GEMS FirstPoint School
Very Good The Villa, Dubai · British (NCfE)
- KHDA rating
- Very Good
High quality across the board with minor areas to improve — often better value than Outstanding. Ratings are from the last full inspection cycle (2023–24).
- Annual fees
- AED 44,288 to 75,756 a year
Varies by year group; confirm current fees with the school. 2026–27 fees are frozen by KHDA directive.
- Curriculum
- British (NCfE)
- Established
- Founded 2014
- School transport
- Bus service available
- Location
- The Villa, off Al Ain Road, Dubai
District-level pin for The Villa — 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 about 10 per cent above the median for British (NCfE) schools in this guide (AED 54,632). It is one of 46 schools in this guide currently rated Very Good.
Worth comparing: Safa British School (AED 45,428 to 73,550 a year) — a lower-fee school with the same Very Good 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:
- The breakthrough to Very Good on its sixth inspection (December 2023), after three cycles at Good.
- 79% of all inspection areas now Very Good or Outstanding — and in five of the framework’s six sections, every judgement sits at those levels.
- Exemplary behaviour management and a strong ethos of belonging: pupils described as safe, valued, confident and engaged.
- A strong Foundation Stage, with excellent leadership and governance.
What they asked the school to improve:
- Enhance outcomes in Arabic.
- Inspectors also asked the school to strengthen support for students of determination further — worth asking how, given the already Very Good inclusion base.
Inclusion (students of determination): Very Good — one level from the top, and the Inclusion Support Team is among the largest documented here: three specialist teachers, seventeen Learning Support Assistants and fifteen Inclusion Champions, one in every year team and one in every subject department, so inclusion has a named owner in each part of the school rather than sitting in one office. Inspectors record that ‘the principal and governing board ensure a highly inclusive ethos throughout the school’ with high levels of sustained investment, thorough systems identifying students of determination and those with gifts and talents, and effective support for most groups. The school frames inclusion as ‘an essential part of what makes FirstPoint School a distinctive, progressive and unique community’. Two commercial facts to settle before applying: every child is tested for English language proficiency on admission and specialist provision, if required, is chargeable with the amount set by level of need and advised at that point — and tuition excludes uniforms, lunches, transport, trips and external extracurricular activities. 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?
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Special educational needs? Read the inclusion guide before you visit.
Work at this school? Correct or update this record — verified corrections are made promptly and logged publicly.