News

Now Reading

Dubai English Speaking School expansion: 60-year-old DESS to open additional new primary school in Academic City in 2025

by Tabitha BardaFebruary 22, 2024

DESS to retain the existing primary school site at Oud Metha
An additional new DESS primary school, opening September 2025 (subject to final KHDA approval), will be built on land opposite Dubai English Speaking College (DESC) in Academic City
Both schools will offer a rite of passage to DESC

Dubai English Speaking School (DESS) has announced it will expand to add a second primary school opposite Dubai English Speaking College (DESC) in Academic City, set to open in September 2025 (subject to final KHDA approval).

Despite previous discussions to the contrary, the original DESS primary school based in Oud Metha will be retained.

It was earlier proposed that the new DESS in Academic City would replace the Oud Metha school, but the school decided to retain the original site in response to passionate parent feedback.

Vince Cook, President of Trustees for DESS and DESC, wrote in a letter sent to parents on 22 February 2024:

“The decision comes a year since we first wrote to share our plans with you and follows our consultation about whether to relocate the existing DESS.

“A significant minority of DESS families felt that the primary school should remain in Oud Metha, expressing a strong attachment to our historic school.

“We, therefore, believed it was important to see how we could maintain a presence there and construct a new primary school.”

Going forward, DESS will operate two primary schools in both locations, both of which will act as feeder schools to the popular secondary school, Dubai English Speaking College (DESC) in Academic City. As Mr Cook explains:

“Demand for our style and quality of primary school education cannot currently be met by DESS and going forward, having two primary schools – both with a rite of passage to DESC at the end of Year 6, will ensure a strong, ‘homegrown’ flow of DESS students for the College.”

DESS has been a much-loved primary school in Dubai for 60 years, and is rated Outstanding by the KHDA

Retaining a legacy

DESS is Dubai’s oldest, and first, British school, and was originally established in 1963 by the British Embassy when DESS’s first ten students arrived at a small block of flats to be taught by a British airman ‘on loan’ from
Sharjah RAF base.

Archive photo of DESS when it first opened in 1963

From humble beginnings, the school has grown from strength to strength, with its first Headteacher, Harry Atkinson, being appointed, and the school moving to the historic Oud Metha site in 1967, on land gifted by Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum, former ruler of Dubai.

The school is now celebrating its 60^th year – a significant milestone, and an apt moment at which to announce this new phase of its growth. The school says the new primary school will offer a fresh, new learning environment with modern facilities and lots of space, situated close to the College. Mr Cook said:

“As the oldest British school in Dubai, DESS is currently celebrating its 60th year. It seems the best possible time to announce plans to make sure the next 60 years sees DESSC continue to thrive and flourish as institutions for present and future generations of children, students, parents, staff and trustees.

“Having a primary and secondary footprint in such a prime spot will give us the space we will need for additional growth and expansion, if required in the future. Our Oud Metha site cannot offer this flexibility – and, in celebrating sixty years of DESS (the last 55 of which have been spent at our current site), we owe it to generations of stakeholder’s past, present and future to make sure the next sixty years are as successful as the previous sixty.”

The school has been resolutely not-for-profit since its founding, with all revenue re-invested back into the school for the benefit of children. We understand that the school will remain not-for-profit despite the move, with the full project costs coming from capital funds built up over time.

While the new school has the certainty of remaining fully not-for-profit, it is too early to gauge whether there will be an impact on the fees. The school states:

“We are looking to ensure that both sites will represent great value for money and continue to help us sustain our inclusive ethos and remain a very desirable proposition”.

Parents should note that DESS is a deserved SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award-winning school; one that wowed Judges by the “extraordinary quality” of the education provided to its students in its current home as “one of the most beautiful Primary schools in the UAE.” The school is ranked Outstanding by the KHDA, Dubai’s regulator schools.

Photograph of Dubai English Speaking College showing the main entrance

Both new primary schools will be feeder schools to the popular Dubai English Speaking College secondary

DESS expansion: The facts so far

The school provided a series of frequently asked questions to current DESS and DESC parents, answering some of the key queries on people’s minds:

Will the educational standards at DESS Academic City (AC) be the same as DESS?

“Absolutely. We will aim to deliver the same standards of excellence at both schools. These will be reported in mandatory inspection outcomes and covered by our own internal quality assurance processes.”

What about Fees? How much will they be and is there going to be a difference between the two Primary Schools?

“We will provide this information in the coming weeks but we are looking to ensure that both sites will represent great value for money and continue to help us sustain our inclusive ethos and remain a very desirable proposition.”

Will there be any discounts or similar (eg Founders Fees) for current parents who wish to move their children from DESS to DESS Academic City?

“We are looking at ways to make the move more financially attractive to our existing families. As with the fee structure for the new Primary School, the scale and ‘lifespan’ of these gestures will be communicated to you shortly.”

What is happening to the teachers at DESS? Are they moving to DESS Academic City?

“Where and how the current DESS staff are deployed is still to be determined. We are however very conscious of ensuring that we do not forsake the quality of provision DESS is known for. At the same time, we need to source new staff and will search far and wide to find the most talented and committed people available. Our aim is to make sure everyone we recruit meets the same high standards set by our DESS teachers. Inevitably we envisage both schools to have a mix of current and new staff.”

This is an ongoing story and will be updated as we receive more information.