GEMS Education owned, UK curriculum based Winchester School, located in Jebel Ali, is home to 3,612 boys and girls, aged between three and 18 years. The single largest demographic is Indian, but the school had students from just under 90 different nations including those from Pakistan, Arab countries, Asian countries and The Philippines.

The decade old school employs 202 teachers and 86 teaching assistants, all “well qualified and suitably experienced” according to the KHDA, Dubai’s education regulator. Most teachers, like the student body itself, are recruited from India and Asia in general.

Approximately 20 per cent of the students study Arabic as a first language. Around 2% of students have been identified as needing some form of SEN attention.

The school describes itself as “highly affordable”, and it is almost certainly one of the best value schools offering an EYFS and England and Wales based curriculum – see fees below. Students are entered for external Cambridge, UK IGCSE, AS and A-Level examinations in the upper school phases. The school has also recently introduced Business and Technology Education Council (BTEC) vocational courses for post-16 students.

The school seems to have removed its latest examination results from its web site. Previously it had provided some detail on its results, if haphazardly, and not up to the level of other GEMS schools. In terms of IGCSE examinations the school claimed for 2012 a 70 percent pass rate of five, A* – C grades. This is normally the minimum requirement for further studies (although normally requirements include these include Maths and English). At AS Level the school claimed an 80% pass rate, while for A’ Level examinations the school says it achieved a 97% pass rate. However its actual A* to B pass rate at A’ Level was 38%.

The Winchester School does provides some detail on university destinations. Most school leavers, interestingly, seem to go to universities in the UAE, but destinations also include junior to mid ranking Canadian, U.S., UK, and Indian institutions.

Despite the sketchy academic details in terms of results, The Winchester School in Jebel Ali’s progress levels and attainment are rated Good, pretty much across all phases of the school, for the core subjects of English, maths and science.

The school has a reasonable level of facilities (although not perhaps up to the level of GEMS’ top end schools). They include well equipped classrooms, a multi-purpose Auditorium, a variety of sports fields to encourage specialised learning in different outdoor games, music and art & craft rooms, and two well-resourced libraries. Extra-curricular activities seem limited, and very much focused on sport – basketball, cricket, tennis, and soccer in particular.

Feedback to WSA via its School Survey has been decidedly mixed. The school has thus far not performed particularly well in an assessment of its academic performance by parents, or in the level of feedback provided to parents. That said, survey results are still limited in number. If you are a parent of a child at Winchester, we encourage you to complete the School Survey. The questionnaire may be found here.

Feedback to the KHDA seems a little more positive. Parents agree their children are making good progress in English. They are less positive about progress in Arabic for native speakers. Most agree children make good progress in Islamic Education, mathematics, science and Arabic as an additional language. Moreover parents report children enjoy school, that they are looked after and feel safe in the school and on the buses. Parents say students are respected, valued and treated fairly. Most parents think that the school is well led.