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Get ready! Top Schools Awards 2023 to open nominations in October 2022. First New Award for 2023 Announced. Exclusive.
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Top Schools Awards 2023 details announced – timeline released by Awards’ organisers WhichMedia. New Award for 2023 announced today.

WhichMedia, publishers of EdStaticaTM, WhichSchoolAdvisor.com and SchoolsCompared.com have today confirmed the launch and timeline for The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Awards 2023-24. Established in 2016, The Top Schools Awards have established themselves as the definitive awards for schools, leaders, teachers and educationalists in the region.

The 2023-2024 Awards will be the fourth Top Schools Awards held in the UAE.

The full list of the 2023-24 Awards will be published in November 2023. In the interim it has been announced today that The Top Schools Awards 2023 – 2024 will feature at least one new awards category. The first of these is being announced exclusively today:

“The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award 2023 – 2024 for the Best School in the UAE for Bursaries, Scholarships and Care for Parents and Families.”

This award is being announced early in the hope that it will act as a springboard for schools in the UAE to consider scholarships provision and the publication of a transparent bursary framework to assist parents in the rare circumstances of a family facing financial hardship through no fault of their own, as in the case of redundancy, for example. The issue is one that SchoolsCompared has lobbied on since its founding, but is one that has now come very much to the fore following the impacts and experiences of parents during Covid. During this period, the compassion and care of schools for vulnerable families and students was significantly tested – and, in many cases, proven.

Johnathan Westley, Managing Editor of SchoolsCompared, commented:

“Bursaries are a common feature of Tier 1 private schooling elsewhere in the world, but in the UAE schools tend to avoid publishing details of their bursary provision for parents facing financial hardship. Often temporary, parents at these times have no published, transparent framework in place for understanding how schools will help them in these circumstances, or how to open dialogue with their school. This leads to significant worry, sometimes shame, and stress, at a time parents facing unpredicted hardship, need it least.

GEMS_INARTICLE  

This lack of published bursary systems by schools is despite countless examples we are aware of where schools have stepped in to generously support families and students under their care.

The fear of many schools is that by openly publishing a policy on bursaries they could open the floodgates to parents requesting discounted fees. We believe that effectively constructed bursary schemes will avoid this. With this Award we hope to inspire schools to invest more in scholarships and bursary provision, and recognise the many positive impacts these bring to educational quality and resilience, parents and students in the UAE.”

Commenting on the announcement of The SchoolsCompatrted.com Top Schools Awards 2023- 2024, James Mullan, Co-founder of Which Media and The Top Schools Awards commented:

“These Awards play such an important role in UAE education.

We established The Top Schools Awards to recognise the absolutely outstanding achievements of schools, leaders, teachers and educationalists in the UAE at a time in which those achievements were rarely celebrated, or even noted.

We believed, as we do with utter conviction, that the many outstanding achievement of our best schools, teachers, leaders and educationalists should be celebrated to the rooftops – and we wanted to give a voice to parents to share their views and give them the opportunity to recognise those who each day make the difference for them and their children.

As across the educational community we together pull out of the challenges of the Covid 19 years, The Top Schools Awards aims to be a beacon of hope and a force for good, celebrating how schools and educators are building on the outstanding educational opportunities in the UAE for every child.”

David Westley, Co-founder of Which Media and The Top Schools Awards continued:

“Each year we innovate in The Top Schools Awards, and in 2023-2024 we will be focusing on more areas in which schools and educationalists are often overlooked for the profound impact they have on the lives of children and families. More announcements will be made in the coming months.

As an organisation, we were founded by parents struggling to find the best schools for our children. What we learned, very early on, is that there is no such thing as one best school for all children. All schools will be outstanding and perfect for certain children. It is these nuances that we and our judges seek to explore, recognise and celebrate each year.

In 2023, the Awards will be powered by EdStatica, the most powerful and comprehensive education analytics site in the UAE. This will feed real-time and historic data directly into the information assessed by our journalists and independent judging panel.

This 2023 Top Schools Awards will have many surprises to come. It will be the biggest and best yet.”

Watch this space…”

More on the Awards’ Judging Panel and Advisory Board in 2021-22 can be found here.

The History of the Top Schools Awards

The Complete List of SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Awards winners 2017-18

Official Top Schools Awards 2018 with list of winners

The Best 25 Schools, in rank order, in the UAE 2017-18

In the first year of the SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Awards we ranked the Top 25 of what we considered the most outstanding schools in the UAE together with those schools we believed should be highly commended. Hugely controversial, in later years the Awards were segmented into detailed categories, and we no longer ranked schools in this way. Nevertheless, it provides an interesting snapshot of a moment in time – and many of these schools have continued to feature in the Awards each year, often securing the highest possible Top Schools Award in their class.

