Deira International School
Outstanding Festival City, Dubai · IB
- KHDA rating
- Outstanding
The highest KHDA rating — consistently excellent teaching and outcomes. Expect waiting lists. Ratings are from the last full inspection cycle (2023–24).
- Annual fees
- AED 44,616 to 89,889 a year
Varies by year group; confirm current fees with the school. 2026–27 fees are frozen by KHDA directive.
- Curriculum
- IB
- Established
- Founded 2000
- School transport
- Bus service available
- Location
- Festival City, Dubai
District-level pin for Festival City — use the Google Maps link for the exact gate.
Link verified against a live domain, July 2026.
Check travel time from your location
Opens live directions in Google Maps — real traffic from your own address beats any published estimate. School-run traffic peaks roughly 7–8am; test your route at drop-off time.
In context
Its mid-range fee is in line with the median for IB schools in this guide (AED 63,000). It is one of 22 schools in this guide currently rated Outstanding.
Worth comparing: Universal American School (AED 44,000 to 73,000 a year) — a lower-fee option in the same area; Dubai International Academy (AED 44,979 to 79,696 a year) — a lower-fee school with the same Outstanding rating and curriculum.
These comparisons are computed from the verified data in this register, not editorial opinion.
What the inspectors said
Paraphrased from the last full DSIB inspection (2023–24 cycle) and its published record — read the complete report on the official KHDA directory.
Strengths the inspectors named:
- Outstanding in 2023–24, retained after first reaching the top rating in 2022–23 — the culmination of a documented climb from Good (2011–14) through Very Good (2014–20).
- Outstanding progress in English, mathematics and science across all phases, with outstanding attainment in the post-16 phase, and outstanding provision in teaching, assessment and curriculum.
- Wellbeing rated Outstanding — a judgement given to very few schools: skilled adults addressing issues quickly, conflict-management skills taught, three guidance counsellors including an Arabic speaker, a sensory room and a Primary lunch club for children who need to de-stress.
- Independently rated Outstanding by British Schools Overseas in both 2021 and April 2025.
- Results published transparently: a 100% pass rate across IB Diploma and Career-related Programme in 2025 with a top score of 44 points; in 2024, 33.5 average points against a global 30.24, and 96% of IGCSE students gaining five or more A*–C including English and maths.
What they asked the school to improve:
- The school’s own leadership frames the achievement as ‘particular… when considering our fully inclusive admissions’ — a reminder that top ratings and open admissions rarely sit together, and a standard other schools should be asked about.
- Sustaining Outstanding is now the task: ask what the improvement plan targets next, since there is no higher rating to reach for.
Inclusion (students of determination): Outstanding — and independently accredited, which very few schools here can claim. 246 students of determination in 2023–24, around 12% of students identified with additional needs and roughly 20% supported by the inclusion team including English language learners. Inspectors record ‘detailed and well-informed procedures’ for identifying students of determination and gifted students, a clear inclusive admission policy, ‘comprehensive and highly focused support’ and ‘excellent facilities and resources providing for a wide range of needs’. The school holds SENDIA accreditation — the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Inclusion Award — which requires external review including evidence submission, interviews and classroom observations, and it publishes parent guides to advocating for inclusive education in both English and Arabic alongside the relevant UAE law. Inclusion is led by an experienced SENDCo team as a whole-school approach, with ASDAN available where it suits a student better than the mainstream route. Not-for-profit, and Outstanding in every category of its 2025 British Schools Overseas report. See the special educational needs guide for the questions to ask on a visit.
Inspector summaries are being added school by school as each report is read — 169 of 169 so far, dated per cycle, never invented. A school without a summary yet is unread, not unjudged.
Visit kit
Questions worth asking on a tour — tuned to this school’s rating and curriculum:
- Who leads inclusion here — and may we meet them before enrolling?
- How much staff turnover did you have last year, and why?
- What are actual class sizes this term — not the maximum?
- How and how often will I hear about my child’s progress?
- How long is the real waiting list for my child’s year group, and how does sibling priority work?
Saved only on this device — never uploaded, never shared.
Special educational needs? Read the inclusion guide before you visit.
Other schools in Festival City
- Universal American School — Very Good, AED 44,000 to 73,000 a year
Work at this school? Correct or update this record — verified corrections are made promptly and logged publicly.