Jeremy Brown starts his new job as a teacher of English as a foreign language and meets his students for the first time, a diverse group of ten adults in London, hailing from nine different countries in Europe and Asia.

An inspector from the local education authority arrives at the school to observe the classes, but Mr Brown mistakes him for a new student.

Upset that his students’ English is not improving, especially in the presence of Miss Courtney who leaves disappointed, Mr Brown keeps them after class, to the extent that they get locked in the building.

Jamila is arrested for shoplifting a magazine due to her misunderstanding of the word 'free' in promotional material...

It is Mr Brown’s birthday, and everyone in the class has brought him a present - but it is not all happy returns when Miss Courtney informs him that his trial month is over and dismisses him, replacing him with a new teacher.

In order to see how prepared they are for their upcoming exam, the students prepare to take a mock exam, failing miserably and angering Mr Brown. Seeing that their teacher has no faith in them, they decide to cheat!

Celebrations as Ali and Su-Lee announce that they are to marry... but he already has a wife!

Poor Jeremy is sick with the flu, so his class decide to pay him a visit hoping to cheer him up.

Juan brings his Russian sailor friend Boris to class, explaining that he wants to defect and stay in England, having fallen love with a girl he just met.

Mr Brown finds himself in a lot of trouble when Danielle tells Mr Jarvis, a pestering woodwork teacher at the school, that she is engaged to her English teacher.

Could it be that Sid the Janitor is Jeremy's father ?

The students prepare to take their Lower Cambridge Certificate exam at the end of the first term. Meanwhile, Mr Brown has a disagreement with a couple in the pub, which comes back to haunt him when it turns out that the man (Mr Short, a former principal of the school) will be supervising the exam.