The Vardy Foundation, the sponsor of Emmanuel College in Gateshead, whose pupils are encouraged to doubt the theory of evolution, will open its second school in Middlesbrough this year and is preparing to build a third in Doncaster. It is also holding discussions with education officials in Leeds, Newcastle, Sunderland and Hull with the aim of opening a privately run evangelical academy in each city.

The foundation is headed by Sir Peter Vardy, a Christian fundamentalist who has built an estimated personal fortune of £75 million from his chain of Reg Vardy car dealerships.

In 2000 he offered £12 million to support the Government’s city academies programme, in which business sponsors provide between 10 and 20 per cent of the cost of building schools with the aim of raising educational achievements in deprived inner-city areas. The bulk of the capital costs are met by the Government but the sponsor is given control over what effectively becomes a state-funded independent school that charges no fees and over which the host local education authority has minimal control.

Three city academies have already opened. A further nine will accept their first pupils in September and the Government hopes to have 33 by 2007, most of them in London.

Sir Peter is said to have been frustrated by an initial reluctance by some Labour education authorities to accept his plans for a stable of Vardy academies in the North East, each modelled on Emmanuel, a city technology college that opened in 1990 and which has built a reputation for outstanding academic performance.

The King’s academy will open in Middlesbrough in September and the Doncaster academy, which would replace Thorne Grammar School, will open in 2005 if a proposal under government consideration is approved. However, several northern cities have proved less welcoming.

Ideological resistance to independent schools and a fear that a non-fee-paying academy would poach a city’s brightest pupils have proved stumbling blocks. A furore last year over the creationist beliefs of some senior staff at Emmanuel, leading to claims — denied by the school — that children were being indoctrinated with biblical literalism, has also proved significant.

Among the strongest supporters of Emmanuel, are the parents of present and former pupils, some of them Muslim, who point to the school’s consistent record of exam success. In a deprived area and with a non-selective policy, 98 per cent of its pupils gained five or more A*-C GCSE passes last summer, against a national average of 52 per cent.

The school has gained “beacon status” for its achievements and was given a clean bill of health by Ofsted and the Prime Minister after the criticism of its science teaching. Its places are consistently over-subscribed.

John Burn, the Vardy Foundation’s chief academic adviser, head of the right-wing Christian Institute and a former headmaster of Emmanuel, said that Sir Peter’s involvement with education stemmed from a concern about low standards and the fact “that many youngsters seemed to leave school without any hope”.

“He saw the success of Emmanuel and was very keen to replicate that. When he was approached by the Labour Government and asked to become more involved, he offered six schools but it has been a slow process because dogma keeps getting in the way of young people’s development.”

Newcastle has agreed in principle to the building of a city academy linked to a new housing development. A meeting has been arranged in Leeds to discuss whether space should be made for an academy. The talks with Sunderland and Hull remain informal.

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Time-worn Freddie gives up Test matches
• Brighton company 'involved in cyber attack'
• The art of survival: it’s all in the mind