20 Affordable British Schools In Dubai

Schools AED 30,000 and Under...

The Alpha School

Curriculum: UK
Years: FS1 to Year 6
Fees: AED 19,750 to AED 28,500
KHDA Ranking: Not Applicable
Location: Al Qusais
Website: here

The Buzz: Launching in September 2017, Alpha boasts a highly respected principal and pioneering integration of classroom tech.

What the KHDA says: New school/not Applicable

The WSA parent survey: New school/not Applicable

What the school says:

"Our curriculum upholds the rigorous standards of the National Curriculum for England, whilst encompassing and celebrating the uniqueness of our host nation and culture. Teaching and learning embraces the best practices from leading educational frameworks to provide a world-class education.

Inquiry methodologies feed the natural curiosity of our students and facilitate their discovery of understanding. Learning is linked to local and global issues to provide students with opportunities to effect positive change in the world. True depth of learning is achieved through relevance, purpose and impact.

Principles are central to the development of the whole child at Alpha. Core values drive who we are and all we do and self-reflection is common-place as we model and promote reflective learning."

Read the WhichSchoolAdvisor.com full school review: here

Al Salam Private School

Curriculum: UK
Years: Foundation to Year 12
Fees: AED 12,931 to AED 28,903
KHDA Ranking: Good
Location: Al Ghusais
Website: here

The Buzz: Al Salam was our surprise achiever in the 2015 GCSE results, and then proved it was no fluke when the school did it again in 2016 with an impressive 77% A* to C pass in A Level and a staggering 72% A to A* in the 2016 GCSE results.

Last year, Al Salam came a close second to Dubai College (99.7 percent), with a staggering 99 percent success rate in A* to C grade passes. In the A* results, Al Salam once again fell just short of the UAE leader Dubai College (40.8%) with 40 percent.

What we say: We just cant say enough about this great little school. With  'visionary' principal, Sue Johnston at the helm (voted one of our WhichSchoolAdvisor.com Education Influencers 2017) now for 27 years, teacher retention is good and the school consistently achieves excellent exam results.

In addition, Al Salam's SEN provision is nothing short of pioneering and sits very much at the core of the school's principles. Visit Al Salam and you find energised teachers, happy kids and a positive environment.

What the KHDA says: Al Salam scores not only 'Good' ratings across all KHDA indicators throughout its 2017 inspection report, but there's a serious haul of 'Very Good' to 'Outstanding' ratings once again too. Of note is the Outstanding maths attainment and progress at Post-16 level and the clear improvements this year in the curriculum.

The WSA Parent Survey: According to our parent survey- parents at Al Salam are very happy with almost everything at the school. From sense of belonging to confidence, to value for money and curriculum adaption. The only concern of note, is parents do think there is a bullying issue at Al Salam. 

What the School Says:

"[Regarding SEN provision], in keeping with Al Salam’s vision to provide a holistic and inclusive learning environment, the school has adapted an education set up where equal opportunities are given to learners in a least restrictive and non-segregatory environment. The department consists of the School counselors, SEN educators and the Learning Support staff who function in collaboration and consultation with academic coordinators, co-curricular coordinator and the clinic."

Read the WhichSchoolAdvisor.com full school review: here

Newlands School

Curriculum: UK
Years: FS1 to Year 6
Fees: AED 19,200 to AED 26,400
KHDA Ranking: Not Applicable 
Location: Al Warqaa
Website: here

The Buzz: A highly affordable new school boasting some really rather good facilities.

What the KHDA says: New school/not applicable

The WSA parent survey: New school/not applicable

What the school says:

"We get to know every child and every family. We develop with you an understanding of your child’s signal strengths, using innovative research tools. We try to help remove hindrances and blockages to learning. We follow-up if things don’t work out right the first time.

Our class sizes are smaller than our competitors, so that teachers can get to know the class and give each child more time. Our fees make it possible to study the full English curriculum without facing the burden of those high charges at Dubai’s most expensive schools. We employ staff for their subject knowledge as well as for their teaching ability.

