# That'll Teach 'Em

That'll Teach 'Em is a British historical reality documentary series produced by Twenty Twenty Television for the Channel 4 network in the United Kingdom.

## Concept

Each series follows around 30 teenage students who have recently completed their GCSEs as they are taken back to a 1950s/1960s style British boarding school. The show sets out to analyse whether the standards that were integral to the school life of the time could help to produce better exam results, when compared to the current GCSE results and to compare certain contemporary educational methods with modern ones (e.g. vocational vs. academic focus for the less "gifted").
As part of the experience, the participants are expected to board at a traditional school house, abiding by strict discipline, adopting to 1950s/1960s diet and following a strict uniform dress code, the only difference being the absence of corporal punishment as it was made illegal in all state schools in Britain in 1986, and in all private schools in England and Wales in 1998. Because of that, other strict punishments, most notably writing lines and essays and holding up heavy items for a certain amount of time were used instead. Throughout the series, a number of students have either been expelled for misconduct, or have chosen to leave the school voluntarily.
After four weeks, the students then take their final exams, produced to the same standard as contemporary GCE O Levels and CSEs.
There were three series of the show, the first airing in August 2003 (recreating a 1950s grammar school and featuring academically high-achieving pupils), the second in August 2004 (a 1960s secondary modern and the pupils academically average or poor) and the third and final series in April 2006 (a 1950s grammar school with high-achieving pupils again, this time focusing on practical sciences and with single-sex classes).

## Series overview
### Series 1 (2003)

The first series of the show was filmed over 4 weeks in July and August 2003, at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe. It featured 15 boys and 15 girls who had just sat their GCSEs and mostly did well, though some failed. The school was branded as 'King's School'.
| Known Teachers | Subject |
| Mr Andrew MacTavish | Headmaster |
| Mr Tony Perry | Deputy Head/Housemaster/Science |
| Ms Pat Crowe | Matron/Housemistress |
| Mr Peter Daplyn | Gym/Disciplinarian/Shower-Master |
| Mr Geoffrey Heath | Music |
| Dr Elizabeth Pidoux | English/Housemistress |
| Mr Simon Rockell | History |
| Mr Austin Vince | Mathematics/CCF (Combined Cadet Force) |
| Mr Simon Warr | Latin/French/Housemaster |
| Boys | Girls |
| Harry Elgood | Clare Dery |
| Nic Hall | Seraphina Evans |
| Colum Hughes | Nichola Greenhalgh |
| Freddie Hutchins | Henrietta Haines |
| Tom Jewell | Victoria Julien |
| Richard Mylles | Hina Khan |
| Rajay Naik | Kathryn McGeough (Head Girl) |
| Blaine Pike | Holly McGuire |
| Ryan Smithson | Emma Pinchbeck |
| Andrew Stratton (Head Boy) | Harriet Rykens |
| Matthew Sweeney | Hannah Smith |
| Ali Unwin | Frances Weaver |
| Simon Waller | Tarot Wells |
| Andy Walne | Rebecca Woodward |
| Joe McCready | Nadia Freeman |
Joe McCready was expelled during the series for persistent bad behaviour and disrespect. In episode 3, Nadia Freeman chose to leave the school voluntarily due to the food. In the fourth episode, Mr Perry served as acting headmaster owing to Mr MacTavish being unwell at the time.

### Series 2 (2004)

The second series of the show, called That'll Teach 'Em Too, was also filmed at the Royal Grammar School, High Wycombe in August 2004 and was known as 'Hope Green Secondary Modern' This was the only series set in the 1960s.
| Known Teachers | Subject |
| Mr Richard Fawcett | Headmaster/Geography |
| Mr Maurice Pirotte | Deputy Head/Housemaster/Rural Science |
| Miss Jeanette Gibson | English/Housemistress/Pianist |
| Mr Lee Austin | Gym/Disciplinarian |
| Mr Andre Baker | Wrestling |
| Mr Barnes | Chief Examiner/Test Tutor |
| Ms Pat Crowe | Matron/Housemistress |
| Ms Jackie Dunn | Needlework |
| Ms Janet Faherty | Dance |
| Mr Neil Garner | Guitarist/Music |
| Miss Kirby-Jones | Home Economics Examiner |
| Mrs Cherilyn Lloyd-Jones | Domestic Science/Home Economics/Cookery |
| Mr John Nosworthy | Bricklaying |
| Mr Francis Peacock | History and Tutor |
| Mr Thomas Smith | Woodwork |
| Mr Austin Vince | Mathematics/Automotive/Scouts/Tutor |
| Mrs Cornelia Welham | Touch Typing/Religious Studies |
| Boys | Girls |
| Perry Goyen (Head Boy) | Stevie Harman (Head Girl) |
| Ben Barber | Emily Apari |
| Andrew Brown | Hannah Benjamin |
| Josh Davis | Charlotte Difone |
| Adam Doyle | Avril Hardy |
| Daniel Gallagher | Nikki Hollingworth |
| Luke Graham | Maureen Islam |
| Harvey Herdman | Rosie Knight |
| Christopher Hobin | Kasi Kulon |
| Shina Oniwinde | Charlotte Neild |
| Alex Roberts | Sara Roadknight |
| Harry Rowe | Erin Tate |
| Franklin De Santi | Holly |
| Lewis Davis | Aliss Hadley |
| Lewis Davis | Sophia Madisonte |
Sophia chose to leave the school voluntarily due to her poor behaviour. Though it was never shown, Aliss Hadley, Lewis Davis and Holly left as well for undisclosed reasons. This was the only series in which no students were expelled. Most students only passed 1 CSE. Like Series 1, 15 boys and 15 girls entered the school at the start, and 26 finished.