First place: Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) – Arabian Ranches, Dubai – review here.

Second Place: Cranleigh Abu Dhabi – review review here.

Third Place: Dubai English Speaking College (DESC) – review here.

Fourth Place: Kings’ School Al Barsha, Dubai – review review here.

Fifth Place: Nord Anglia International School – Dubai, review here.

Sixth Place: British International School Abu Dhabi – review here.

Seventh Place: The British School Al Khubairat, Abu Dhabi – review here.

Eight Place: Jebel Ali School, Dubai – review here.

Ninth Place: Dubai College – review here.

Tenth place: Raha International School, Abu Dhabi – review here.

11th: The American School of Dubai – review here.

12th: Jumeirah College, Dubai – review here.

13th: The Indian High School (Senior School), Dubai – review here.

14th: GEMS Jumeirah Primary School, Dubai – review here.

15th: Safa Community School, Dubai – review here

16th: Horizon English School, Dubai – review here.

17th: Al Bateen Academy, Abu Dhabi – review here.

18th: Brighton College, Abu Dhabi – review here.

19th: Victory Heights Primary School, Dubai – review here.

20th:  Repton School Dubai – review here.

21st: Lycée Francais International Georges Pompidou, Dubai – review here.

22nd: Al Muna Primary School, Abu Dhabi – review here.

23rd: Foremarke School (now Repton School Al Barsha), Dubai – review here.

24th: American Community School Abu Dhabi – review here.

25th: Merryland International School, Abu Dhabi – review here.

Highly Commended:

Name of School Year Name of Award
Jumeirah English Speaking School – Arabia Ranches (JESS) 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Best School in the United Arab Emirates 2017-18
Jumeirah English Speaking School – Arabia Ranches (JESS) 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Best Blended International Baccalaureate School in the United Arab Emirates 2017-18
Cranleigh Abi Dhabi 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Best British Curriculum School in the United Arab Emirates 2017-18
Cranleigh Abu Dhabi 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Best School for the Performing Arts in the United Arab Emirates 2017-18
Dubai English Speaking College (DESC) 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Happiest School in the United Arab Emirates 2017-18
Dubai English Speaking School 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Best Primary School in the United Arab Emirates 2017-18
Dubai English Speaking School 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Happiest School in the United Arab Emirates 2017-18
Dubai English Speaking School 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Best School for Sport
Kings’ School Al Barsha 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Best New School in the United Arab Emirates 2017-18
British School Al Khubairat 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Best School for Technical and Vocational Education in the UAE 2017-18
Jebel Ali School 2017-18 Top Schools Award for School “Most Loved by Parents, Teachers and Students” in the United Arab Emirates 2017-18
Dubai College 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Best Post-16 education in the UAE 2017-18
Dubai College 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Best School for Sport 2017-18
Raha International School 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Best Mainstream School for Children of Determination 2017-18
Raha International School 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Best School for the Performing Arts in the United Arab Emirates 2017-18
Raha International School 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Best International Baccalaureate School 2017-18
American School of Dubai 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Best American Curriculum School in the United Arab Emirates 2017-18
The Indian High School 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Best Indian Curriculum School in the United Arab Emirates
Safa Community School 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Best Architecture Environment, Design and Sustainability in a UAE School 2017-18

 

Horizon English School 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Value Add and leaving no child behind 2017-18
Lycée Francais International Georges Pompidou 2017-18 Top Schools Award for Best French Curriculum School in the United Arab Emirates 2017-18

Read Memory Lane: full details of the founding of the Schools Awards in 2016.

 

The Complete List of SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Awards winners 2019-20

Best Schools and Educationalists in the UAE 2019-20

The second Top Schools Awards played host to over 900 attendees at the Rajmahal Theatre in Dubai, in a glittering ceremony described by one commentator as “the most inspirational celebration of education in the UAE since its founding.”

