It's the end of an era at Ackley Bridge College as Nas struggles under the pressure of A-Level exams. Mandy and Martin force Sue to help Cory get his life back on track.

Mandy's visit to school doesn't go well when she discovers a rumour going around that Cory is the father of her baby, and Nas is horrified when Chloe outs her at a school fundraiser

Rukhsana gets revenge on her controlling brother but is left to fend for herself when he walks out and the debt collectors come knocking.

Cory is kicked out after being caught with his dad's girlfriend. Hoping for sympathy, he is amazed when Naveed is appalled. The friends fall out, leading Nas to take Naveed on a night out with a difference. He meets a guy who proves to be the perfect distraction from Cory. It's Mandy's maternity cover, Sian who scoops up Cory, but he oversteps the mark when he kisses her. Later, when Mandy gives birth, she feels overwhelmed and underprepared for motherhood, but luckily she has help from Kaneez.

Sam and Nas are caught shoplifting, which causes a rift between them, but Sam's mum Nadine is proud of her and pushes Sam to get more involved with the Murgatroyds' criminal activities. Martin puts his family in danger when he tries to intervene and save Sam. Meanwhile, Nas considers her future in the wake of recent events, and Sue's nose is put out of joint when Mandy favours Kaneez for a job in her department - and the Parachas and Booths are intent on her getting it.

Kaneez is stunned when Rashid proposes, but when wedding fever takes hold of the Paracha house it gets too much for her and she back-tracks - leaving Rashid confused and humiliated. Still keen to unite the two communities of Ackley Bridge, Mandy has written an article for a right-wing local newspaper, and later teams up with Kaneez to go into the community and convince Asian parents to support her school. Naveed has a party while his parents are away, but he isn't pleased when Chloe uses it as an opportunity to pull Cory.

Kaneez and Simone anxiously wait for news on Nas and Missy. Sam recruits her cousins to seek revenge, and as the reaction rapidly escalates, a chasm opens between Ackley Bridge's white and Asian communities, with the school at the centre of the tensions.

Nas secures an interview for a place at Oxford University, while Mandy is overwhelmed when her new boss dumps a load of unmanageable kids from his other schools on her. New hot-headed Deputy Head Martin locks horns with Sam Murgatroyd's mum - fresh from prison - and bad girl Rukhsana runs rings around Sue, the disenchanted and distinctly un-PC new Director of Behaviour.