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 caning as it was made illegal in all public schools in Britain in 1986, and in all private schools in England and Wales in 1998. 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 academically average or poor) and the third and final series in April 2006 (a 1950s grammar school again, this time focusing on practical sciences and with single-sex classes).

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 education.

International versions
The format has been adapted in France, Spain, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Netherlands. The international rights are distributed by DRG.