Tara returns to the National Academy of Dance with the goal of representing Australia in the world's most prestigious ballet competition, the Prix de Fonteyn. But perhaps she should be more focused on just surviving Second Year where having climbed to the top in her first year at the Academy — in dance, in life, in love — she now has a very long way to fall. Grace (Issi Durant) joins the Academy after being kicked out of the Royal Ballet School in London and Ben (Tom Lacey) is the new class hottie with a big secret to hide.

Tara meets prestigious former student Saskia Duncan, who invites her to a performance of The Firebird, and tells her stories of her busy dancing career since, which makes Tara doubt her future with Christian as well as his dedication to becoming a professional dancer; Saskia later falls during a performance and potentially ends her career. Kat tries to make friends with a group of girls at her new school, but is largely ignored. Sammy further struggles to find time to work at the restaurant to make money to support himself, while he and Christian spearhead an informal hip hop class since it was dropped from the official academy schedule, which becomes popular, although both are near-last and last (respectively) in classes. Abigail recruits two admiring first-year girls to dig up dirt on Grace, who has ranked first in every class after the first week. Grace eventually reveals the reason she left the Royal Ballet School in London was because she caused another girl to have a nervous breakdown and tells Abigail she "do[es]n't care about being the best".

First-year student Ben Tickle is put in second-year classes because of his talent, but gets off on the wrong foot with the students, namely Sammy and Christian, for being judgemental (saying things are "gay") and a little self-absorbed, telling people to call him "Benster"; he initially throws a party for himself on Observatory Hill, but no one attends. Kat helps a group of girls for a high school assignment by making an expressionist music and movement routine, enlisting the help of her dance friends. Sammy comes to the decision that he has to work out his feelings, but tells Christian all is good between them. Grace and Abigail both make attempts to become better friends, initially struggling, but bond through Grace's idea to have fun by tricking people into giving them things for free (Abigail pretends to faint from low blood sugar while Grace calls for help and food; Abigail pretends to be Vanessa Hudgens to a new employee at a dress shop to get free clothes; and both pretend to be lost Swedish girls to a police officer to get a free ride back to the academy). The episode ends with Kat having made new friends, Sammy giving Ben a talking to about his personality and how his words could offend people, and Ben receiving a proper party with all the students attending.

Saskia begins teaching repertoire class at the academy, and Tara and Abigail compete to impress her. Saskia asks the class to work on their solo pieces, so everyone, especially Abigail (with Grace's help) begins looking to find a good routine to do, while Tara has already chosen The Red Shoes, Saskia's solo when she represented Australia at the Prix de Fonteyn. Saskia then criticises Tara's performance during class, telling her it was "a mess" and later saying she doesn't have the experience, leaving Tara disheartened. Ethan convinces Abigail to dance for a piece he is composing, but still faces his father's harsh judgements, who tells him he isn't ready. Miss Raine discovers Sammy's job at the restaurant, and the two discuss his supporting himself, with Sammy saying he was hoping to get a scholarship the following semester, to which Miss Raine says he will need a tutor.

Ethan changes his piece for Showcase after criticism from his father, adding extra dancers (including Grace), angering Abigail. Christian's street-smart friend Kaylah arrives at the academy, looking for help from Christian (who she calls "Cheds") for her Showcase routine, alienating Tara, who had begun to feel closer to Christian and had been wanting to tell him she loves him. Kat, who has also been told by her parents that her father wants to travel to Berlin to choreograph The Firebird with her mother as the principal dancer, alters Sammy and Ben's "steampunk" tap-dancing entry into a more modern three-person dance piece with herself as a burlesque ballerina being fought for by the two guys, and is offered an opportunity by a talent agent. Kaylah is overcome by last-minute nerves and Tara helps talk her into taking the stage, for which Christian is thankful and unknowingly alleviates her earlier uneasiness by telling her he loves her first. Abigail then closes the Showcase with Ethan's originally-intended solo performance for her to a new piece of music, "The Last Day on Earth".

Sammy's younger brother Ari unexpectedly turns up at the academy with a bruise on his face, but Sammy finds out from a call off their mother that he had a fight with a "mathlete" for taking his spot on his school's hockey team. Kat takes up the talent agent's offer, and accompanied by a keen Ben, attends a football cheerleading tryout before getting a callback. Tara begins having body issues and feeling like she's not attractive enough for Christian and accidentally fake tans herself to excess, but Christian assures her she's fine as she is.

Ben begins to show his feelings for Kat, organising a flash mob to surprise her, with participation from the other second-year dancers. When Sammy informs him that their planned form of travel (via ferry) is not possible due to the drivers being on strike, they hold it on a train, to the fascination of the other commuters. Grace makes things awkward between Abigail and Ethan when she says they obviously like each other, and it begins to ring somewhat true, before Grace makes it known (to Ethan himself) that she in fact likes him. Tara and Christian run into trouble with Miss Raine after being seen out of class, who tells them they are not putting in effort. Tara also finds a picture of Christian's parents with him as a toddler on his pinboard, with the section of the photo with his father folded to the other side, so she begins researching Christian's dad to his annoyance and later presses the matter to the point that the two seemingly break up.

