[8] Students come from a wide variety of socio-economic backgrounds but predominantly from the urban areas within Gateshead and Central and West Newcastle upon Tyne.

The school was at the centre of protests from scientists and educationalists when it was revealed that some members of the management team, including both the principal and the head of science,[10] were sympathetic to Young Earth creationism and had allowed its hall to be rented by Answers in Genesis, an organisation which promotes such views.

[9][10][11] In 2002, the Liberal Democrat MP Jenny Tonge asked Prime Minister Tony Blair if he was "happy to allow the teaching of creationism alongside Darwin's theory of evolution in state schools".

Blair replied that he supported a "diverse school system", and praised the teachers at Emmanuel College for their commitments to "deliver[ing] better results for our children".

During the interview, O'Duffy described the school as a place of 'eerie silence'[17] and an institution of immense regulation: "With its quiet atmosphere, you might easily think you had entered the set of a James Bond movie where all the workers at the plant are focused on a task and have no time for frivolity."