In this first episode, award-winning teacher Phil Beadle (The Unteachables) takes on the task of teaching nine adults how to read and write. Each one of them spent over 10 years in the school system – and yet they failed to learn the most basic skills. The class includes a whole range of people who left school unable to read: a businessman, a plumber, a single mum and an unemployed 21-year-old.