Epsom College bosses aim to open several more branches in the Gulf on top of the two already announced in the UAE, reflecting a sharp increase in the number of British private schools in the region.
It has been confirmed a mixed-gender K-12 Epsom College campus will open in Abu Dhabi in September 2028, with a school in Dubai following two years later.
To be established in partnership with Nema Education, each branch will host 2,000 to 2,500 pupils and will open at a time when the UAE population is forecast to continue growing, fuelling demand for school places.
Among others set to open is a Dubai branch of Rugby School, an institution in central England known as the birthplace of the sport of rugby, in association with Aldar Education.
Queen Elizabeth’s School will open next month in Dubai Sports City. Its UK parent institution is a state school, albeit a selective one founded in 1573 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I.
Harrow Dubai, owned and operated by Taaleem Holdings, is due to open next year. Taaleem will pay a fee to use the name and badge of Harrow, one of England’s most prestigious private schools.
That will be followed by Harrow Abu Dhabi on Saadiyat Island, which, as well as taking day pupils, will break new ground for the UAE by acting as a boarding school. Other Harrow branches are set to open elsewhere in the Gulf region.
Next year, a branch of Gordonstoun – the Scottish school attended by King Charles III – will open on Jubail Island and King’s College School Wimbledon will also welcome pupils in Abu Dhabi in 2027.
The burst of openings represents an acceleration. Repton Dubai, linked to an English private school, opened in 2007, while branches of Brighton College, a private school on England’s south coast, opened in Abu Dhabi in 2011, Al Ain in 2013 and Dubai in 2018.
Writing on the School Management Plus website last year, Dr Mark Abell, a lawyer who has advised UK private schools on overseas expansion, said that as more British-curriculum schools open in the UAE, the market in Dubai and Abu Dhabi “reached saturation” in the early 2010s and some institutions “struggled to differentiate themselves”.
But with regional economic conditions “improving significantly”, he said demand had grown again, leading to the raft of openings in the UAE.
Yigit Saf, a partner with the consultancy Arthur D Little in the UAE, told The National that the “phenomenal growth of Dubai in particular” was fuelling the demand for K-12 education (from kindergarten to 12th grade). A loosening of regulations regarding international partnerships is another factor, he said.
“Particularly for UK-based schools, there is significant readily available presence because I believe 30 to 35 per cent of pupils today are enrolled in British-based curriculums,” he said. “That means you have a ready market that knows the curriculum and is OK with it. That’s an important aspect.”
Nema Education is one of several investors financing the setting up of British-linked schools in the UAE, where ambitious plans for population growth are likely to mean that demand for places will grow.
The Dubai Urban Master Plan 2040, for example, is based on the forecast that the emirate’s population will increase to 7.8 million by the end of the next decade, almost double the current figure.
Meanwhile, Mark Lascelles, head of Epsom College in Surrey, told The National there is renewed confidence in bringing schools to the UAE.
“We have full confidence in the UAE as a country and as an economy, which is doing much, much better than we are in the UK,” he said.
He said the Iran war has been a worry but added that he never expected the plans to be shelved. “It was a concern that it might delay things,” he said of the conflict. “I didn’t think it would ever stop it. I think that’s because I've so much confidence in Nema and the people I’ve met.”
Mr Lascelles added that Epsom College’s most likely next location would be Saudi Arabia. He said by adhering to “the highest possible standard” he would love to double the number of branches “in the next five to 10 years”.
Although fees have yet to be announced, Mr Lascelles said the schools will be “a premium product”.
“You can have it all,” he said. “It’s almost a given you will get excellent academic results, but you will also have time for your child to discover who they are and what they’re good at. And you know they’re going to be exceptionally well looked after and be presented with countless opportunities.”
Education at such schools, where the well-known name often acts as what Mr Saf describes as “a differentiator”, is not cheap.
“Obviously it comes at an expense, which is quite significant, but on balance what you are prioritising is not cost, but rather success,” Mr Saf said.
British private schools are also looking for new sources of revenue, after the UK Labour government introduced 20 per cent VAT on such institutions at the start of last year.
While a local investor typically pays to build and run the school, taking the “operational risk”, Mr Saf said the British parent institution still has some involvement.
“It’s not just fire-and-forget for the UK-based institutions,” he said. “It cannot be the case because they have a brand to protect.”
Referring to Epsom College, Mr Lascelles said he will not “come over and loom over people” but could have a say in selecting the founding head of the Abu Dhabi school.
The Middle East is, Mr Lascelles said, near enough for interschool exchanges of teachers and pupils.
“I’d love these schools to have autonomy but I would also love us to have influence,” he said. “We will design the curriculum. We’ve been heavily involved in the design of the campuses and the school buildings themselves.
“The curriculum will be altered a little bit because it’s the Middle East – not the UK.”
