GEMS World Academy
Very Good Al Barsha, Dubai · IB
- KHDA rating
- Very Good
High quality across the board, with minor areas to improve. From KHDA’s 2023-24 inspection - now more than two years old. Checked against KHDA’s directory on 14 September 2026.
- Dubai focus areas
- Wellbeing: Very good · Inclusion: Very good
KHDA’s separate judgements for student wellbeing and for inclusion, from the same inspection.
- Year groups
- Pre-primary to Grade 12
As registered with KHDA. Typical ages about 3 to 18.
- Annual fees
- AED 71,113 to 123,442 a year
Varies by year group. 2026-27 fees are frozen by KHDA directive.
- Curriculum
- IB
KHDA lists: International Baccalaureate.
- School transport
- Bus service available
- Location
- Al Barsha, Dubai
Open in Google Maps. KHDA records the community as Al Barsha First.
- Contacting the school
- Ask us and we will ask them
We hold this school's details and put questions to it for parents - fees for a year group, whether there is a place, what happens next. KHDA's own page for the school, linked below, carries its published contact details if you would rather go direct.
Map not loaded. It comes from Google, so nothing is requested from them until you ask for it.
Pin from KHDA’s directory entry for this school. Check the entrance with the Google Maps link above before your first drop-off.
We do not publish schools' own contact details. Ask us a question below and we put it to the school; KHDA's page for this school carries its published details.
KHDA’s page for this school - every inspection report
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.
How far is this from another school? What the bus costs
If your children may end up at different schools, the distance that decides your mornings is the one between them, not from home to each.
In context
Its mid-range fee is about 44 per cent above the median for IB schools in this guide (AED 67,582). It is one of 48 schools in this guide currently rated Very Good.
Worth comparing: Nord Anglia International School Dubai (AED 69,625 to 105,288 a year) - a lower-fee option in the same area; Swiss International Scientific School (AED 68,868 to 114,268 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 we could verify (2022-23 cycle) and its published record - read the complete report on the official KHDA directory. These findings are from the 2022-23 cycle and are now more than two years old. Leadership, staffing and provision can change substantially in that time - see the note below on why every rating in Dubai is older than it looks.
Strengths the inspectors named:
- Very Good, with an inclusive curriculum that meets the needs of all students and leads to academic and social success.
- Outstanding Kindergarten provision - children’s excellent learning skills driving outstanding progress in English, mathematics and science.
- A highly inclusive ethos, with effective systems for a diverse range of students including students of determination and exceptional learners.
- Leaders actively involved in promoting, encouraging and supporting innovation.
No separate improvement requirements are recorded in the published material we have verified for this school. That is a gap in our sourcing, not evidence that inspectors raised none - the full report on the KHDA directory is the place to check.
Inclusion (students of determination): Very Good - close to 200 students of determination, with the inclusion team combining push-in and pull-out support and bespoke intervention plans. The commercially important detail: standard learning support at Levels 1 to 3 is included in the tuition fee, which is genuine value in a market where many schools bill SEN provision separately. High Potential Learners are identified and supported by the same team. Inspectors’ caveats are specific: differentiation for all groups of learners is not consistently applied across lessons, monitoring of curriculum adaptation plans is still an emerging feature, and consistent care for English-language learners and newcomers remains a development priority. 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 - 221 of 230 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.
What we don't know about this school
Every other page on this site tells you what we have verified. This one tells you what we have not, because a register you cannot calibrate is worth less than one you can. We do not currently hold:
- whether it is co-educational, boys or girls
- how many children are on roll
- its facilities - sports, arts, science, library
- published exam results or university destinations
- what registration, transport, uniform and meals add to the fee
- the year it opened - the figure we held was wrong on every school we checked
None of it is guessed or filled in from a similar school. Ask for any of it using the form below and it moves up the queue - requests are how we decide what to collect next.
Ask this school a question - we'll do the asking
Tell us the year group, and we will ask GEMS World Academy what it costs, whether there is a place, and what the next step is. Then we send you what they say. Every answer we get is also checked into this school's record, so the next parent finds it already here.
Your details stay with us. We contact the school ourselves, and we do not pass your name or address to them, or to any agent, unless you ask us to. No school pays to appear in this guide, and none can pay to change what it says.
Other schools in Al Barsha
- Kings School Al Barsha - Outstanding, To be updated
- Nord Anglia International School Dubai - Outstanding, AED 69,625 to 105,288 a year
- Brighton College Dubai - Very Good, AED 50,830 to 80,780 a year
- Dubai Heights Academy - Very Good, AED 48,688 to 96,880 a year
Work at this school? Correct or update this record - checked against the source and answered within five working days. If you disagree with something we are not going to change, reply on the record and we publish your statement on this page.