*Warning this article contains spoilers*
They say that all good things come to an end and that's certainly true of hit Netflix series Sex Education, whose fourth and final season aired earlier this autumn.
Days after Sex Education season three aired in 2022, the streaming platform announced that the students of Moordale High will return for yet another season on 21 September, which has now been confirmed as its last.
In a letter to fans of the show, its creator Laurie Nunn said, 'A lot has happened since our first writers room in 2017, when we spent a month in a cramped office above a sex shop, talking about what it felt like to go through puberty. The painful awkwardness, first crushes, and big, big feelings.'
She continued, saying, 'We are incredibly proud of Sex Education and feel indebted to our brilliant writers, cast and crew who put so much heart into making every episode. They have worked tirelessly to bring you the final series, and we can’t wait to share it with you.'
Sex Education debuted on Netflix in 2019 and has been nominated for, and won, multiple awards since, including Best Comedy Series for season three at the Awards in 2022. The third season of the show was viewed over 65 million times in its first three months on the streaming platform.
Before the show lands back on our screens later this year, this is everything you need to know about Sex Education season four.
Why won't there be a Sex Education season 5?
Nunn has admitted that when her team of writers and her starting developing the fourth season, nobody imagined that they'd be writing the final season of the series. Nunn said that everyone's stories 'organically' resolved themselves in the writers' room and it became obvious that season four was the right time for our favourite Moordale students to graduate.
'When we did the writers’ room for season four we didn't set out for it to be the final series,' Nunn told Harper's Bazaar. 'Something just started to happen through the writing process where I realised that by the time we arrived at that final episode, there weren't any cliffhangers and everything had just resolved itself, so I had this feeling that if I left the characters there, I would feel happy for them and hopeful for their future.'
'And that's how I wanted to leave it and I think it would have felt wrong to keep pushing it forwards when the story had naturally come to an end. I needed to listen to that.'
Nunn is still dealing with the end of her creation, admitting to The Hollywood Reporter that she's only now processing it. 'I haven't had the last two years to process the fact that it's coming to an end. I'm just sort of coming to terms with it now,' she said.
What happened in Sex Education season three?
Season three is still on Netflix so if you haven’t watched it yet, then stop reading this article, switch on the TV immediately, and come back here when you're finished.
For avid Sex Education fans who have binge-watched the series you’ll know the third season can be summed up as… Eric and Adam were ‘official’ and then split again, Jean is pregnant, Otis and Ruby split and him and Maeve have said goodbye to each other after their rollercoaster of a relationship/friendship/unspoken love for each other.
Headteacher Hope Haddon (Jemima Kirke) is still headmistress of Moordale High (after promoting abstinence and revealing to Otis she’s struggling with in vitro fertilisation) and Aimee is on a journey of self-discovery through feminism after a short falling out with Maeve.
What have the Sex Education cast said about a fourth season?
On September 26, 2021 Gillian Anderson (Jean) shared a photograph on Instagram of herself with a handful of her Sex Education co-stars including Asa Butterfield (Otis), Patricia Allison (Ola), Mikael Persbrandt (Jakob) and Alistair Petrie (Headmaster Groff).
Several of the cast members reposted the snap which has the caption: ‘I guess we’ll be seeing you for S4!! @sexeducation.’
Will the Sex Education cast remain the same?
Simone Ashley (Olivia), who made her debut in another Netflix hit, period drama Bridgerton, last year, Tanya Reynolds (Lily) and Allison sadly won't feature in the new season but there's no shortage of familiar faces making a return to Moordale High.
It's been confirmed Ncuti Gatwa (Eric) will return for the fourth season, and Aimee Lou Wood (Aimee) will also reprise her role.
Wood, who plays Aimee in the show, opened up to the Radio Times about the show and suggested that season four might be the cast's last.
'I'm not sure because there's a part of me that could just do it forever,' she said of the possibility of playing her character forever. 'But there's also a part of me that's like, "No – we've all got to go and do different things and play different parts".'
