Raffles International School
Very Good Umm Suqeim, Dubai · IB
- 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 34,055 to 86,815 a year
Varies by year group; confirm current fees with the school. 2026–27 fees are frozen by KHDA directive.
- Curriculum
- IB
- Established
- Founded 2010
- School transport
- Bus service available
- Location
- Umm Suqeim, Dubai
District-level pin for Umm Suqeim — 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 46 schools in this guide currently rated Very Good.
Worth comparing: Kings School Dubai (AED 47,179 to 71,801 a year) — a lower-fee option in the same area; Greenfield International School (AED 34,470 to 82,865 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:
- Very Good for a fourth consecutive inspection in December 2023 — after eight years at Good, a long climb finally broken in 2017–18.
- Twenty-one individual Outstanding ratings within the 2023–24 report — the detail behind a headline that says only Very Good.
- Health, safety and child protection Outstanding across every phase, with all staff regularly trained, medical staff providing high-quality care, and exemplary student behaviour throughout.
- Management, staffing, facilities and resources Outstanding — a purpose-built campus of almost 315,000 square feet in Umm Suqeim 3.
- An Outstanding British Schools Overseas rating across all categories in May 2025, and a wellbeing framework built on structured ‘High 5’ indicators covering students, staff and parents.
What they asked the school to improve:
- Wellbeing overall is Very Good rather than Outstanding — strong systems, with the top tier still ahead.
- Fees run from about AED 33,300 at FS1 to AED 83,800 at Year 13, placing the school firmly in the premium segment — check the year-group figure, not the range.
- Four cycles at Very Good with twenty-one Outstanding sub-ratings: ask leaders precisely which measures still stand between the school and Outstanding overall.
Inclusion (students of determination): Described by DSIB as fully inclusive, with 147 students of determination enrolled. Two things give that description weight rather than leaving it as a phrase. Assessment processes in Secondary and Post-16 were rated Outstanding — the highest possible grade — meaning teachers are using data exceptionally well to drive progress, which is the machinery inclusion actually runs on. And the outcomes hold up across a genuinely mixed intake: 42% of GCSE grades were 7 to 9 and the school reports 100% of Year 13 students achieving university acceptance, in a school with a large English-as-additional-language population. Mathematics attainment is Very Good in every phase from Foundation Stage to Post-16, a consistency few Dubai schools match. 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.
Other schools in Umm Suqeim
- Kings School Dubai — Outstanding, AED 47,179 to 71,801 a year
- Jumeirah College — Outstanding, AED 78,946 to 98,681 a year
- Raffles World Academy — Very Good, AED 48,000 to 88,000 a year
Work at this school? Correct or update this record — verified corrections are made promptly and logged publicly.