Aero

Hi ,

I am looking to get a kid into Year 2 in a British curriculum primary school. Not anywhere in the emirate but just Abu Dhabi town and immediate outskirts.

I am trying to establish which are the British curriculum schools as there are others eg. American , German I would like to avoid.

I gather the Aldar Academies are British curriculum and are well thought of and these include :

- Yasmina School
- Pearl Primary School
- Al Muna
- Al Mushrif

Other primary schools on my radar are:

- British school Al Khubairat
- Cambridge High school.

Are there any other Abu Dhabi primary schools , British curriculum that are noteworthy ? Thanks.

Jimmy B

My son goes to Al Khubairat and loves it there. The other obvious one not on your list is Brighton College.

archie159

British International School Abu Dhabi (BISAD).
BCAD, as mentioned.
Cranleigh (the most expensive of the lot).
Check also the new-ish Repton Abu Dhabi - I know they only opened some of the early years this year, not sure when the rest open.
Do also a search on this forum - people have posted full lists in the past 9 months or so, there may be one or 2 more I've forgotten.

Aero

Thank you chaps , I'll try a search.

It's great when a kid loves school Jimmy and BSAK was highly rated in the WhichSchoolAdvisor review by ADEC regulator for what that's worth.

Aero

Ok so I think I've applied to most now having spent the best part of my Sunday on this , with the exception of :

Diyafah international school

Belvedere

Repton


Maybe tomorrow I'll find the motivation again.

Aero

I have noticed that the GEMS schools ( Winchester , cambridge high school, cambridge international school ) seem to have much lower fees compared to the rest at around 20k AED annually vs. 55,000AED. Does anyone send their kids to a GEMS school and know why this is ?

Also the GEMS seem to be a reputable organisation. This year they appointed former Eton College head teacher Tony Little as Chief Education Officer.

driftingaway

A number of my British friends here are primary school teachers and senior management in Muna and The Pearl. They are all very dedicated and passionate teachers with strong UK teaching backgrounds.

busybee2

bsak bcad repton cranleigh aldar (muna pearl yasmina bateen mushrif etc) difdrya basma ajyal bisad cambridge high sch cambridge international sch reach british sch.

it will be apply to all and see where you get a place rather than telling you the best schools.... it depends on budget it depends on lots of things.... bsak is the longest non profit british school in auh but aldar was set up on same lines.

Aero

That's 6 I haven't applied to yet , groan. More homework for me, I don't want to risk a kid not being in school.

busybee2

and beliverdere british school too i always forget that one... you are lucky now there are many more to choose from in my day there was only bsak and cambridge high school that was it !

you wont be allowed to not have a child in school other than homeschooling with k12 if you ever want them to get a place in an uae sch etc

Aero

Just applied to Belvedere now. Visits arranged to BSAK, BISAD, Repton for our visit to AD over Xmas hols.

Cranleigh require a 500 AED fee for registration and I haven't submitted that application yet.

Brighton College have an OTT checklist of other docs needed including verification of application for Emirates ID card from sponsor even to accept a registration form , so that's us out for now.

Basma have no 2015 reg form and Reach are not taking 2015 reg forms yet, according to their websites, GEMS Winchester are not taking 2015 applications yet either. I'll be watching these though.

Aero

I also note Ajyal only opened this September and have a 1000 AED reg fee.

busybee2

yep that one was in my list already.

Aero

Yes I know , that's how I came to know of it and thanks. I was merely remarking on how recently it had opened.

busybee2

yep new one this year. but unfortunately beggers cannot be choosers here you must apply to everyone... keep in contact and see if they tell you how big the waiting list and just decide when a place becomes available.