Pas de deux exam time arrives, with Tara partnered with Ben, Abigail with Christian and Sammy with Grace. Sammy is hyped with energy (and caffeine) and is still trying to juggle his work priorities with dancing, but in a mind slip, accidentally forgets to lock up at work and allows the cash to be stolen. Tara is still reeling from her break-up with Christian, and tries calling him to help her practice as Ben is unworried (and has BO); meanwhile, Tara takes her and Ben's concerns that Saskia has a grudge against her up with Miss Raine, who brushes her off, telling her she asked Saskia to be hard on Tara due to her seemingly lax commitment to dancing. Christian is unresponsive to Tara's calls, and skips class the next day with Kat (who is struggling with her own exams, having skipped school) to entertain kids at a fairy-themed birthday party, leaving Abigail to do her routine with Sammy, who accidentally lets her fall, causing even more mayhem.

On the last day of semester, the boys (Sammy, Ben and Christian) and the girls (Tara, Abigail, Grace and Kat) all try to have fun without talking about the other, but fail as Christian grows closer to Kat, but further away from Tara. The boys try to get into a club (Kat says to the girls that her agent gave her tickets to get in), but fail to and then visit a tattoo parlour, where Sammy insists he wants a tattoo. When Christian interferes, he, Sammy and Ben come to blows; all then visit the club after Christian and Kat exchange photos and texts (into which Grace had been prying)—the pair later kiss. Sammy, still in dire straits financially and having learned that he has failed all of his exams, says he will call his father for financial support. Christian and Tara finally discuss their uncertain break-up, and decide to take a break.

Sammy is looking to get Youth Allowance to support his dancing until he learns his Grandpa Morrie has died, so he returns home to his family (including his emotionally distant father) and then attends the funeral. Grace and Abigail fall out as friends, so Grace schemes to bring Tara on her side by breaking both hers and Tara's pointe shoes so as to make it look as if Abigail is against both of them and jealous; Abigail is later forced to apologise. Kat avoids Christian and Tara and gets an audition, then an interview and finally accepted to be a part of the Moulin Rouge in Paris. It is also later revealed Sammy's father begins repaying his tuition fees.

Miss Raine introduces Sammy to his tutor—talented, opinionated and uninterested third-year Ollie. Ollie is initially unimpressed by Sammy, telling him to buy him food and not paying attention while Sammy tries to receive constructive criticism. However, after Sammy analyses him, Ollie decides to take Sammy on as a serious protégé. Grace convinces Tara to film her dancing for Saskia, also managing to capture Saskia harshly criticising Tara's performance, who tells her, "You're never going to make it." Grace later convinces Tara to upload it online, where it becomes a viral hit overnight, and comes to the attention of Miss Raine; Tara apologises to Saskia, but defies Saskia's past criticism of her Red Shoes performance by asking Miss Raine if she can perform it at the Prix de Fonteyn. Kat continues practicing for the Moulin Rouge, but arrives late and unprepared. Despite being told she is talented but just needs to work at it, she is let go.

Kat asks Miss Raine if she can come back to the academy, and continues pestering her until she begrudgingly relents—but tells Kat that she must repeat first year as she failed; in the meantime, Ethan assigns Abigail to train Kat for readmission as payment for choreographing her solo. Kat also tells Christian that although she may have feelings for him, she knows that he's only pretending not to still have feelings for Tara, who is literally being pushed to the limit in practice by Saskia, who injures Tara's back by stretching her leg in exaggerated arabesque position to reprimand her. Tara seems to find comfort for her injury from Christian, but he says he won't be guilted into getting back together with her. Tara gets an MRI scan from a non-academy doctor, who tells her she has cracked a bone in her spine, and not to do any high-strain activities—like dancing.

Prix de Fonteyn auditions begin, while Sammy re-takes his dancing exams and Kat dances for Miss Raine to get back into first year. Tara continues practicing despite her injury, and goes to see the non-academy doctor again as her friends become concerned. She eventually decides to tell Miss Raine with her dad present, who tells her she has no choice but to expel her because of her lying about not being injured and the academy's rules about other doctors. Tara also finds out that Kat and Christian kissed, and claims Kat backstabbed her. Saskia asks Abigail to audition with The Red Shoes, but after Abigail sees that Saskia is jealous of Tara's talent, she refuses, and auditions with Ethan's piece. Kat is also accepted back into first year.

Tara is taken home by her father, who wants to get an opinion on her back injury from their family doctor. Tara's friends begin calling her, offering support—even Ethan and Abigail, and later, Christian. Kat tries to integrate herself with the first-year dance students, who see her as an outsider due to her past uncommitted attitude to dancing, but their idol Abigail tells them to accept her. Tara visits St. Vincent's Hospital, where Ben is coincidentally volunteering and helping children with leukemia put on a play involving space dog Laika called Space Rescue Mission Adventure. She soon discovers from a nurse that Ben was a patient in the past, and after the play finishes, asks Ben to back her up in telling the academy that Saskia caused her injury (as he was also present during the practice session), to which he agrees.

