The teachers fear the worst when news arrives that the police have been called to the local airport following complaints of disruptive behaviour and vandalism on board.
By week's end they will host a cocktail party and entertain some of England's most eligible bachelors, which included young etiquette expert William Hanson.
Sarah triumphs when chosen to ride out with the hunt, but blots her copybook, and brings the school into disgrace, when she unfurls an Aussie pennant at full tilt.
But emotion must be put aside as the ladettes face their weekly challenge: to make and serve afternoon tea to the aristocratic mothers of some of the bachelors.
The ladettes do not taste, they guzzle and, to add insult to injury, they steal more bottles of wine for a secret binge, right under Skye's nose.
Eggleston Hall Finishing School is preparing to entertain royalty for the first time in its history, and the teachers want their girls to make a good impression on the visiting prince – a dashing Italian from Venice.
There's no margin for error when, after last week's appalling lapse in standards, Ms Harbord announces a zero-tolerance policy on bad behaviour.
Whether it's the prospect of a genuine Italian prince or of the return of the now familiar bachelors, the sausage-making lesson provokes a very unladylike response in the girls.
Now the girls must put into practise everything they have learned – from constructing a towering cake, to tying a presentation bouquet of fresh flowers, and sewing the final touches to their graduation ball gowns.
The glamorous awards ceremony is to be hosted at one of Britain's finest country houses where the girls are expected to parade their newfound looks, elegance and good manners.
You can cut the atmosphere with a knife as the teachers retire to decide which one is this year's winner, and when Sarah makes a surprise appearance to wish all three of her fellow ladettes the very best of luck, there is relief and genuine joy.
After all the deliberations, the trials and tribulations, Ms Harbord finally emerges to announce that this year's winner is Nicole and there is not a dry eye left in the house.
In the season final catch up with the girls back in their home environments where they're surprised by a visit from the Headmistress Gill Harbord and cooking teacher Rosemary Shrager.