  • Outstanding contribution to education in the UAE
    Winner: H.E. Dr Abdulla Al Karam
  • British curriculum school of the year
    Winner: British School Al Khubairat
    Finalists
    • Dubai English Speaking College (DESC)
    • Cranleigh Abu Dhabi
    • Dubai British School Emirate Hills
    • Dubai English Speaking School (DESS)
    • Jumeirah College
  • International Baccalaureate school of the year
    Winner: Raha International School
    Finalists
    • Dubai International Academy – Emirates Hills
    • GEMS World Academy Dubai
    • Greenfield Community School
    • Jumeira Baccalaureate School
    • Uptown School
  • Best American curriculum school of the year
    Winner: American School of Dubai
    Finalists:
    • Clarion School Dubai
    • West Yas Academy Abu Dhabi
  • Indian curriculum school of the year
    Winner: GEMS Modern Academy
    Finalists:
    • Ambassador School and Kindergarten, Dubai
    • Delhi Private School
    • The Indian High School (Senior Campus)
    • The Millennium School
  • Arabic Blended curriculum school of the year
    Winner: Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Boys
    Finalists:
    • American School of Creative Science, Dubai
    • Next Generation School, Dubai
    • School of Research Science
    • Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Girls
  • IB Blended curriculum School of the Year
    Winner: Jumeirah English Speaking School Arabian Ranches
    Finalists:
    • American Community School of Abu Dhabi
    • Deira International School Dubai Festival City
    • GEMS Dubai American Academy
    • Nord Anglia International School
    • Repton School Dubai
  • Best Primary School
    Winner: Dubai English Speaking School
    Finalists:
    • GEMS Jumeirah Primary School
    • Horizon English School
    • Jumeirah English Speaking School – Jumeirah
    • Kings’ School Dubai
    • Victory Heights Primary School
  • Best Nursery
    Winner: Aga Khan Early Learning Centre
    Finalists:
    • Children’s Oasis
    • IDEA Early Learning Centre
    • Little Land Nursery
    • Yellow Brick Road Nursery
  • Best post-16 education
    Winner: British School Al Khubairat
    Finalists:
    • Dubai College
    • Dubai English Speaking College (DESC)
    • Jumeirah College
    • Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) Arabian Ranches
    • Repton Dubai
    • Sunmarke School
  • Best school for technical education
    Winner: Dubai English Speaking College
    Finalists:
    • British School Al Khabairat (BSAK)
    • GEMS Wellington Academy – Dubai Silicon Oasis
    • Greenfield Community School
    • Sunmarke School Dubai
  • Best new school
    Winner: Safa Community School
    Finalists:
    • Cranleigh Abu Dhabi
    • Dubai Heights Academy
    • Kent College
    • Nord Anglia International School Dubai
    • Ranches Primary School
  • Best school for music
    Winner: Nord Anglia International School Dubai
    Finalists:
    • American School of Dubai
    • Brighton College Abu Dhabi
    • Cranleigh Abu Dhabi
    • GEMS Music Hub at GEMS World Academy
  • Best school for theatre and the performing arts
    Winner: Cranleigh School Abu Dhabi
    Finalists:
    • American School of Dubai
    • American Community School, Abu Dhabi
    • Dubai English Speaking College (DESC)
    • Nord Anglia International School Dubai
    • Raha International School Abu Dhabi
  • Best school for art
    Winner: Brighton College Abu Dhabi
    Finalists:
    • British School Al Khabairat
    • Nord Anglia International School
    • Jumeira Baccalaureate School
    • Jumeirah College
    • Raha International School
    • Springdales Dubai
  • Best school for sport
    Winner: Dubai English Speaking College
    Finalists:
    • Dubai College
    • British School Al Khubairat
    • Jumeirah College (JC)
    • Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) – Arabian Ranches
  • Best school for child progress and value add
    Winner: Jumeirah College
    Finalists:
    • British School Al Khubairat (BSAK)
    • Dubai English Speaking College (DESC)
    • Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) – Arabian Ranches
    • Repton School Dubai
    • The English College
  • Award for outstanding use of technology
    JOINT Winners: Fairgreen School and Jumeirah English Speaking School – Arabian Ranches
    Finalists:
    • GEMS Dubai American Academy
    • Hartland
    • Repton School – Abu Dhabi
  • Best international initiative
    Winner: Riverston School Dubai
    Finalists:
    • Dubai English Speaking School (DESC) and Dubai English Speaking School (DESS)
    • Dubai International Academy – Emirates Hills
    • Fairgreen International School
    • Nibras International School Dubai
  • School principal of the year, 2019
    Winner: Sasha Crabb, Victory Heights
    Finalists:
    • Catherine Dando Dubai English Speaking School (DESS)
    • Simon O’ Connor Jumeirah College
    • Rachel Higgins GEMS Jumeirah Primary School
    • Mark Leppard MBE British School Al Khubairat (BSAK)
  • Best school in the UAE, 2019
    Winner: DESC and DESS
    Finalists:
    • American School of Dubai
    • Brighton College Abu Dhabi
    • British School Al Khubairat (BSAK)
    • Cranleigh School Abu Dhabi
    • GEMS Modern Academy
    • Jumeirah Primary School (JPS) and Jumeirah College (JC) [Joint nomination]
    • Jumeirah English Speaking School (JESS) Primary & Arabian Ranches [Joint nomination]
    • Raha International School

The Complete List of SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Awards winners 2021-22

The UAE’s third Top Schools Awards took place in the historic aftermath of Covid-19, and featured multiple new award categories. The Awards became a focal point to celebrate the extraordinary achievements of schools and educators during the Covid-19 years, a period which was transformation in UAE education in countless ways, including its firing up the engines of one of the biggest investments in  new technology across UAE schools in the sector’s history. Standout features of the third Awards were the inclusion of Awards for the emirate’s most inspirational and outstanding teachers.

