ADEK Inspection Reports Released for 2022-23
The ADEK inspection reports for Abu Dhabi private schools for the 2022-23 academic year have been published. For the first time, three schools have been 'demoted' from the highest Outstanding rating, whilst one school has been promoted.
In total, of the 251 schools that have been inspected in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 academic years, there are nine schools rated Outstanding, whilst 40 are rated Very Good and 94 are rated Good (the rating to which all schools are expected to aspire), 63 are rated Acceptable and two remain rated Weak.
In common with the first round of post-Covid inspections, in 2021-22, the latest inspections follow an abbreviated format that excluded evaluation of two of the six key performance standards - meaning that 29% of ratings were not taken into account. The inspection reports are also abbreviated, with no commentary on the best features of each school, or recommendations for improvement. Perhaps, most importantly, no explanation as to the reasons behind the improved or reduced overall ratings are given, making it very difficult for parents to understand why their child's school has been awarded the rating.
Among the schools that have lost the highly sought-after 'Outstanding' rating are Aldar Academies' Pearl British Academy (a UK curriculum Primary only school), which was awarded the Outstanding rating in 2019-20, Bloom Education's Brighton College Abu Dhabi, (a UK curriculum all-through school) which was awarded the Outstanding rating in 2018-19, and Taaleem's Raha International School The Gardens (an IB curriculum all-through school), which has been rated Outstanding since 2015-16 and was the only IB curriculum school in the UAE to have achieved the highest rating, aside from Dubai International Academy Emirates Hills in the neighbouring emirate.
The eight schools that have retained the Outstanding rating are Brighton College Al Ain, Cranleigh School Abu Dhabi, Merryland International School, Muna British Academy, Repton Foundation School, The British International School Abu Dhabi, the British School of Al Khubeirat and Yasmina British Academy
The American Community School Abu Dhabi - the only non-UK curriculum school -joins the list of Outstanding schools for the first time.
In addition to Brighton College Abu Dhabi, Pearl British Academy and Raha International School who have joined the Very Good rated schools, other changes in ratings include Liwa International School Al Ain, which joins its sister, Liwa International School for Girls, as Very Good. ABC Private School is promoted from Acceptable to Good, whilst Al Mashael Private School moves down from Good to Acceptable.
