Radio Times: Review by:; David Butcher

It used to be simple. If pupils at a school were badly behaved, they got punished or shouted at. And if they were in real trouble they were expelled.

But a school like the one in this series doesn’t play it that way. As we’ve seen already, head teacher Mr Goddard goes heroically out of his way to avoid excluding students, however disruptive they are. And the patience and understanding the staff show towards this week’s miscreant, Luke, is extraordinary. Luke can be charming one minute and a bundle of rage the next. His most revealing comment comes as he sits in an exam hall and gives up before he has even started, telling the teacher: “I’d rather not try and fail than try and fail.”

About this programme

4/7. With the all-important GCSE exams round the corner, the staff are faced with tense situations. Two pupils discover they are expecting a baby, but the mother-to-be is desperate to finish school. Another student's rebellious nature gets the better of him, while headteacher Vic Goddard deals with a first-year boy who wants time off from lessons to write a novel.