Channel 4 Educating Yorkshire returns with GCSE pressure at Thornhill

Channel 4’s reboot of Educating Yorkshire returns to screens on Sunday evening with episode five, airing at 8pm and running for an hour from Thornhill Community Academy in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. The new series revisits the school more than a decade after the original cameras first entered its classrooms in 2013 and follows a fresh cohort of students and staff as they approach their GCSEs.

The week’s episode centres on Year 11 exam pressure, with a preview via Radio Times saying students Skyler, Olivia and prefect Falak are feeling the strain as exam season draws near. The preview also describes maths teacher Mrs Delaney-Hudson as determined to help her pupils succeed, while headteacher Matthew Burton leads a crackdown on mobile phone use in an effort to sharpen focus and cut distractions. The programme will also feature the return of a special guest to the school, the preview said.

Filming for the 2025 series took place during the 2024-25 academic year at Thornhill Community Academy, the same state secondary that featured in the original 2013 run of the documentary. Channel 4 is broadcasting the episodes live and making them available via its on demand app.