Changes were made, and in 2018 the founders relinquished control to the ARK multi-academy trust.

The school was co-founded as Greenwich Free School by Jonathan Simons, head of education at the think-tank Policy Exchange, and Tom Shinner, a policy adviser at the Department for Education.

[citation needed] It initially operated an extended school day from 7:50 am to 5:30 pm,[7] which included a homework hour and compulsory extra-curricular activities.

The system places pupils in one of the five bands based on their score in tests taken in primary school.

In the event of over-subscription for places, priority is given to pupils living nearest to the school.