There are very few schools in Dubai to be awarded the KHDA’s Outstanding rating, and fewer still to have made their way up from an Acceptable rating (albeit as long ago as 2008/9) but Dubai International Academy (DIA) is now one of only 16 schools to get the education regulator’s top grade.

DIA is also the first pure play IB school to get the KHDA’s top Outstanding rating.

Located in Emirates Hills along Al Khail road, DIA opened on September 10, 2005 with more than 500 students from 55 countries and an equally diverse faculty of more than 50 members of 18 different nationalities. Today the school is home to 2,072 students from over 80 nationalities, looked after by 156 teachers. No one nationality dominates, but reflecting the UAE, the largest single nationality of students is Indian.

The school’s teacher turnover is currently, we believe, a little too high – currently running at 29%. The teacher:student ratio is 1:13 with the majority of teachers being recruited from the United Kingdom. The school employs  33 teaching assistants.

Dubai International Academy was the first in the UAE to offer the Geneva based International Baccalaureate (IB) all the way from the Primary Years Programme (PYP, KG 1 – Year 6), to the Middle Years Programme (MYP, 11 and 16 years) and finally Diploma Programme (DP, 16-18 years). Across the programmes, provision is provided for students with special educational needs (SEN) and English as a second language (ESL)

Part of the school’s success must come from a decision made as long ago as January 2013 when the school appointed a quality assurance director to ensure standards. In its 2011/12 report the KHDA, Dubai’s education regulator, noted attainment and progress had improved in English, mathematics and science, a comment continued into its 2012/13 and 2013/14 reports.Today it is pretty hard to find a rating that is not either Very Good or Outstanding for English, Maths or Science, for attainment or progress.

According to the school its “IBDP results have been among the best in the region”. The results are impressive, and largely improving.