Hor Al Anz located Queen International School is a K-12 school providing education in English for 1,257 students boys and girls aged three to 18 years. Approximately 21 per cent of students are Emirati, with the majority of pupils being Arab nationals.

The school follows a UK curriculum based on the National Curriculum for England with IGCSE and then AS examinations taken, but not full A’ Levels (A2s). There are 66 teachers at the school

The school has a relatively low teacher to student ratio with 1 teacher to 17 students.

Academically the school performs well. Students’ attainment and progress in English is rated Good by the KHDA, and their progress is said to be Outstanding in the secondary phase. Both Maths and Science attainment were a mere Acceptable in the Foundation and Primary phases, but Good and Outstanding in the Secondary or Post-16 phase. Students’ record significant successes in their external examinations.

Parents themselves feel welcome at the school and the senior leaders are said to be proactive in resolving matters of concern (source: KHDA).

All in all quite positive, which does not explain the school’s Acceptable KHDA rating – a level below the standard the Dubai education regulator expects. Queen International has now held the Acceptable rating for a third year in a row. It is a significant slip from three Good ratings held by the school between 2008-11.

According to the KHDA the school needs to work on both the attainment and progress in most key subjects in the Foundation Stage and primary phase.  While some cross-curricular links were being made this was inconsistent across the subject areas. The school needs to further improve its use of assessment data when planning learning activities that address the needs of different groups of students, and also to ensure that there is specific expertise to improve the methods of identifying and supporting students with special educational needs (SEN). According to the report there was insufficient advice for students as they progressed beyond the school.

Approximately 12 percent of the students had been formally identified by the school as having some form of SEN requirement; however, provision for SEN students is unsatisfactory and no appropriate assessment, differentiation or consistent support is available.

While the school promotes healthy eating and a healthy lifestyle well – ensuring healthy snacks even for students’ snacks, systems for promoting attendance and punctuality are inefficient.

In feedback from parents and students, the school is said to be lacking in the breadth of its extra-curricular activities. Students, particularly in the high school according to the KHDA, indicate that they would “welcome more extra-curricular activities to enrich the curriculum… Only a minority of parents and students indicated that students could choose from a range of interesting extra-curricular clubs and activities…”