Ethan is offered the chance of choreographing a fringe musical, for which he recruits Abigail, who also practices singing for the role. Tara arrives back at the academy, having recovered enough to present her case against Saskia. Although Miss Raine offers Tara her position again, Tara refuses to accept it as Saskia is unrepentant and denies she did any wrong. After the second-year dancers become hostile and make sarcastic remarks to Saskia, she resigns and heads home to Perth, but despite still not apologising to a returning Tara, tells her she'll be jealous of new dancers one day too, to which Tara says she will never do what Saskia did, because although she loves ballet, she won't let it destroy her. After a party on a yacht for him, Ethan is offered a job opportunity in Barcelona, and bids a tearful goodbye to everyone.

The second-year students are asked to perform a piece expressing what made them who they are—Tara's piece is influenced by a critical Grace, while everyone learns from Tara that Ben had leukemia, so he changes his initial performance (pretending to be a red blood cell) to an upbeat number to deflect the pity he says he became a dancer to get away from. Sammy travels to the Regional finals of the Prix de Fonteyn as he missed the Preliminary round in the city, taking a road trip with Ollie and Christian, whose father, Raf, unbeknownst to the others, runs his own custom surfboard shop in the area. Sammy auditions and gets in with Ollie's help. Ollie is also revealed to be gay and admits to Sammy he likes him. Christian visits his dad, and the two talk about Christian's mother. His dad later gives him a surfboard as well as his number. Arriving back at the academy, Christian visits Kat and kisses her, and dances a piece influenced by his dad.

After the first-years flour bomb the second-years in the middle of the night, both years become competitive and schedule a hip hop dance-off. Sammy recruits Ollie's help, saying he is the best hip-hop dancer at the academy, while both years practice their moves and throw parties (the second-years' party being quiet and relaxed compared to the first-years' upbeat dance party with glowsticks and a hot tub), with Tara, whose attitude has been influenced by Grace, drunkenly confronting Christian and Kat at the party, and trying to kiss Ben, but ends up throwing up and being given advice by Miss Raine. Before the eventual showdown (at which the second-years win), Ollie and Sammy kiss.

Ballet teacher Zach wants to get all of the students re-enthused about dancing after the mid-semester break, so he takes them to a circus to help them learn to trust their bodies and "trust each other"; the bonding helps Tara and Kat reunite fully. Sammy announces to his friends that he and Ollie are dating, getting a mostly positive reaction, but was pressured having learnt that Ollie already told his friends, and being somewhat "outed", Sammy stresses, initiating an argument and premature split between the two. Christian's dad Raf turns up at the academy and circus hoping to further bond with him, telling him that he will take him to get his learner's license, but reneges on his offer.

Abigail, having trouble with Zach's practice, is sought by Finn, the producer of the musical Ethan was initially choreographing, and new director Mistii, who both pretend to be planning to cast a ditzy blonde (Mistii) in the lead role, and after discovering their ploy, accepts it is suited to her. Grace becomes bored with dancing she considers beneath her natural ability, and seeks Zach out for more complicated practice. Tara looks around to find a new crush, and after doubting him because of his friendly manner, settles on a disconcerted Ben.

As a cold goes around at the academy (which Miss Raine, Abigail and Ben have), Abigail discovers an email while waiting in Miss Raine's office that ranks the students' viability for Nationals, giving them either a tick (Tara, Grace and Christian), a cross (Sammy and Abigail) or a question mark in Ben's case, who feels as if this mirrors his life as he waits for the results of his leukemia biopsy check-up; the email, having been sent around, incites the students and angers the teachers. Meanwhile, Sammy is annoyed by criticism from Ollie, Grace is enjoying her intense practice with Zach a little too much, and Abigail's ballet teacher mother Anthea arrives at the academy, revealing family troubles and wanting Abigail to dance her old Helen Keller role, but Abigail feels torn over this and her musical role, which she later quits.

The Academy students experience stinging prejudice from the judges during the National Round of the Prix de Fonteyn, just as Sammy's father visits the competition to watch his son dance for the first time in years.

Grace's father retracts a promise to visit her at the Academy, her self-assurance spirals. Grace continues to make a play for Zach's attention, leading her to manufacture a serious accusation. Christian's resolve to bounce back from his Prix de Fonteyn elimination drives him toward some reckless behaviour.

During rehearsals for 'Peter Pan' Ben tries a variety of tactics to prove to Tara that he's a leading man, while Kat's efforts to research her character in the production lead to a realisation about her relationship with Christian.

Sammy decides to alter his Prix de Fonteyn solo one day before the start of the International Round while Tara is stunned as Grace has returned to Sydney as a representative for the UK Prix team. The students' lives are changed forever when a tragedy strikes the Academy.

After a sudden tragedy, the Academy students must find a way to come together and help each other out in this time of darkness.

Abigail and Tara join forces to go head-to-head with a formidable enemy. Christian has to choose between the girl he loves and his desire to escape and Ben is offered an opportunity of a lifetime.