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 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.  It is not yet clear which year groups will open initially – our guess is at least full primary 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.

However, given the excellent KHDA ratings for both Dubai British School Emirates Hills, and Dubai British School Jumeirah Park, we would not be entirely surprised to see an opening to Year 10, enabling students to work towards their IGCSE examinations in 2025 and A Level/BTEC examinations in 2027.

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 – 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 have not yet been shared, but we would expect them to be in the premium range. Fees at Dubai British School Jumeirah Park (the newer of the two schools) range from AED 42,000 for Rising 3s and AED 50,000 for Foundation Stage to AED 75,000 for Year 13.

WhichSchoolAdvisor.com is in direct contact with Taaleem and expects to be able to add considerably more detail to this review within weeks. If you would like more information on Dubai British School Jumeira, please keep tabs on this review which will be updated further as soon as relevant permissions are in place and further details can be shared.

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