TV series reignites debate over UK schools

It is becoming compulsory viewing - highly motivated Chinese teachers taking on an unruly class of English teenagers at a state school in Hampshire, aiming to subject them to Chinese-style education techniques for four weeks.

It was a bit like watching car crash television - you just knew that Sophie, a sassy, frizzy-haired 13-year-old given to chatting in class would prove to be a problem, as would an equally fidgety 13-year-old boy called Luca, who freely admitted that when he lost interest in the subject being taught, he started distracting fellow pupils.

What the three-part series is doing is highlighting the differences between China's education system and those of the state system in the UK. It has also reignited a debate over the merits of the UK approach compared to China.