It’s the final year of school at East High, Albuquerque, and the Wildcats narrowly beat their opponents in the final basketball match for the year. It’s time to think about graduation, the prom and the final school production. School prima donna, Sharpay Evans (Ashley Tisdale), wants to take centre stage but Kelsi (Olesya Rulin), the composer, persuades everyone to work together and put on a great show for their last year. Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) and his girlfriend Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) are given lead roles, much to Sharpay’s disgust.

The end of high school also means that the students face many difficult decisions about their future. For most of them, this means deciding which college to attend. Gabriella is offered a prestigious honours course at Stanford University. Accepting it would mean giving up her role in the performance, missing her prom and separating from Troy. Troy is also torn between basketball – the path his father wants him to take – and the performing arts, which is where his drama teacher thinks he should go.