Although there is a pressing need for more secondary and 16 to 19 places, there are better ways to create these places than setting-up new, small and highly-selective institutions for a minority of the population. There is no evidence that these areas suffer from poor quality 16 to 18 education currently, so it is difficult to see what these proposals are the solution to.
"Colleges already support students from all parts of society and help them progress to great outcomes. Colleges desperately need the capital funding to be able to support more students as the 16 to 19 population continues to grow.
