Channel 4’s Educating Manchester is back for 2020 with a brand new series.
The show has been off-air since 2017 but a new series, first announced in 2018, begins soon – here’s all you need to know.
Watch Educating Manchester on TV and online
Educating Manchester’s new series currently airs on Tuesday nights at 9:15PM on Channel 4 straight after Bake Off.
The new series has the four episodes.
As well as watching on TV, you’ll be able to watch online on All 4 where all past series are currently available to stream.
Educating Manchester 2020 school
The 2020 series will return to Harrop Fold school for a second series.
It’s the first time the Educating series has returned to the same school. Previous series have each filmed in different schools across the country.
Filmed continuously across the school year in 2018, there will be even greater opportunities than before to cover the experiences and the daily lives of HF students. In addition, the series will follow the hard work of the staff at the school, led by Headteacher Drew Povey.
The series aims to follow the drama of teenage life over the school year with returning student characters to give viewers a funny, loveable and warm insight into life in a modern British School.
Educating Manchester 2020 episodes
The 2020 series of Educating Manchester was filmed in 2018 before the pandemic and has four episodes.
Episode 1 – November 3
The new series begins with a catch-up with some of the much-loved pupils from the previous series: cheeky Vincent, who’s now going into Year 10 and claims he’s a reformed character; and Katelyn, who struggled to focus last time but now wants to get her head down. Meanwhile, the school’s Year 7s already have a reputation among staff for being the naughtiest yet. There’s Jacob who opens up about his struggles with dyslexia.
The school is on high alert after a member of the public calls in claiming to have seen a Harrop Fold pupil with a knife, forcing Mr Povey and his staff to instigate bag searches to find the culprit. Year 9 Katelyn is desperate to become a midwife but keeps bunking off lessons. Mr Povey worries that if she doesn’t knuckle down she will end up missing out on her dream. And the staff crack down on pupils at the centre of a lucrative black market at the school, selling chocolate sweets and drinks to their classmates.
Episode 2 – November 4
With GCSEs looming for the current head boy and girl, the search begins for new candidates. A surprise applicant, Year 10’s Holly, talks candidly about her disability as she makes her bid for the position. After getting through the interview stages, the candidates must make a speech in front of their year group, but Holly has a crisis of confidence minutes before her big moment.
Year 10’s Jack is regularly on the radar of the school’s behavioural team for his disruptive behaviour. This time, he receives a final warning after making prank phone calls from a school office. And Mr Povey tackles the mental wellbeing of his pupils by arranging for a gaggle of therapy animals to come into school to help address issues such as anxiety and ADHD. Year 7’s Paige is given Sebastian the Chinchilla to look after and help her cope with the anxiety she’s had since her dad was diagnosed with cancer. Katelyn is given Beanz, a border collie, to help with her ADHD. But they don’t quite see eye to eye.
Episode 3 – November 10
In this episode, the search to find the new head girl concludes and the winner is finally revealed to staff and students. Year 8 Rani decides to play a Valentine’s prank on best friend Jack, but the strength of their friendship is put to the test after an incident in the playground. Year 9 couple Faye and Kieran get their on-off relationship back on track as Harrop Fold address the issues of teenage pregnancies by giving some students interactive babies to look after.
Faye becomes besotted with ‘baby Hunter’ but boyfriend Kieran isn’t so keen to assume the role of father, preferring to hang out with his mates. Year 11 Chelci has a falling out with best friend Cheyenne and staff try to help them see eye to eye ahead of their important GCSE preparation.
Episode 4 – November 17
New head girl Melody takes on her first school campaign to try and change the uniform policy on girls’ socks. She sends out a snapchat message to gather support for her rule-breaking policy but ends up in hot water. Things blow up for Year 10 Morgan in Spanish and Mr Walker is concerned she may not be able to catch up in time for her exams. Mr Povey intervenes to find out the underlying cause of Morgan’s disruptive behaviour.
Elsewhere, GCSE results day brings mixed results for year 11. And Harrop Fold hits the news as head teacher Mr Povey and three other members of staff are suspended over allegations of off-rolling at the school.
Past Educating… series
The new 2020 series of Educating Manchester is the sixth overall of Channel 4’s Educating… series.
The show debuted in 2011 with Educating Essex before moving to Yorkshire in 2013 and then The East End in 2014. In 2015 the show filmed in Cardiff before moving to Manchester for the first time in 2017.
All past series and episodes can be watched online via the All 4 player.
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