Dubai British School Jumeira will be the third school under the DBS branding to be launched by UAE school group Taaleem following the highly successful original Dubai British School Emirates Hills and its younger sister, Dubai British School Jumeirah Park.

The story so far…

There was much excitement on the education scene in Dubai in the last quarter of 2022 when it was announced that Taaleem, a leading education group in the UAE, was to make a public offering of its shares though an IPO (Initial Public Offering) on the Dubai Stock Exchange. 

The announcement followed some weeks after Taaleem's purchase of Jebel Ali School, one of the most highly regarded and long-established UK curriculum schools in Dubai.

In announcing the IPO, the company indicated that funds raised by the sale of shares would be used to expand further its portfolio of schools – and specifically, that two additional Dubai British School-branded operations would be established. KHDA Outstanding-rated Dubai British School Emirates Hills, the first of the schools, opened in 2005 , whilst Very Good-rated Dubai British School Jumeirah Park was established in 2014. 

The opening of Dubai British School Jumeira has, therefore, been an open secret for several months, but the requirement for approvals from various UAE authorities has delayed an official launch so far.

However, when the sign appeared on the 22,227 square meter construction site in Al Safa, adjacent to Horizon English School and directly fronting the Dubai Canal, this was at last confirmation of the project's go-ahead.

So far, aside from the location, WhichSchoolAdvisor.com can reveal that Dubai British School Jumeira will open for the 2024-25 academic year, and in common with its sister schools, will offer the English National Curriculum.

 Initially the school will open a full primary section from FS1 to Year 6 - and the school will eventually offer FS1 to Year 13. Its full capacity is expected to be approximately 1,600 students.

In April 2023, Taaleem announced that the Founding Principal of the school will be Mr. Lee Hole, who is joining DBSJ from his position as Secondary School Principal at the International School of Phnom Penh.

Commenting on his new role, Mr. Hole said,"As the Founding Principal at Dubai British School, Jumeira, I feel extremely privileged and excited, about the community we are building. I have spent almost twenty years in education, teaching and leading across all key stages and across different curricula. I have benefited from the experiences I have had in educational leadership, in the UK, UAE and Cambodia, the last decade being as a Principal. The contextual, cultural and educational learning, that has been possible from working with excellent teachers and educational leaders in outstanding schools, will be invaluable as I serve the DBSJ community". 

The move to DBSJ will be a return to Dubai for Mr. Hole who was, prior to his move to Cambodia, the Secondary Principal at GEMS' International School Al Khail from 2016 to 2021.

Taaleem as a group, and the DBS schools in particular, have been at the forefront on inclusion in the UAE, and we would also expect this to be a strong feature of the new school.

In addition, both the two existing DBS schools are located at the heart of large communities and have become very much the focus of wider community involvement.  This, again, is something we would expect to see at Dubai British School Jumeira.

Indeed, all of the Taaleem schools –newly purchased UK curriculum Jebel Ali School, US curriculum American Academy for Girls, and IB curriculum Greenfield International School,  Jumeira Baccalaureate School, and Uptown International School in Dubai, together with Raha International School The Gardens  and Raha International School Khalifa City in Abu Dhabi, view engagement with their local communities as an essential part of their role. More recent involvement in the Dubai Government’s public/private Dubai Schools, and the equivalent Charter Schools in Abu Dhabi – all aimed at Emirati families – has intensified this ambition.

In addition to being held in high regard by the KHDA inspectors, parents too appear to be more than satisfied with the two established Dubai British Schools.  

Although feedback from Dubai British School Emirates Hills is relatively limited, of those parents who have responded to our Survey, 86% would fully recommend the school to other parents. Parents give the school an overall rating of 4/5 – a positivity rating of 80%.  

Dubai British School Jumeirah Park parents have provided much greater feedback and, again, 87% of parents would recommend the school to others. The school received an overall rating of 4.1/5 – or an 82% positivity rating.

We believe, therefore, that parents, students and their local community can expect to be well served by Dubai British School Jumeira.  

Fee levels, which were shared in April 2023, are said to be in the 'Affordable Premium range. KHDA approved fees are AED 50,500 (but discounted to AED 42,900 on opening) for FS1 and FS2, Years 1 and 2, whilst those for Years 3 to 6 are approved at AED 57,500 (discounted to AED 49,100).

The discounted fees will apply to Founding families enrolling in the 2024-25 year throughout their child(ren)'s primary education at the school.

Approved fees for  Years 7 to 11, which will open in subsequent years, are AED 68,500, whilst those for Years 12 and 13 are AED 75,700.

By comparison, fees at Dubai British School Jumeirah Park (the newer of the two existing schools) range from AED 50,000 for Foundation Stage to AED 75,000 for Year 13. 

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