Eton-educated David Cameron was mocked earlier this year for suggesting the Palace of Westminster looked like a school, but the resemblance was there for all to see as the new MPs gathered for their first assembly.
There were the fresh-faced newcomers looking slightly lost and bemused by it all, a buzz of chatter as the more experienced members exchanged tales from their break and sized-up the latest intake, a welcoming speech from the headmaster as Speaker John Bercow was re-elected, and a squabble over the seating arrangements.
Unlike school, however, it was the benches at the front of the class that were most in demand, as the new cohort of SNP MPs staked their claim to an area traditionally occupied by the “Awkward Squad” of Labour veterans, most notably Dennis Skinner.
Marshalled by Perth and North Perthshire MP Pete Wishart, the group reportedly took turns to guard their territory throughout the morning, but were out-foxed by Labour’s Kevan Jones, who took advantage of a security sweep to claim the corner seat for Mr Skinner.
Sir Gerald Kaufman, the longest serving MP and therefore “Father of the House”, has the right to sit in any seat, and chose to join Mr Skinner on the SNP’s front bench, alongside the party’s Westminster leader Angus Robertson and others.
The mishmash extended right across the opposition side of the Commons as the various parties struggled to adjust to their new roles in the parliament.
The SNP’s Mhairi Black, who at just 20-years-old will have more recent memories of school than any of the others, was perched slap-bang in the middle of the Labour benches, on the second row next to Diane Abbott.
Liberal Democrat Alistair Carmichael cut a lonely figure on the back-benches, meanwhile, with the former Scottish secretary sharing a row with the DUP, SDLP, and a few stragglers from the SNP.
As one of just eight Lib Dem MPs, the Orkney and Shetland representative joked that he was part of an “elite cadre” when he was eventually called to welcome Speaker Bercow’s re-election on behalf of the party.
But the speaker called the DUP and SDLP before Mr Carmichael, having initially appeared to have forgotten about the Lib Dems.
Aberdeen North’s new SNP MP Kirsty Blackman was on the third row, along from members of the Green Party and Plaid Cymru, while her colleague Callum McCaig, the Aberdeen South MP, was behind Mr Robertson on the second bench.
Ed Miliband, Nick Clegg, Boris Johnson and Alex Salmond were among the many high-profile truants as the new term got under way.