‘Sex Education’ Says Goodbye: Everything to Know About the Final Season

When Will Sex Education Season 4 Be Released?

Sex Education will return for its fourth and final season on Sept. 21, when all eight episodes drop on Netflix. This season will be the last installment centering on Otis, Maeve, Eric and their Moordale peers, as creator Laurie Nunn explained in a heartfelt note announcing the end of the series that she is taking a break from the world she created and thinking about other things. However, she’s not opposed to returning in some way, shape or form down the line. “Moordale is a really rich world, and writing about teenagers is always a lot of fun,” she told Netflix’s Tudum. “So, I think that there’s always potential for more to be explored in that world.”

Who’s Who in the Cast?

Fans of the Netflix series will be happy to see the return of several of their favorite characters — in addition to some new faces. Returning castmembers include Asa Butterfield (Otis), Gillian Anderson (Jean), Ncuti Gatwa (Eric), Aimee-Lou Wood (Aimee), Emma 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).

A couple of the biggest names joining the cast for its final outing are Dan Levy — making his return to TV since the Emmy-winning final run of Schitt’s Creek — and Queen & Slim‘s Jodie Turner-Smith. Other new faces include Hannah Gadsby, Thaddea Graham, Marie Reuther, Felix Mufti, Anthony Lexa, Alexandra James, Imani Yahshua, Lisa McGrillis, Reda Elazouar and Bella Maclean.

On the other hand, a few familiar characters will not be attending Cavendish Sixth Form College alongside their fellow students. Ahead of the final season, Patricia Allison (Ola), Tanya Reynolds (Lily) and Simone Ashley (Olivia) announced their time on the show was over.

“It’s just the natural progression of these shows,” Reynolds told RadioTimes of leaving the show. “When you have such big ensemble casts and so many characters, I think you have to let a few older characters go to make way for newer ones, which is absolutely the right thing, the way it should happen.”

Allison explained that her departure from the show was due to scheduling conflicts. “I absolutely have loved being on Sex Education so, so much, and playing Ola,” she said on Capital Xtra’s breakfast show in July. “But unfortunately, I won’t be joining the team for season four.”

Why Is Sex Education Ending?

Showrunner Laurie Nunn announced the fourth season would be the last in July, noting that a lot had changed since they first kicked off the show in 2017 from a writers room above a sex shop.

“We wanted to make a show that would answer some of the questions we all used to have about love, sex, friendship and our bodies,” she wrote in a letter posted on social media. “Something that would have helped our inner teenagers feel a little less alone. It’s been overwhelming seeing how the show has connected with people around the world, and we hope it’s made some of you feel a little less alone too.”

She explained that it wasn’t an easy decision to end the series now, but it became clear it was the right time to say goodbye, sharing that they were proud of the writers, cast and crew, who put so much into the storyline of the final season.

“Goodbyes are the worst,” she concluded, “but let’s celebrate all the good times we’ve had.”

Prior to Nunn’s announcement, a few castmembers including Ncuti Gatwa and Emma Mackey expressed being ready to move on from Sex Education. Gatwa previously said that he felt the cast had “outgrown” the show. He added, “We’ve given everything we can to it.” Mackey echoed his sentiment, telling Hunger that she would not be returning if the show continued beyond season four.

“Sex Education is so momentous as a concept, as a show, and the cast are phenomenal,” she said. “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.”

What Is Season 4 About?

Season four picks up a couple of months after the closing of Moordale Secondary at the end of the third season. Maeve is in America, studying at Wallace University, while Otis, Eric, Ruby, Aimee, Jackson, Viv, Cal and other Moordale students have transferred to Cavendish Sixth Form College — a very different school than they were used to.

“Cavendish is a culture shock for all the Moordale students — they thought they were progressive, but this new college is another level,” the logline reads. “There’s daily yoga in the communal garden, a strong sustainability vibe and a group of kids who are popular for being… kind?!”

At home, Otis is adjusting to no longer being an only child, and, at school, no longer being the only sex therapist around. “Otis starts at Cavendish and quickly realizes that his ambition to start an ethical new sex therapy clinic has been thwarted, because there’s already a talented sex therapist called O on campus,” Nunn told Tudum. “This becomes the catalyst for Otis’ journey in season four.”

Eric continues to struggle with his sexuality and faith, while growing more confident in who he is, as well as the reality that he and Otis just aren’t as close anymore. He will also have some mysterious scenes with Jodie Turner-Smith, who previously announced she would be joining the show’s final season, and all of her scenes are with Gatwa’s Eric.

Aimee is single for the first time in a while and doesn’t have her best friend around anymore. “She’s at this new school, and she doesn’t have any mates,” Aimee Lou Wood, who plays Aimee in the show, previously told Bustle. “But what’s so amazing is that through art, Aimee finds something that connects her to herself.”

Maeve and Otis try to maneuver a long-distance relationship, while she lives out her dream studying at the prestigious American university, under the guidance of Dan Levy’s Thomas Molloy, a professor and famed author. Watch the trailer for season four below.

Sex Education season four releases on Netflix Thursday, Sept. 21.