What are the boys preparing for?

Entrance to Oxford and Cambridge

What does Irwin teach the boys?

To argue cleverly and surprisingly to impress examiners

He dies in a motorbike accident

In a Sheffield grammar school in the 1980s, eight clever boys stay on to try for places at Oxford and Cambridge.
Their teacher Hector loves learning for its own sake, poetry and songs. The headmaster, who wants results, brings in Irwin, a young teacher who teaches the boys to argue cleverly and surprisingly in exams.
Mrs Lintott, the history teacher, offers a dry, often critical voice. Hector is forced to retire after touching boys on his motorbike.
All the boys win places. Hector dies in a motorbike accident, and Mrs Lintott tells the audience what became of the boys.

Dakin is confident and attracted to Irwin; Posner is gay and in love with Dakin; Scripps is religious and comments on events.
Themes: the purpose of education, truth versus 'spin', sexuality and growing up, and what history is.

Set in the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher and written by Alan Bennett in 2004, when schools focused on targets. It uses direct address to the audience and moves between scenes freely.

Direct address: A character speaking straight to the audience.
Spin: Presenting facts in a misleading but persuasive way.
Oxbridge: Oxford and Cambridge universities.
Grammar school: A selective state school for pupils who passed an exam at 11.

What are the boys preparing for?: Entrance to Oxford and Cambridge: They have finished their A-levels.
What does Hector believe education is for?: Learning for its own sake: He loves poetry and songs.
What does Irwin teach the boys?: To argue cleverly and surprisingly to impress examiners: Truth matters less than an interesting answer.
Who wants the school to get good results above all?: The headmaster: He brings in Irwin.
Which boy is in love with Dakin?: Posner: His feelings are not returned.
Who gives a dry, critical view and tells the boys' futures?: Mrs Lintott: She often points out how history ignores women.
When is the play set?: The 1980s: It was written in 2004.
What happens to Hector at the end?: He dies in a motorbike accident: Irwin is injured.