2019 Inspections: 17 Dubai Schools Outstanding

The number of Outstanding rated schools in Dubai has risen by three to total 17, while the number of Very Good schools sits at 28. Some 45 schools are now rated in one of the top two tiers of the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau's ratings, out of 209 private schools in total. That is more than one in every five Dubai schools.

Those moving up to an Outstanding rating this year are Horizon English School, after three years of a Very Good rating. Horizon had previously rated Outstanding from 2013 to 2015. The school has seen a swathe of performance indicators improve to Outstanding from the previous inspection. In fact, only one marker remains Very Good - Curriculum Adaptation in its Primary Phase. 

More
2019's Good News Story - School Principals Reflect on the Results
School Fee Increases: Which Can, Which Will?
New Caps for School Fee Increases

Jumeirah English School Arabian Ranches also returns to an Outstanding rating after a single year of being Very Good. The school had also seen improvements across the board, but perhaps most importantly in its assessment. However improvements have come across the key indicators, including in effective leadership, self-improvement and planning.

Kings' School Al Barsha now joins Kings' Dubai as an Outstanding rated school, which makes it two out of three for the Kings' Group. Moreover Kings' Nad Al Sheba has itself moved up a rating and is now is a Very Good school. No group has been as successful in terms of the Dubai inspections. Kings' Dubai is the only school to have been rated Outstanding since inspections began (that is eleven years in a row now). Kings' Al Barsha has, uniquely, followed a perfect arc of improvement - from Good, to Very Good to Outstanding.

While the KHDA has told us it is possible to be rated Outstanding in a first rating, practically no school has achieved that in recent years. Moreover, the requirement to show consistent performance over a number of years seem to make it theoretically impossible to be an Outstanding rated school from Year 1 of inspections.

Dubai English Speaking School (DESS) now joins Dubai English Speaking College (DESC) as an Outstanding rated school. DESS, a truly excellent primary, has often been eclipsed by its sister school, and yet both have been delivering an excellent education consistently - for decades. The combined DESSC was awarded the SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best School of 2019.

Only one school has fallen out of the Outstanding rated schools list this year, Lycee Francais International Georges Pompidou School ( Dubai Branch ) which had achieved Outstanding status for two years in a row. Whilst largely an Outstanding school if measured on KHDA metrics, it has fallen in key areas - Islamic Education and Arabic as a second language. It has also fallen in Curriculum Implementation and Self Assessment and Planning.

Moving up into Very Good rated status, aside Kings' School Nad Al Sheba, are Innoventures owned Raffles International School in Umm Suqeim, and a double for Fortes with Regent International and Sunmarke School Dubai. Ranches Primary School also moves up from Good to Very Good.

Moving from Acceptable to a Good rating this year were Swiss International Scientific School, and Dovecote Green Primary School. The Acceptable rating for both schools had been something of a surprise in last year's ratings.

New to the KHDA rankings this year with a Good rating are Kent College Dubai, The Arcadia Prep School, Clarion School, GEMS Founders, GEMS Al Barsha National School for Girls, GEMS Heritage Indian School, and International School of Creative Science. 

Smart Vision School, Oaktree Primary, Next Generation School and the American School of Creative Science all entered as Acceptable schools.

The 2019 ratings show that UK schools continue to dominate in terms of Outstanding rated schools with 12 of the 17 pure National Curriculum of England and Wales based schools. A further two of the 17 are UK / IB schools. That leaves one Indian school,  one IB continuum, one French and one US school. 

Dubai's Very Good schools are more balanced across curricula, with 5 Indian schools, 9 UK schools, 5 IB schools and 5 blended curricula schools.

In total this year, 18 schools have moved up, 6 have been downgraded. This is especially important in this cycle as it is the changes in ratings that will determine the level schools can raise fees and not the actual band the school falls in. 

Dubai schools that maintain their KHDA ranking for the 2018/19 academic year will be able to increase their fees by a maximum of 2.07% - the Educational Cost Index (ECI).

Private schools whose ranking improves from Very Good to Outstanding will be allowed to increase their fees by 1.5 times of the education cost index value. This is the equivalent of an increase of 3.05% of current fees.

Schools whose assessment moves from Good to Very Good will be allowed to increase their fees by 1.75 . 

Schools which move from Very Weak to Weak or from Weak to Acceptable will be allowed to increase fees by double the ECI, at 4.14% based on the 2018 ECI. 

Four schools moved from ‘Very Good’ to ‘Outstanding’, five schools moved from ‘Good’ to ‘Very Good’, six moved from ‘Acceptable’ to ‘Good’ and three from ‘Weak’ to ‘Acceptable’.

The KHDA reports have been released two weeks early this year. Dr Abdulla Al Karam, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director General of Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), said the early announcement of school inspection results was aimed at giving parents more time to choose better quality schools.

“Ten years back, only 30 per cent of students received ‘good’ or better quality education and today this number has more than doubled to 70 per cent. It is important for us to keep pushing towards better quality education and keep up with Dubai’s aspiration and future needs.”

Dr Abdulla, added, “Choosing a good school that fits the needs of a child is a big responsibility for parents and we want to make it easier. Good education drives the future of our nation and we want parents to realise the important role they play when it comes to selecting schools offering good education.”

This article will continue to be updated through the day as we continue to work through the data. Please bookmark this page, and keep refreshing.

Key Data

More:
2019's Good News Story - School Principals Reflect on the Results
School Fee Increases: Which Can, Which Will?
New Caps for School Fee Increases