We encourage competition that helps students to ‘go for it’ and ‘be the best’. We firmly believe that children should have the opportunity to be creative, innovative and enterprising. We think of ourselves as facilitators so they become imaginative, flexible, problem-solving, responsible and resilient.

Read the WhichSchoolAdvisor.com full school review: here

Name: Dubai Scholars Private School

Curriculum: UK
Years: Foundation to Year 12
Fees: AED 14,857 to AED 30,562
KHDA Ranking: Good
Location: Al Qusais
School Website: here
The Buzz: Scholars boasts Oxford University, University College London, New York University, imperial College, Kings College London and many more among its alumni placements.

Dubai Scholars is no slouch, as one of the oldest schools in the country it also holds a pretty impressive 2015 exam result haul, with 96 percent of IGCSE students obtaining a A* to C grade, while thirty six percent of students obtained an A* grade.

In 2017, a Year 9 student, Aarohi Pillai, scored a perfect 100 percent in the IBT assessment for English language, making her the best performing student in the Middle East.

What the KHDA says: With its favourable teacher:student ratio of 1:15 plus a seven year run at 'Good' status, Scholars is doing more than a few things right. Once again, the Foundation stage has let the rest of the school down with its four 'Acceptable' ratings, without these, the rest of the school is clearly rated 'Good' through to 'Outstanding.'

The WSA Parent Survey: According to our survey parents are very happy with everything at the school. The majority would recommend the school to others and 62 percent think the education is on a par with, or better than, what they would receive at home. 

What the School Says:

"Our graduates are curious, fearless, independent thinkers — aware of their environment and the needs of the world they live in. They have a global perspective, academic rigour, and a healthy body. They are confident in expressing themselves in multiple languages — publicly and in large groups."

Read the WhichSchoolAdvisor.com full school review: here

GEMS Founders School

Curriculum: UK
Years: FS1 to Year 9
Fees: AED 20,900 to AED 27,550 (reduced static fees for 2017/18 academic year)
KHDA Ranking: Not applicable as Founders is a new school
Location: Al Barsha
Website: here

The Buzz: Although this school has no KHDA rating and won't have for two more years, it hasn't stopped the stampede of Dubai parents through Founders' doors.

The Founders' launch was one of the most successful in years, with estimates of over 1,800 students signed up before the school even opened.

Based on the hugely popular and successful GEMS Cambridge and Winchester models, Founders brought affordable UK education into the epicentre of premium school territory, Al Barsha South. In the process it gave cash strapped parents in the area an affordable option from the well-known GEMS stable.

The WSA Parent Survey: Parents at Founders are EXTREMELY happy with the education they are receiving from the school. To date, no parent who has taken our survey has considered moving their child, 100 percent either partially or entirely agree that the fees represent good value for money and 100 percent would recommend their school to other parents. To read the full results see here. 

 Read the WhichSchoolAdvisor.com full school review: here

Queen International School

Curriculum: UK
Years: KG1 to Grade 12
Fees: AED 14,381 to AED 26,969
KHDA Ranking: Good
Location: Deira
Website: here

The Buzz: With a staggering 31 individual indicators improved in this year's inspection report, the KHDA (and WSA) believes Queen is certainly doing something right!

What the KHDA says: The few Acceptable ratings at Queen remain in the Foundation section, while the other sections especially Secondary have improved considerably. Secondary at Queen is now considered Very Good to Outstanding in the core subjects while Primary and Post-16 are rated Good to Very Good.

The WSA parent survey: Parents at Queen are positive about the school, 50 percent say the expectations at the school are high, all believe the standard of education received at Queen is on a par with or better than that of their home country. 

What the school says: "Queen International School is committed to active, reflective, creative learning. We believe learning is maximised when it takes place in an environment enriched with support, encouragement and assistance. We celebrate the pursuit of lifelong learning and are committed to nurturing high self-esteem and respect for others. We believe that everyone can learn become better thinkers and independent learners. An integral part of our learning process will have our school community learning how to ask questions, solve problems and make thoughtful decisions. 

Read the WhichSchoolAdvisor.com full school review: here