The Westminster School
Good Al Qusais, Dubai · British (NCfE)
- KHDA rating
- Good
Good standards in most areas. The most common rating among Dubai schools. From the 2024–25 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 7,860 to 17,869 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 1988
- School transport
- Bus service available
- Location
- Al Qusais, Dubai
District-level pin for Al Qusais — use the Google Maps link for the exact gate.
We could not verify an official website for this school, so no link is shown.
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 73 per cent below the median for British (NCfE) schools in this guide (AED 48,202). It is one of 79 schools in this guide currently rated Good.
Worth comparing: New Dawn Private School (AED 8,000 to 15,000 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 (2024–25 cycle) and its published record — read the complete report on the official KHDA directory. These findings are from the 2024–25 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:
- Inspectors’ own opening words in the January 2025 report: the school ‘provides an all-round education of the highest quality in a truly inclusive environment’ — unusually direct language from DSIB.
- The largest private English-curriculum school in the UAE by enrolment, with 5,241 students in Al Qusais, running the full FS1 to Year 13 pathway through IGCSE, AS and A Level with Cambridge and London boards.
- Among the most affordable quality British schools anywhere in Dubai — FS1 from roughly AED 7,900, rising to about AED 17,900 in Years 11 to 13, with laboratory, medical, library, activities and computer fees already included rather than added later.
- Wellbeing provision and outcomes rated Good, with inspectors recording that students make a very positive contribution to the school’s wellbeing climate.
- Founded 1988, with purpose-built premises providing separate facilities for boys and girls from Year 5.
What they asked the school to improve:
- Two specific inspector requests: increase the range of curriculum pathways in the upper phases to cater for a wider range of abilities, and ensure all learning spaces have sufficient resources to support teaching and learning — the second is a plain resourcing point and a fair thing to see for yourself on a visit.
- A school of 5,241 students is a different daily experience from one of 800, whatever the rating. Ask how an unremarkable child is noticed and tracked at that scale.
- Good rather than Very Good, and reviewers who follow this school do not expect it to climb further — which is a reasonable position for a school delivering consistently at this price rather than a criticism.
Inclusion (students of determination): Good for inclusive education in KHDA’s official Inclusion Rating Table — and inspectors went further in prose, opening the January 2025 report by describing a ‘truly inclusive environment’. That phrase is doing real work at a school of 5,241 students on FS1 fees of under AED 8,000: inclusion at that scale and that price is uncommon. Weigh it against the inspectors’ own ask, that curriculum pathways in the upper phases be widened to cater for a wider range of abilities — which is exactly the provision a student who cannot follow a standard academic route depends on. 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:
- 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?
Saved only on this device — never uploaded, never shared.
Special educational needs? Read the inclusion guide before you visit.
Other schools in Al Qusais
- International Academic School — Acceptable, AED 18,000 to 35,000 a year
- Ambassador School — Very Good, AED 20,000 to 38,000 a year
- New Dawn Private School — Not yet rated, AED 8,000 to 15,000 a year
- The Millennium School — Very Good, AED 18,278 to 26,876 a year
Work at this school? Correct or update this record — verified corrections are made promptly and logged publicly.