Cognita, the UK-based global education group – and one of the world’s major educational conglomerates running almost 90 schools across 12 countries worldwide – has followed its launch of the Tier 1 Royal Grammar School Guildford Dubai, the acquisition of Ranches Primary School and the acquisition of the KHDA Outstanding Horizon English School in Dubai from Al Najah Education with the new acquisition of Horizon International School in Dubai. This makes Horizon International School Cognita’s fourth school in the UAE and its 88th school worldwide.
More on the landmark Royal Grammar School Guildford in Dubai can be found here.
More on the acquisition of the KHDA Outstanding Horizon English School here.
Founded in 2008, Horizon International School is a much-loved British curriculum FS to Year 13 all-through school ranked a “Good school with Very Good and Outstanding features” by the KHDA. In a move that many saw as inevitable, the acquisition now sees both Horizon schools transfer from Al Najah Education to Cognita, avoiding the potential confusion of two Horizon schools operating in the region under different ownership, values and cultures. Experts predict a rapid move to Outstanding school status following the acquisition and a strong focus on building on the key strengths of Horizon International, these focused on offering extremely high ROI and delivery from a relatively affordable fee structure.
The move by Cognita evidences the strong commitment of the powerhouse schools group to the UAE. The sheer scale and speed of investment in new and existing Tier 1 premium schools has been hugely welcomed by parents and the KHDA, and is particularly striking given the impact of Covid 19 and its impacts across schools and investment. The strategy has been described by analysts as “one of building or investing in only the very best schools in their segment within Dubai – with a clear focus on quality and delivering for parents and children above all else.”
Cognita’s move, following the acquisition, was to confirm with parents at the school that it would be investing strongly in the school moving forward and supporting Darren Gale, Horizon International School’s highly praised Principal:
“Cognita is deeply committed to […] Horizon International School. To ensure stability, there are no plans to change the day-to-day school life, strategy, or leadership of this sought after school, and Cognita confirms that the terms and conditions of HIS staff and parent contracts remain unchanged. Respect for the individual character and culture of each of its schools is central to being part of Cognita. Each school is empowered and supported to deliver the provision reflective of the needs of the community it serves.
Mr Gale has been actively involved in our recent discussions – our priority being to ensure a seamless transfer of ownership, while identifying key areas where Cognita can add value to ongoing plans to improve the school, providing opportunities for HIS staff and families in its care.
In the short term, Cognita’s plans include enhancing the learning environment, key facilities, and general areas of the school, whilst supporting Mr Gale in the current cycle of recruitment for the next academic year, identifying and securing exceptional teachers. We will work together to identify development areas to become an even better school, and every change will be rooted in strengthening the quality of education offered and the experience of our staff, parents, and students alike.”
Although any change in school ownership can be a worry for families at first, Horizon International School parents might be reassured by the experience of parents whose children attend Horizon English School, which was also bought by Cognita from Al Najah last year.
Kat Ballinger, mother of Alex (6) and Lily (9) at Horizon English School, shares her thoughts:
“When we first got the news that there would be a change of ownership at Horizon English School we were naturally quite worried. As a parent you are concerned it’s just going to be an investor with only profit in mind, which could mean fee increases or other unwelcome changes. But then when I heard about Cognita, an education-based group that’s already got lots of schools around the world, I was quite relieved and pleased. We were also reassured by the presence of Mr Baldwin at Cognita [David Baldwin is the Managing Director, Middle East, of Cognita, and the former Principal of Horizon English School]. It was just nice to have a familiar face amongst the newness.”
For Namita Tandon, mother of two boys aged 6 and 10 at Horizon English School, the switch in ownership has been so smooth that she’s almost not noticed it on a day-to-day basis:
“It does feel like a step in the right direction, but it’s still too early for anything concrete – although a fee reduction would always be a welcome move! I do feel happier for my sons’ schools to be owned by a group whose core sector is education, whereas for the previous company that owned it, Al Najah, this was not the case. There have been some minor improvements, but for the most part it’s still wait and see.”
Kat Ballinger says that the change in ownership brought with it some key positives:
“The transition from Al Najah to Cognita was very smooth as far as we could tell. And there have definitely been improvements. The most noticeable was Cognita’s investment in iPads for all the kids. Before they took over we had been told that we as parents would need to provide iPads for all children from a certain year upwards. When Cognita took over, they provided iPads for every child instead, which was very welcome. Also the football pitch and basketball court have been invested in and upgraded, which is very noticeable for us as parents. On the whole we’ve only benefitted from Cognita acquiring our school. There hasn’t been any downside so far.”
The acquisition of Horizon International School by Cognita will be a loss for Al Najah education, leaving it with just one school in Dubai, the Sabari Indian School.
It is speculated that one driver for the acquisition has been Mr David Baldwin, the Managing Director of Cognita Middle East. Mr Baldwin was the Head of Horizon English School between 2015 and 2018, a period which preceded Horizon English School achieving the highest accolade of Outstanding School status from the Dubai school’s regulator. During our visits historically with Mr Baldwin, we found an extraordinarily inspired school leader with a deep-seated commitment to the education of children both at his school and the region – and an inspired understanding of the dynamics of the Horizon brand and its place in Dubai’s history of leading British schools. We understand that Mr Baldwin has led the integration of both Horizon English School and Ranches Primary and has played a pivotal role in the landmark opening of the Tier 1 premium Royal Grammar School Guildford Dubai. Tellingly Mr Baldwin also served alongside Mr Gale on the BSME Executive Committee.
Our review of Horizon International School can be found here.
Find our independent review of The Royal Grammar School Guildford Dubai here.
More on the takeover of Horizon English School here and read our independent review of HES here.
Read more about Cognita, including schools in the UAE and United Kingdom.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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