These schools are dominated by youngsters from wealthy homes, according to Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at Buckingham University. His comments come in a collection of essays published by the Civitas think-tank, which also sees Conservative MP Graham Brady call for new free schools and academies to be allowed to select pupils based on academic ability.
There are around 164 grammars - which are state selective schools - in England.
Some of these are individual schools located across the country while others are in selective areas such as Kent and Buckinghamshire where pupils are offered school places based on ability.
No new grammars have been set up for decades, and Labour introduced new laws in 1997 banning them from being set up.
In his essay for Civitas, Professor Smithers says: “The surviving grammar schools have brilliant academic results, but they are a caricature of what once was. Without defined catchment areas, the few remaining have become Meccas for ambitious parents who jump for joy when a place saves them the tens of thousands of pounds that an independent school would cost."
