Dubai changes school inspection process as 26 improve in latest results

Only new schools will be inspected during the 2024-25 academic year

Children arrive for the first day of school after the summer holidays at Dubai British School Jumeirah Park. Chris Whiteoak / The National

Assessment of private schools in Dubai will change next year, after 23 were rated "outstanding" and 48 "very good" in the 2023-2024 academic year.

This is up from last year, when 20 private schools were rated "outstanding" and 39 "very good", but the process will change in 2024-2025 as schools will not have full inspections unless they are new and have completed their third year of operations.

This year, 209 schools with more than 360,000 pupils enrolled were inspected by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority, Dubai’s private education regulator. Of these, 10 schools were inspected for the first time.

The KHDA published its annual inspection results on Friday and revealed that 81 per cent of pupils at the city’s private schools attended schools rated "good" or higher, up from 77 per cent last year.

Three schools in Dubai were added to the list of those recognised as "outstanding" by the emirate's education authority.

Safa Community School, Dubai British School Jumeirah Park and Lycee Francais International are the latest to be named among Dubai's most highly ranked schools.

Aisha Abdulla Miran, director general of the KHDA, said: “The continuous improvement by the schools indicates their commitment to offer high quality educational opportunities for students.

“Our schools are among the world’s highest performing, according to international assessments, ranking sixth for literacy in Pirls (The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study), top 10 globally for maths, and top 14 for science and reading in Pisa (Programme for International Student Assessment) assessments.

“These results reaffirm Dubai’s competitiveness as a world-class destination for education."

Gems Founders School in Al Barsha and Swiss International Scientific School are among the schools that improved from a rating of "good" last year to "very good" this year.

Of the schools inspected, 85 were rated "good" and 51 "acceptable", while two were rated "weak" and no schools were rated as "very weak".

Overall ratings improved for 26 schools, while three schools declined.

Rebecca Coulter, principal at Dubai British School Jumeirah Park, previously told The National that her team had worked hard to improve their KHDA ratings over the years to reach an outstanding grade.

"We did a huge amount of work on the quality of teaching and learning, particularly looking at student progress and lessons and the quality of lesson planning," Ms Coulter said.

"I suppose it is a reflection of the hard work that's been put in from our senior leaders and our teachers to ensure that the quality of teaching is excellent.

"Our GCSE and A-Level results and our external assessment results are consistently outstanding."

Wellbeing provision was a strong focus, with 83 per cent of schools rated "good" or higher in this category.

No inspections in next academic year

Private schools in Dubai will not have full inspections during the 2024-2025 academic year, with the exception of new schools that will complete their third year of operation during the next academic year.

The Dubai Schools Inspections Bureau's team will conduct quality assurance visits that target focus areas to monitor schools’ progress on improvement plans during the next academic year.

Schools that wish to undergo a full inspection may submit a request to the inspection team, which will be subject to review and approval upon the KHDA’s discretion.

Year-on-year improvement in education standards

The KHDA's inspections report found that 75 per cent of schools were rated good or better, an improvement from 72 per cent last year and a huge improvement from 35 per cent in 2008-09.

The report also revealed that there has been an increase in the percentage of schools rated "outstanding" and "very good". This percentage had increased from 20 per cent in the 2015-2016 academic year to 34 per cent in the 2023-2024 academic year.

Tuition fees may go up

Some private schools in Dubai will be allowed to increase tuition fees by up to 5.2 per cent in the 2024-2025 academic year, the emirate's private education regulator said.

• Schools that maintained their inspection ratings will be eligible to raise tuition fees by up to 2.6 per cent.
• Schools that dropped in the annual inspection ratings will not be eligible to apply for any fee increase.
• Schools that improved their rating from “weak” to “acceptable” and from “acceptable” to “good” can increase fees by up to 5.2 per cent.
• Schools that moved from “good” to "very good” can increase fees by a maximum of 4.55 per cent.
• Schools that improved from “very good” to “outstanding” can apply for a 3.9 per cent rise.

The increases have been calculated based on an Education Cost Index, issued by the KHDA.

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