Dubai Scholars Private School is a private K-12 school located in Al Ghusais, Dubai, taking children from 3 to 18 years of age (KG to Grade 12). The school was established in 1976, making it one of the oldest schools in the country, and currently has just under 1600 students (a reduction on 2011/12). It employs 98 full-time teachers (up 8 on the year) giving it a mid range teacher to student ratio.

According to the school’s 2012/13 report, just over one half of teachers held vocational teaching qualifications according to the school’s KHDA report – a low percentage. With staff turnover (10 percent of teachers are new for the 2013/14 academic year), the balance seems to be moving in the right direction – “a majority” now hold a recognised teaching qualification according to the school’s KHDA report..

The majority of students come from India (67%) and Pakistan.

The school follows the English National Curriculum with both IGCSE and A’Level programs available for (a small number of) senior students. It currently holds an inspection rating of Good from the KHDA, Dubai’s education regulator, which notes its strong performance in external examinations. The school has now held the Good rating from the KHDA for four consecutive years. The school has recently adopted the EYFS for its primary school.

Key strengths of the school include “excellent encouragement of personal and social development of students; Primary and secondary students’ outstanding attainment and progress in English and mathematics; Good attainment and progress in Islamic Education; the excellent behaviour, self-assurance and good manners of students; and the the positive and supportive relationships both between students and students and staff.

Dubai Scholars Private School last published its external examination results in 2012 (as far as we can see). The school achieved a haul of 90 A*s, 95 As, 88 Bs, 29 Cs, 7Ds and 3 Es for 2011/12. Very few Dubai schools could match that tally.

The school has not unfortunately publish its results for A’Level. This is a key bit of information for prospective students and their parents, and WSA strongly encourages all schools to provide this information. Dubai Scholars does not publish the university destinations of its A’Level students. There is a general page on its Web site for the last 30 years – which includes great names – Oxbridge, LSE, etc, but this is less impressive given the timescale.

The school offers a limited range of A’Levels: Accounts, Business Studies, Economics, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics. Clearly the school does not cater for students with a stronger predilection for the humanities. A little unusually, students can take 2 A’ Level subjects per year, rather than the traditional approach of 3 or 4 A’Levels over two years.

According to the school’s KHDA report, parents rate their children’s progress in the key subjects – but not for Arabic as a secondary language. One area of criticism for both students and parents is with the range of clubs and activities available. Clearly Dubai Scholars has a focus on academic success.

Areas the school has been recommended to focus on for further improvement by the KHDA are: Improve students’ speaking and writing skills in Arabic as an additional language, particularly in the primary phase;  Improve the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in the Kindergarten by establishing a
shared awareness and implementation of quality practice in the Early Years; Develop the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and relevant skills both in the classroom and specialist facility; and to develop the teaching and learning strategies to provide further challenge for the more able, and
improve the consistency of support for students with special educational needs (SEN).