Dubai's private schools have been ranked ninth globally for mathematics, it was announced on Thursday.
They came 14th worldwide in science, and 13th in reading in the Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) 2022 report,
Singapore topped the world in maths, with Macao, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Estonia, Switzerland and Canada also in the top 10 for the subject.
Pisa is an international assessment of 15-year-olds' performance in reading, maths and science carried out every three years. It was launched in 2000.
The announcement was made by Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, Crown Prince of Dubai.
“The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) announced the ranking results of its Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa 2022) in 81 countries and regions around the world, evaluating skills in mathematics, science and reading,” Sheikh Hamdan wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“Dubai’s private schools ranked ninth globally in mathematics (in 2009, Dubai schools were ranked 38th globally in mathematics). In addition, private schools in Dubai ranked 14th globally in science and 13th globally in reading.
“We extend our gratitude to the dedicated educational staff and express our appreciation to the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) for their efforts and diligent follow-up.”
Pupils at Dubai's private schools had an average score of 497 in mathematics. compared to top-place Singapore's 575, in the Pisa report.
There has been an unprecedented drop in maths, reading and science skills around the world in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, the new rankings revealed.
In 2022, close to 700,000 pupils from 81 OECD member and partner economies, representing 29 million across the world, took the Pisa test. This edition was delayed by a year due to the pandemic.
Pisa scores act as a metric to compare quality, equity and efficiency in learning outcomes across countries.
The latest Pisa study revealed that pupils in the Middle East continued to be outperformed by their peers in other developed countries.
In the UAE, 2022 results were about the same as in 2018 in maths and science, but fell compared to 2018 in reading.
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Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
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180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
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