How Well Did UAE Schools Do in Their Exams?

GCSE Results 2015

The UK…
To gain context it is probably best to first discuss 2015’s GCSE results in the UK.

Across the board the A* to C pass rate rose in the UK this year to almost 7 in 10 (69 percent). A*/A passes (21.1 percent) fell 0.1 percent from 2014, while students obtaining A* slipped for the fourth year in a row, to 6.6 percent.

The UK saw around 700,000 students sitting GCSE exams this year; top of the class again was Northern Ireland, with pupils from the province significantly outperforming their peers in England and Wales. Overall, 78.7% of pupils got the top four grades in NI, compared with 69 percent in England and Wales.

The UK’s Top 3
The UK’s top performing selective state school was Henrietta Barnett School with a staggering 100 percent pass rate A* to C and 96 percent A* to A passes.

Students at the UK’s best performing comprehensive, Thomas Telford, acheived 96 percent A* to C passes and a further 39 percent gained A* to A passes.

Wycombe Abbey School came in first for the independent schools with 98.5 percent of students scoring an A or above.

In the UAE

The good news for parents in the UAE is that our data shows that each school that submitted 2015 GCSE results outperforms the UK average in A* to C passes and most are around or above the average for passes at A and above.

With many schools here still in their infancy, (Nord Anglia, Horizon International and Brighton College, all sitting GCSEs for the very first time), WhichSchoolAdvisor.com does not think it is unrealistic to expect most UAE schools to continue to improve their GCSE results over time.

Our initial results for new schools are exceedingly positive. Take Horizon International School for example, (we do not put new schools with a limited set of results on the graph), where students sat only IGCSE Spanish and French, every pupil achieved an impressive A* grade pass. At Nord Anglia the school’s first cohort of exam takers – those taking Chinese, French, German and Spanish IGCSEs – got all As or A*s. Great portents of things to come...

While many are still in what might be considered their ‘bedding-in’ period, others, have been established for decades and need little introduction.

The most celebrated school in terms of academic results, Dubai College outperformed all other schools listed, both in number of students achieving A* to C passes (99.7 percent) and A and above (79.3%). With almost 40 years in the business and a rigorous student selection policy, DC really should know how to get great results - and it does. Its performance is at the upper echelons of UK private schools.

The biggest surprise of the 2015 results has to be those of Al Salam School. While for many parents the school is likely not even ‘on their radar,’ this little gem is long established, small and highly affordable (Dhs14,910 to Dhs27,360) with an exceedingly active SEN department and predominantly non-UK teachers. However, the school’s dazzling 2015 IGCSE results speak for themselves- sitting only a fraction below those of Dubai College.

Overall, the UAE pass rate at A* to C grades highlights a positive and cohesive picture with almost all schools significantly outperforming the (state and independent school) UK average of 69 percent.

All the schools measured at A* and above, scored better than the UK average (21 percent), while many were actually more than double this (Aldar Academies 42%, DESC 44.4%, GEMS Wellington 46.6%, Dubai British School 47.7%, JESS 51%, Brighton College 52%, Jumeirah College 59.6%, and Dubai College 79.3%).

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