Ghaf Private School

Acceptable Jebel Ali, Dubai · British (NCfE)

KHDA rating: Acceptable
Meets minimum standards; may be on an improvement plan. Read the full report before enrolling. From the 2023–24 inspection cycle — now more than two years old. KHDA has not completed a full cycle in two consecutive years, so this rating, and every rating on every other site, is older than it looks.
Annual fees: AED 35,000 to 51,000 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 2020
School transport: Bus service available
Location: Jebel Ali, Dubai
Open in Google Maps

District-level pin for Jebel Ali — use the Google Maps link for the exact gate.

Link verified against a live domain, July 2026.

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 11 per cent below the median for British (NCfE) schools in this guide (AED 48,202). It is one of 51 schools in this guide currently rated Acceptable.

Worth comparing: GEMS Winchester School (AED 24,000 to 46,000 a year) — a lower-fee option in the same area.

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 (2023–24 cycle) and its published record — read the complete report on the official KHDA directory. These findings are from the 2023–24 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:

Acceptable in 2023–24, up from Weak the previous year — a genuine recovery, and the direction of travel matters as much as the current position.
The Foundation Stage is the strong part of this school: teaching, assessment, curriculum design, curriculum adaptation, personal development and health and safety are all rated Good in FS.
Deliberately a micro-school — 54 students against a capacity of 350, on a teacher-to-student ratio of about 1:4.5. In a market built on large campuses, that is a different proposition, and for some children it is the right one.
The English National Curriculum enriched with the International Primary Curriculum and a bespoke Life Skills programme, with a STEAM lab and British Council IELTS centre status, in Jebel Ali Village.

What they asked the school to improve:

The Primary phase lags the Foundation Stage: most indicators sit at Acceptable, so ask specifically what is being done for Years 1 to 6 rather than judging the school on its Early Years.
Runs only to Year 8 — there is no senior school here, so plan the move at 13 from the day you enrol.
Fifty-four students against a capacity of 350 is a commercial fact as well as an educational one. A roll that small puts pressure on subject choice, extracurricular breadth and long-term viability, and it is a fair and necessary question to put to leaders directly.
Fees of roughly AED 35,000 to 51,000 are not the cheapest in this register, so weigh the small-class advantage against what the same money buys at a larger school.

Inclusion (students of determination): Weak — taken directly from KHDA’s official Inclusion Rating Table, and below this school’s Acceptable overall judgement. We published this entry a day earlier saying no inclusion rating could be found, and framing the school’s 1:4.5 ratio as a likely advantage for a child needing adult attention. That was wrong on both counts and the correction is in our change log. The ratio is real, but it has not translated into an inclusion judgement above the regulator’s floor, and a favourable ratio is not the same thing as staffed, trained inclusion provision. If your child needs support, this is a school to question closely: who leads inclusion, what qualifications do they hold, how many students of determination are on roll, and what specifically has changed since the inspection. 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 — 212 of 212 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:

What did the last KHDA report ask you to improve, and what has changed since?
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?

Special educational needs? Read the inclusion guide before you visit.

Other schools in Jebel Ali

GEMS Winchester School — Good, AED 24,000 to 46,000 a year
The Winchester School — Very Good, AED 18,000 to 31,000 a year

Work at this school? Correct or update this record — verified corrections are made promptly and logged publicly.

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