In Year 7 Max invited Adam home with the others. But when Adam accidentally smashed a cabinet, they all turned him against him. Year 8 saw Max take up the tuba, and he played beautifully in the school concert. Then he helped the others to recover the stolen football trophy from the St Joseph's boys. In Year 9 Max and the lads developed a crush on Miss Fraser and he helped pillage boxes for the homeless fundraiser. This series, In Year 10 but was furious when his uniform design was branded conspicuously with the sponsor's logo.

Max is now on the school web site team. He wrongly blamed Martin when Dai Hard lost their work. Max teamed up with Ben to expose Deverill, and they presented Robson with the evidence to bring him down.

In Year 7 Ian taunted Adam and delighted in telling his classmates about Adam's mum. Ian threatened to suffocate the school gerbil, causing Adam to crack. The following year Ian played in the school football team and helped retrieve the stolen trophy and Ben's boots. Old wounds were reopened in Year 9 when Adam's father was released. Ian blamed Adam for Franco's accident but Mr Hawkins prevented a fight.

Things aren't going well for Ian at school currently. Mr Deverill caught him with a spray can and immediately thought Ian was to blame. Ian got Dai Hard to speak up for him but this only made matters worse. Ian took a stand against Deverill and got a whack from the teacher. When Mr Robson rescinded his army application, Ian almost threw himself off the school roof but was talked down. Dolefully, he told Ben and Max about being hit. At the wedding party, Ian delighted in confronting Deverill and helped secure the teacher's downfall.

However, when Dai Hard selected him for the football team instead of Franco, Ben worried about putting noses out of joint but Dai Hard stood firm. Franco was angry at being pushed out by a newcomer, but he and Ben became friends after thrashing St Joe's. In Year 9 Ben joined the others on the Walkabout weekend and battled to outdo the others in the box war. Ben's brother Martin joined Year 7 last year, causing some embarrassment for him. Ben was also rejected by Leah.

This year, Ben and Max discovered Deverill was not what he appeared. They returned to Congreve Hall - Deverill's old school, and discovered he'd been sacked for beating a pupil. He got the job at Grange Hill using a false identity. Ben was instrumental in exposing "Deverill" to Mr Robson.

She lives with her fairly youngish grandparents. In the series, Shannon is friends with Leah. She claimed she and Danny had slept together. Danny was wrongly accused of unlawful sex and excluded from school. Vikki forced Shannon to come clean, and Leah was disgusted by her actions. Yet Shannon's persistence in making amends and her revulsion what Tom had done encouraged Leah to seek counselling.

Shannon and Leah came to blows in Year 11. During Saturday detention, Shannon admitted she couldn't help lying and won a friend in Ian. But she was upset when Leah refused to forgive her. Shannon also grassed up Darren and Calvin for their Desteeni scam.

At the start of the series, Ben and Max asked Leah out. Soon she became friendly with Tom and agreed to go out with him. They slept together, but afterwards Leah admitted she felt forced into sex. Tom couldn't understand why she is avoiding him - when they eventually talked, Tom and Leah realised they'd both got things wrong.

In Year 11, Leah is back on speaking terms with Tom. She submitted an anonymous article about her ordeal which caused furore among the staff and governors. She adopts a pair of glasses in a bid to be taken more seriously - Tom convinces her to just be herself. Leah decides to leave school early because of Deverill and she and Tom have an emotional farewell.