At risk of derailing the thread I would say he was definitely asking others to collude in his deception - teachers, pupils and his mum.
Spoilers ahead:
The pupils were uncomfortable straight away but were reassured by those in authority that he was supposed to be there, had been in a car crash in Canada hence his aged appearance (??) that had killed his opera singer mother (complete fabrication) and his dad was an internationally renowned professor based in London (no-one fact checked). The kids were even immediately suspicious of his fake name considering it had been all over the news not one month prior.
His account made it seem he was quite comfortable getting power over other people and he came across quite manipulative imo. I'm sure his main goal was to get back to medical school but why did he drop out again almost immediately? His deception was all about getting access to teenage kids by pretending to be younger regardless of motive.
Reflecting as adults his peers were mainly surprised that he went out of his way to socialize in school and out of school which was not part of his ruse. They remarked it added a lot of risk when he could've just flown under the radar like he did at the beginning of the year by being an awkward nerd and keeping his head down. By leading the socializing (driving them about illegally, partying including at his own home, going on foreign holidays with minors) and playing the lead role in the school musical he seemed to delight in his deception and enjoy 'hiding in plain sight' as he put it. He was trying to rewrite his awkward 1970s teenage years at the expense of the 90s kids who hadn't consented to spending their time with a 30+ year old man.
The whole episode surrounding the school musical, his peers' remarks, the vintage footage and the fact he kissed a 16 year old girl passionately on stage (more than was required, more than he'd pretended to be comfortable with, than his co-lead was comfortable with/repulsed by in retrospect) and went back in for a second passionate kiss was frankly disturbing. No-one made him sign up to that role or continue with it.
I don't doubt he's incredibly mentally ill but my impression from his own account is that he is/was rather manipulative and enjoyed deceiving people (including minors).