### Series 3 (2005–06)

Series 3 called That'll Teach 'Em: Boys Versus Girls was filmed during August 2005 at St Joseph's College in Ipswich, and broadcast during the following April. The series returned to the setting of a 1950s grammar school. The school was branded as 'Charles Darwin Grammar' and focused predominately on practical sciences. It also experimented with boys and girls being taught separately. The languages teacher in series 1, Simon Warr, took on the role of headmaster in Series 3.
| Known Teachers | Subject |
| Mr Simon 'S.R.' Warr | Headmaster/Classical civilisation |
| Mr James Williams | Deputy Head/Housemaster/Biology |
| Miss Jeanette Gibson | English |
| Mr David Stanley | Music/Tutor/Disciplinarian |
| Dr Andrew Szydlo | Chemistry |
| Dr Peter Wilde | Physics/Housemaster |
| Miss Anabelle Bryant | Housemistress/Gym (Girls) |
| Miss Carter | Mathematics/Tutor/Housemistress |
| Ms Pat Crowe | Matron/Disciplinarian |
| Mr Tomms | Gym (Boys) |
| Sgt Allen | CCF (Combined Cadet Force) |
| Mrs Turner | Laboratory Assistant |
| Boys | Girls |
| Rob Hudson (Head Boy) | Victoria Buxton (first Head Girl) |
| Nathan Anidugbe | Sally Rushton (second Head Girl) |
| Philip Donald | Jessica Boulton |
| Hugh Gilroy | Francesca Bruce |
| Brennon Gunston | Anna Clift |
| Chris Hedley | Hollie Dearman |
| William Ho | Kayleigh Durman |
| James Ingram | Amy Jampa-Ngoen |
| Sebastian Jefford | Ruby Lally |
| John Kemple | Rosie Morton |
| Luke Mills | Jenny Ritzman |
| Scott Peters | Corrine Stewart |
| Michael Petkov | Meng-Yuan Sun |
| Qadeer Razaque | Ashleigh Walters |
| Joe Seath | Emily Williams |
| Simon Taylor | Samantha Wyvill |
Scott Peters was expelled during the series for persistent bad behaviour, disrespect, and refusing to participate in some areas of the school curriculum; particularly CCF. Brennon Gunston, Rosie Morton and Amy Jampa-Ngoen chose to leave the school voluntarily, although Mr Warr gave Amy his explicit blessing to leave due to her poor conduct record. After failing to stop some girls from using the telephone in the laundry room, Victoria Buxton was forced to step down from her position as Head Girl, and her role was filled by Sally Rushton. In addition, Brennon Gunston and Rosie Morton were replaced with Joe Seath and Francesca Bruce respectively. In the academic competition between the girls and the boys, the girls won overall, and most students only managed to pass one O Level.

#### That'll Test 'Em

For the third series, a spin-off series, That'll Test 'Em, aired on More4 after the main programme. It saw pupils featured in the That'll Teach 'Em episode just aired being quizzed in competition with their parents on topics that they should have known well after their time in 1950s/1960s education.

## International versions

The format from the series has been adapted in eight countries: France, Spain, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands and Russia. The international rights are distributed by DRG.
| Country | Title | TV channel(s) | Seasons | Distribution |
| United Kingdom (original format) | That'll Teach 'Em | Channel 4 | 3 | 5 August 2003 – 2 September 2003 24 August 2004 – 21 September 2004 4 April 2006 – 2 May 2006 |
| France | Le Pensionnat | M6 | 3 | 2 September 2004 – 7 October 2004 1 September 2005 – 13 October 2005 30 September 2013 – 21 October 2013 |
| Norway | Internatet | TV Norge | 1 | 14 September 2005 – 16 November 2005 |
| Norway | Feriekolonien | TVNorge | 1 | 11 January 2007 – 15 March 2007 |
| Belgium (Flanders) | De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig | SBS VT4 | 3 | November 2006 11 October 2007 2008 |
| Belgium (Flanders) | Dat Zal Ze Leren! | VTM | 1 | 23 March 2011 – 18 May 2011 |
| Netherlands | Dat Zal Ze Leren! | RTL 5 | 1 | 4 September 2006 – 30 October 2006 |
| Spain | Curso del 63 Curso del 73 | Antena 3 neox | 2 | 6 October 2009 – 10 November 2009 2 September 2012 – 30 September 2012 |
| Germany | Die harte Schule der 50er Jahre | ZDF | 1 | 19 May 2005 – 9 June 2005 |
| Switzerland | Das Internat – Schule wie vor 50 Jahren | SF DRS | 1 | 25 July 2005 – 15 August 2005 |
| Italy | Il collegio | Rai 2 | 8 | 2 January 2017 – 13 January 2017 26 September 2017 – 17 October 2017 12 February 2019 – 12 March 2019 22 October 2019 – 26 November 2019 27 October 2020 – 15 December 2020 26 October 2021 – 14 December 2021 18 October 2022 – 29 November 2022 24 September 2023 – 5 November 2023 |
| Russia | Колледж Kolledzh | STS | 1 | 15 March 2021 – 12 May 2021 |