In 2004, the Foundation's former chairman, Sir Peter Vardy, discussed an aim to sponsor seven schools in the North of England that would educate a total of 10,000 students.
[4] In 1988, Sir Peter Vardy responded to the then Government’s appeal to local businessmen to become involved in the education of young people in the most socio-economically deprived parts of their home regions through sponsorship of the City Technology College initiative.
The foundation celebrated its twentieth anniversary with a conference at The Sage Gateshead for the staff, including celebratory videos, musical entertainment from each of the schools, and keynote talks by author Gervaise Phinn and futurist Patrick Dixon, among others.
In April 2019, ESF formally adopted Joseph Swan Academy in Gateshead, after its being rated inadequate in a 2018 Ofsted inspection, with Emmanuel College vice-principal Mark Hall taking over leadership of the school.
[9][10] In 2002, a group of leading scientists including Richard Dawkins alleged that creationism was taught in biology classes at Emmanuel College.
[19] After reviewing the material used to teach science at Emmanuel College, Mike Tomlinson, chief inspector of Ofsted, decided that the matter did not need to be pursued further.
[22] In 2006, Rod Liddle interviewed ex-pupils for a Channel 4 Dispatches programme titled "The New Fundamentalists", alleging that their teachers had promoted creationism both in and out of class.
[23] However, a later article by Martin Wainwright, writing in The Guardian in December 2006, said that associating ESF's schools with creationism "couldn't be more wrong.