Creative British School, Abu Dhabi (CBS) opened in September 2014. It is owned by the PACE Group, set up by Dr PA Ibrahim Haji, a philanthropist and Indian businessman who heads businesses and educational institutions in India and the Middle East including Gulf Asian English School, Sharjah, and India International School, Sharjah. Creative British School was the first UK curriculum PACE school and has now been joined by two further UK curriculum schools, one each in Dubai and Sharjah.

The story so far..

The Creative British School is located in the centre of Musaffah’s commercial area. The school’s goal is to provide an outstanding college preparatory educational programme of British Curriculum, using English Language.

The school follows a UK FS-Year 13 structure with the curriculum divided into five parts: Foundation Stage (FS2), Primary (Years 1 to 6), Secondary (Years 7 to 9), IGCSE (Years 10 & 11) and A-Level in Years 12 and 13.

The school states that: “Academic excellence is the goal of any educational institution. We aspire to nurture exemplar scientists, doctors, economists, businessmen and the leaders of tomorrow through our extensive academic programs. We pride ourselves on producing commendable results consistently”.

The school has 888 students supported by 55 (mainly Indian) teachers and 12 teaching assistants. The teacher:student ratio is 1:16 (which is on the high side). and a more respectable 1:22 in other grades. The largest nationality groups are Pakistani, Egyptian and Sudanese.  Approximately 1.25 % of students have SEND requirements. 

What about the curriculum?

The Early Years Foundation Stage curriculum is followed in FS2; the National curriculum of England is followed in Primary and ensures that all students receive the same high standards of education irrespective of which class they are in. From Year 10, students study the IGCSE programme to complete their International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) and sit their examinations at the end of Year 11, followed by A Levels in Years 12 and 13.

Creative British School also believes that interaction outside the classrooms, such as joining interschool competitions leading to international competitions, gives students an opportunity to develop their emotional and social intelligence.

What about the facilities?

Facilities at the school include two computer suites, two sports halls, an outdoor shaded play area, a well equipped Kindergarten play area and an outdoor sports grass turf. Classrooms are provided with smart learning systems (i.e. interactive boards, mobile projectors) to enhance and simplify education. The school offers advanced science laboratories (Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Home- Science), fully networked computer labs, a comprehensive collection of books in the library and creative activity rooms to improve group learning.

What the inspectors say:

The school was inspected in November 2017 by ADEK’s inspection team. The overall performance of the school was rated Good. All 6 key indicators achieved a Good rating compared with the overall status of the school as Acceptable in 2015-16.

In the November 2021-22 inspection, Creative British School was downgraded to Acceptable, one of a very small number of schools deemed to have gone backwards in the inspection process.

The main issues appear to lie with teaching and assessment and, as a result, student achievement where a number of measures were downgraded from Good to Acceptable.

If you would like to read the inspection report - and we strongly recommend that you do so in order to understand the scope of the ratings change - you will find it here.

The Buzz

WhichSchoolAdvisor.com has received very limited feedback from our parent survey which does not enable us to take an overall view of parent satisfaction.

If you are a parent, teacher or student at Creative British School, please share your opinions and experience with other potential members of your community and complete our Survey.

What about the fees?

Fees at Creative British School range from AED 9,660 in FS2 to AED 24,800 in Year 13. This is low fee range for a UK curriculum school.

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