Post 16 Education – Dubai’s Best Sixth Forms, High Schools
Part 5
The Best International Baccalaureate Schools for the IB Diploma 2020
Schools in Dubai and the UAE expecting their KHDA ratings for 2020
The following school recommendations should be read in conjunction with our Guide to the International Baccalaureate Diploma, here, our Guide to the International Baccalaureate Career-related Programme, here, our Guide to getting into top universities, here, and our our 16 – 18 Education Guide, here.
For many parents the International Baccalaureate Diploma represents the stand-out qualification of our time because it combines exceptional academic rigour with a breadth of study that is unmatched in any alternative qualification. For academic children with strengths in languages we think that it is unarguable that the qualification provides an extraordinarily rich education. To deliver the IB Diploma however, requires equally extraordinarily good schools precisely because of that breadth of study. Schools must have the highest levels of commitment to invest in every child they accept to ensure they secure the Diploma grades necessary to meet their ambitions and potential.
As a result, recommending an IB school for parents carried weighty responsibility – and represents a real achievement for our recommended schools. This said, we must emphasise that the IB Diploma is not a qualification we can recommend for all children, and we believe it is imperative that parents and young men and women, consider carefully the decision to embark on the Diploma because of its demands and breadth. For the right children, in the right schools, the rewards of studying for the IB DP are significant and life-changing.
Our top pure International Baccalaureate schools for IB study in Dubai for 2020 are:
- Dubai International Academy
- Uptown School
Dubai International Academy
Our View: “The first school in the UAE to offer the Geneva based International Baccalaureate (IB), and in full across its Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP) and Diploma Programme (DP), the Dubai International Academy is innovative, well-established and academic. This is a friendly school in which children support each other and share an inspiring appreciation off Dubai and its freedoms.”
KHDA 2019 Rating: Outstanding
Uptown School
Our View: “Subject to all the provisos that must come with any school in phased opening, because of Taaleem’s reputation, the feedback to WhichSchoolAdvisor.com from teachers and students, the breadth and quality of facility provision, and KHDA reporting of outstanding leadership and capacity for improvement, we believe Uptown should make it to the a shortlist of any prospective parents seeking a through IB education for their children. IB DP provision is now established with the first cohort sitting for the Diploma in 2017 – there is all the potential here for an Outstanding, class-leading school in future years. Watch this space.”
KHDA 2019 Rating: Very Good
The School of Research Science is, in my opinion, nothing like as good a school as you suggest. Its student population lacks manners and obedience. I would not recommend this school despite its outward appearance. It looks extravagant on the outside due all the money they spend on it; however that actual educational system and atmosphere is poor.