A Dubai Diary: Getting a Dubai School Place...

This is one person's experience on her trials and tribulations on how to get a Dubai school place... This is part one of her Dubai Diary...

I am from the UK, have two children and was lucky enough to have a husband that was offered the opportunity to work in the UAE.

Just to give you a short summary about us: We live in the amazing city of Dubai. We have a daughter who is 10 and currently in Year 5, and a son who is 8 and currently in Year 4.

We have been here for one and a half years, which in school year speak, is one full school year and one term. So you would never think after this short time that we would make the decision to move schools again…

I thought that once the hope of living in Dubai was on the horizon, we would immediately start looking for schools and that we would be ahead of the game! Wrong. If only I knew then that people were listed on school waiting lists for years.

We applied for places in numerous schools and had our eye on a particular primary school. Because we could not secure school places, my husband moved here 10 months before myself and my children. We were then lucky enough to be offered places in our top choice primary school, which my daughter started in Year 4 and my son in Year 2. At this point, I couldn’t believe my luck and thought the waiting game was over…

If only I knew…

On joining the school in September 2012, I was over the moon at how quickly my children settled in. While waiting to move from the UK, while my husband was here, I often wondered if we were doing the right thing. I cannot believe how amazing and supportive both the teachers and the students were and welcomed my children.

From day one they absolutely loved going to school which was quite a drastic change from how they felt in the UK. I think because this is such a transitional place, there is an understanding amongst the parents and children, where everyone is in the same boat and the support system is second to none. If only I knew settling in was going to be that easy.

Our current school is non-profit making, which is a little gem in itself. There are few non-profit schools in the UAE – which I had not realised was something to consider when thinking about my children’s education. I didn’t even think that there would be corporations that built schools purely for the profit – surely not!

I also need to mention at this point that our amazing school is a Primary school which does not have a secondary school attached. I did not think for a moment that this would be a problem. If only I knew…

I spent the first term here totally relishing the newness and enjoying our new-found life. I was often asked how we managed to secure places in our chosen school and how we had been so lucky. I didn’t realise that school places was as immense an issue.

My daughter was in year 4 and I soon realised that after speaking to year 5 and 6 parents there was a panic around Secondary school places – I thought I had plenty of time to worry about this.

I took the advice from Year 6 mums who wished they had moved their children in Year 5.

Once my daughter joined year 5, I started to visit secondary schools. This way, we would start to get a feel for what we wanted to apply for in Year 6. Meeting the Heads and Registrars of several secondary schools in Dubai was an eye opener.

- There is no priority given to applications from our school just because we do not have a secondary school attached.

- I realised the hoops children have to jump through to get a secondary school place. All schools have assessments, but some ask for a Child Resume and a separate letter asking your child to explain what skills they can bring to the school.

- The number of places is extremely limited, especially if there is already a primary school attached to your chosen secondary school, as these children automatically get the places. One school told us that they still had a waiting list of over 200, after the spaces for that year had been allocated.

- When your child is offered a secondary school place, you have a deadline to pay a fee to secure the place (refundable/non refundable approx. AED 5,000, USD 1,400, GBP 900). If you are waiting to hear from your first choice and have got a place in your second/third, you need to make the decision whether to let the place go (and take a chance on your first choice coming up trumps), or pay up!

I decided that my nerves could not take waiting until my daughter got to Year 6 to apply for Year 7, and so I have decided after one year and one term, to transfer my children to another school.

This way, we have plenty of time to get them settled into primary school, and move up with their friends into secondary school.

I appreciate that this would not be everyone’s choice. I have come to learn that everyone here has a different story and is in a different situation so you can never compare yourself. If your school of choice does offer corporate debentures then you are also likely to get your children into your chosen school quickly as companies reserve seats.

This means if you have personally applied your child’s name will be pushed down the list.

One more challenge that we have to overcome is that our company does not include a school fees package for our children. If you are reading this from overseas and are considering a move to the UAE please try to negotiate this. We have had to out rule many great secondary schools simply because of costs. There are some great Secondary schools opening in Dubai in September 2015, that are just the right time for my daughter to complete year 6 in her current Primary school and start Year 7 at a new school.

However as we do not receive school fees within our company package, these are slightly out of our reach.

Another complication is that I am trying to make sure that both my children start at the new school at the same time. Even though my son has time before I need to worry about secondary schools, my stumbling block is that the current and the new school do not have school buses that travel to and from our area.

Dubai traffic is tricky as it is, without the added complication of two children needing to be in a different place at the same time.

When I told my children they would be moving schools my daughter was understandably upset. We arranged for school visits and luckily we found ‘The One’! I knew from the excitement pouring from my children that this was it – we have found the secondary school that ticks all boxes and we do not want to let it go.

I applied instantly as to ensure we were on the waiting list as soon as possible. So that was it – we had made a strategic decision to move our children’s primary school to get the automatic secondary school place. I also applied to two other schools as I did not want to lay my eggs in one basket.

Apparently at one of the schools, I am lucky just to be on the waiting list. Due to the corporate debentures my daughter is currently number 30 and even then this fluctuates as siblings of children accepted may move up the list.

The waiting list for my son is closed for this particular school. If only I knew how difficult it would be just to get on the list!

My daughter was then invited to ‘the one’ for an assessment, with some other children we knew that were listed on the waiting list after us. It was nice to know that there was nothing we could do to prepare our child for the assessment, therefore there was no added pressure for her beforehand. If only I knew that the feeling whilst waiting to hear if we were ‘in’ would be worse than waiting for the outcome of a job interview!

After almost a week I finally got the news I was waiting for - almost...

There were three likely outcomes from the assessment:
1. My child was successful and would be offered a place with the intended start date
2. My child was successful and would be offered a place pending a start date as there was not yet a place available.
3. My child had been unsuccessful

We received notification congratulating my child with an offer of a place, pending a start date as there is no place available. We congratulated my daughter and hid our disappointment at this news as the waiting game was not yet over.

I have also heard that children that were listed after us have been offered a school place with a definitive start date.

I decided to telephone the Registrar to ask if my child had been missed off the list as we had registered first. I was concerned about doing this as I did not want the Registrar to think that I was a pain, and feared we could be moved further down the list.

The response I have received is that the order of registration is no longer applicable after the assessment. The places offered are due to profiling.

What does this mean? The gender of my child? The assessment result? Nationality? Having read the article from a registrar’s point of view, on WhichSchoolAdvisor.com, I now have a firmer understanding of the meaning of this (I strongly suggest you read this if you haven’t already).

Fundamentally, what is important is the child that is leaving the school that creates the space, and being able to match their skills for a balance within the class. Well, I’ll say it again… If only I knew!

As it stands at the moment we are still waiting. My son has now been offered an assessment at ‘the one’ in March. Funnily enough he could end up getting a place before my daughter! I’ll keep you posted…!

-- xx --

Tiffaney has been in the UAE for almost one and a half years. She currently works in a consultancy as an administrator. She is the proud mum of two children, one girl and one boy.