'We can't be like 50 saying, "Freshers week!" So it's a weird one. It's a bittersweet thing because it probably is, even if it's not this series, it probably is closer now to ending than it is to the start. Which is sad but also probably in many ways, will be positive. I always think leave them wanting more as well. Always leave them wanting more.'
Emma Mackey, who plays Maeve, also confirmed her exit from the show following season four. While speaking with press following her EE Rising Star Award win at the 2023 BAFTAs, the 27-year-old actress was asked about the next season of Sex Education, responding: 'Season 5? I've just finished the fourth one last week!' Mackey then said, 'No I don't think I'll be in season 5. I've said goodbye to Maeve.'
This isn't the first time Mackey has hinted at the news, previously telling Hunger, 'Sex Education is so momentous as a concept, as a show, and the cast are phenomenal. I genuinely care about them all a lot and I made lifelong friends. But the bittersweet nature of it is that I also can't be 17 my whole life.'
The actor previously told ELLE US of her hopes for her character in season four: 'I'm excited for her to make some new friends, to open up a bit more and be exposed to a different culture, to a different kind of world. Because she's only ever lived in her little tiny bubbles. How is she out of that bubble?'
In other news, Schitt’s Creek Emmy winner Dan Levy has joined the cast for the upcoming season. He will play Thomas, Emma Mackey's character Maeve’s U.S. tutor at her Ivy League college.
Other actors joining the show include Thaddea Graham (Doctor Who), Marie Reuther (Kamikaze) and newcomers Felix Mufti, Anthony Lexa, Alexandra James and Imani Yahshua.
And most recently, in February 2023, it was announced that the iconic Jodie Turner-Smith would also be a part of the season 4 cast - though we have no information yet on who her character might be.
'You may or may not see me in a little Netflix show called Sex Education,' the actress told reporters during the BAFTAs red carpet, according to Variety. 'First of all all my scenes were with Ncuti Gatwa who – I DIE for him – and he's my favourite character on the show...So when he called me and asked me to do it I was like, I don’t care how much they're paying I’m doing [it].'
As well as Gatwa and Wood, other series regulars returning to the hit show are Asa Butterfield (Otis), Gillian Anderson (Jean), Mackey (Maeve), Connor Swindells (Adam), Kedar Williams-Stirling (Jackson), Mimi Keene (Ruby), George Robinson (Isaac), Chinenye Ezeudu (Vivienne), Dua Saleh (Cal), Alistair Petrie (Michael) and Samantha Spiro (Maureen).
Sadly, Rakhee Thakrar, who plays teacher Emily Sands, has confirmed she won't be returning for a fourth season of the hit show.
'I'm not part of the new series,' she told Daily Star Sunday. 'I can't really talk about why. But I'm so proud of the show and grateful to have been part of something so important. There is nothing bad about Sex Education.'
Reynolds, who plays Lily Iglehart, previously announced that she wouldn't be appearing in the next season either back in July 2022 days after her on-screen girlfriend Ola (played by Patricia Allison) confirmed she wouldn't be reprising her role. 'Lily is not coming back either,' Reynolds told Digital Spy. 'Her storyline was just wrapped up quite nicely at the end of season three. So she's got no loose ends to tie up, she had quite a happy ending.'
James Purefoy, who plays Remi Milburn in the show, has also opened up about his possible return for the next season. 'I was shooting Pennyworth for HBO Max when they were shooting season three. Whether that stopped them from having me in, I have no idea. It's a cracking show, I love Sex Education,' he told Digital Spy.
'Remi, he's such a d*ck in so many ways, and yet he kind of pulls it back at the end of his current story. You really get a sense of how lonely and miserable that man is underneath all the bravado,' he later added.
When will Sex Education season four air?
The fourth and final season of Sex Education is now available to stream on Netflix.
Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.
Naomi May is a freelance writer and editor with an emphasis on popular culture, lifestyle and politics. After graduating with a First Class Honours from City University's prestigious Journalism course, Naomi joined the Evening Standard as its Fashion and Beauty Writer, working across both the newspaper and website. She is now the Acting News Editor at ELLE UK and has written features for the likes of The Guardian, Vogue, Vice and Refinery29, among many others.