Best Schools and Educationalists in the UAE 2021-22 

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best British Curriculum School in the UAE 2021

Winner:

Dubai College [DC]

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Early Childhood Teacher of the Year 2021-22 in Proud Association with WhichSchoolAdvisor.com

Winner:

Clare Nagle, Home Grown Nursery

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best Early Childhood Centre in the UAE 2021-22 in Proud Association with WhichSchoolAdvisor.com

Winner:

Little Land Nursery and Montessori Centre

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Primary School Teacher of the Year 2021-22

Winner:

Troy Ellison, Head of ICT and Computing, Regent International School Dubai.

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best Primary School in the UAE 2021-22

Winner:

Victory Heights Primary School

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Secondary School Teacher of the Year 2021-22

Winner:

Charlotte Abbott, English Teacher, Director of English, Dubai English Speaking College [ DESC].

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best School for Post-16 Education in the UAE 2021-22

Winners – Joint Award:

Dubai English Speaking College [DESC]

The British School Al Khubairat

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best School for Technical and Vocational Stream Education in the UAE 2021-22

Winner:

GEMS FirstPoint School – The Villa

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best Mainstream School for Children of Determination 2021-22

Winners – Joint Award:

GEMS FirstPoint School – The Villa

Raffles World Academy. An Innoventures Education School.

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Value Add and Leaving No Child Behind 2021-22

Winner:

Safa Community School

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Happiest School in the UAE 2021-22

Winner:

Horizon English School

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best Indian Curriculum School in the UAE 2021-22

Winner:

The Indian High School (Senior Campus)

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best American Curriculum School in the UAE 2021-22

Winner:

The American School of Dubai

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best International Baccalaureate Curriculum School in the UAE 2021-22

Winner:

Taaleem’s Greenfield International School

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best Blended Arabic Curriculum School in the UAE 2021-22

Winner:

Sheikh Zayed Private Academy for Boys

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best Blended International Baccalaureate Curriculum School in the UAE 2021-22

Winner:

Jumeirah English Speaking School [JESS] – Arabian Ranches

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best School in the UAE for Theatre, Dance and the Performing Arts 2021-22

Winner:

Brighton College Abu Dhabi

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best School in the UAE for Music 2021-22

Winner:

Nord Anglia International School Dubai

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best School in the UAE for Fine Art and Creative Studio Work 2021-22

Winner:

The British School Al Khubairat

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best School for Sport in the UAE 2021-22

Winner:

The American School of Dubai

  • The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Most Innovative School in the UAE 2021-22

Winners- Joint Award:

Fairgreen international School in Dubai

The Arbor School

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best New School in the UAE 2015-21

Winner:

Arcadia School (Opened 2016)

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best University in the UAE 2021-22

Winner:

Manipal Academy of Higher Education

The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Award for Best Architecture Environment, Design and Sustainability in a UAE School 2021-22

Winner:

The Royal Grammar School Guildford Dubai

The SchoolsCompared.com Special Award for the Most Outstanding Response to COVID-19 by a School in the UAE 2021-22

Winners – Joint Award:

Dubai Heights Academy

The English College Dubai

  • The SchoolsCompared.com Special Award for the “School Most Loved by Parents” in proud association with EdstaticaTM 2021

Winner:

Hartland International School

The SchoolsCompared.com Special Award for Best Principal in the UAE 2021-22

Winner:

Zara Harrington, Principal, Safa British School

  • The SchoolsCompared.com Special Award for Overall Best School in the UAE 2021-22.

Winner:

The American School of Dubai

The SchoolsCompared.com Special Award for Outstanding Contribution to Education in the UAE

Winner:

The Varkey Family [GEMS education]

Read the full story on the Top Schools Awards 2021-22 here.

 

Notes for Schools and Parents:

For further information on The SchoolsCompared.com Top Schools Awards 2023 – 2024, please contact:

Eimear McKenna Singh at [email protected]

© SchoolsCompared.com. 2021. All rights reserved.

About The Author
Jon Westley
Jon Westley is the Editor of SchoolsCompared.com and WhichSchoolAdvisor.com UK. You can email him at jonathanwestley [at] schoolscompared.com

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