The English College Dubai
Very Good Umm Suqeim, Dubai · British (NCfE)
- 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: Good
KHDA’s separate judgements for student wellbeing and for inclusion, from the same inspection.
- Year groups
- FS1 to Year 13
As registered with KHDA. Typical ages about 3 to 18.
- Annual fees
- AED 41,000 to 68,265 a year
Varies by year group. 2026-27 fees are frozen by KHDA directive.
- Curriculum
- British (NCfE)
KHDA lists: UK (13 Y).
- School transport
- Bus service available
- Location
- Umm Suqeim, Dubai
Open in Google Maps. KHDA records the community as Umm Suqeim 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We do not publish schools' own contact details.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 4 per cent above the median for British (NCfE) schools in this guide (AED 52,500). It is one of 48 schools in this guide currently rated Very Good.
Worth comparing: GEMS Royal Dubai School (AED 40,252 to 61,410 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
Strengths the inspectors named:
- Very Good in December 2023, confirming the 2022-23 breakthrough that ended eleven consecutive inspections at Good - one of the register’s genuine transformations.
- Inspectors rated the school Outstanding in 24 individual criteria, with 80% of assessed criteria at Outstanding or Very Good.
- Personal and social development Outstanding in Foundation, Primary, Secondary and Post-16, and care and support Outstanding across the same four phases.
- ‘The premises and learning environment are of the highest quality’ - a remark that would have been unthinkable when earlier facilities were described as not fit for purpose; eight science laboratories, a performing arts centre with recording studios, black box theatre and food technology centre now sit on site.
- Improved progress in Arabic as a first and additional language, excellent and respectful student behaviour, innovative and entrepreneurial skills, and progression in international assessments above expectations.
- Established in Dubai since 1992, charging below the KHDA-approved maximums, and notably less than several neighbouring British competitors.
What they asked the school to improve:
- Raise achievement in Islamic Education and Arabic to match the other core subjects, and raise the profile of Islamic Education across all phases.
- Assessment data must become a more informative driver of improvement, particularly in Foundation Stage and Post-16.
- Phase leaders need sufficient time to monitor teaching and learning more rigorously - middle-leadership capacity is the named constraint.
- Transitions between year groups and phases should involve the parents of students of determination more - a specific ask worth raising if your child has additional needs.
Inclusion (students of determination): Good - just under 90 students of determination on the register, in a non-selective school long known for its inclusive environment. Support is structured from the start: the admissions process identifies needs early so provision is in place from day one, with tailored strategies for students of determination, English language learners and more able pupils, and a More Able and Talented programme identified through CAT scores and teacher referrals, led jointly by a MAT Coordinator and the Head of Inclusion. Two inspector requests worth carrying into a meeting: involve the parents of students of determination more closely in transitions between year groups and phases, and give all phase leaders sufficient time to monitor teaching and progress more rigorously. 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.
Paraphrased from KHDA’s published inspection record for 2023-24. Read the dated report on KHDA’s page for this school.
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 The English College Dubai 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 Umm Suqeim
- Kings School Dubai - Outstanding, AED 47,179 to 71,801 a year
- Emirates International School Jumeirah - Very Good, To be updated
- Raffles International School - Very Good, AED 34,055 to 86,815 a year
- Raffles World Academy - Very Good, To be updated
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.