Abu Dhabi, UAE · est. 2011 · PrivateBateen World Academy has run in Abu Dhabi since 2011 and takes a child from the FS1 nursery year to year 13. The Abu Dhabi education authority places it in its top category, Outstanding. Its programme is a composite one, and that is its defining feature: the lower stage follows the IB Primary Years Programme, the middle stage the British curriculum with IGCSE examinations, and the leaving stage the IB Diploma Programme, with the school pointing out that its Diploma results have stayed above the world average for years. The school belongs to the Aldar Academies group - seven academies, more than nine thousand pupils - which grew from a single 247-pupil institution in 2007. Of its support services the school names a full-time school nurse and separately describes security and safety as a priority across the group. There are virtual campus tours, curriculum guides by stage and separate lists of co-curricular activities for the primary and secondary schools.
Key facts
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
Cambridge · IGCSE · authorised programmeCIS · membershipIB · PYP, DP, CP · authorised programmePearson · authorised programmeAldar Academies · school is part of the networkWhat stands behind each entry
Part of the University of Cambridge. It allows a school to teach the Cambridge programmes and to enter pupils for the exams. There are four stages and they are authorised separately: primary, lower secondary, IGCSE and A Level. If the stages are known they are named in the line below; if that line is missing, the school does not publish them, and the Cambridge registry does not show stages either - it gives only the name of the centre, the country and whether private candidates are accepted. Cambridge calls what it does registration rather than accreditation, and the network holds about ten thousand schools.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: IGCSE (ages 14-16). IGCSE means exams at around Year 10 or 11, the British counterpart of a lower secondary leaving certificate.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →It accredits international schools and is a paying association at the same time. It examines governance and ownership, the curriculum, teaching, student wellbeing, staff and premises; a team of volunteers from other CIS accredited schools visits the school. Membership and accreditation are different things here, and schools confuse them more often than anything else.
What the badge means for this school. The school belongs to this organisation but has not been through its accreditation. The difference matters: membership is usually paid for and has no external inspection behind it. The entry is confirmed in the organisation's open directory.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →A Swiss non-profit, working since 1968. Its programmes are among the most widely recognised school programmes in the world. Authorisation is granted stage by stage, so a school with the final stage does not necessarily run the younger ones; which stages this school holds is set out in the line below.
What the badge means for this school. The school is allowed to run this programme and to award its certificate. This is a confirmation of the programme, not a judgement on the school as a whole. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. At this school: PYP (ages 3-12), DP (ages 16-19), CP (ages 16-19, with a vocational slant). PYP is the primary stage, ages 3 to 12. It is not a set of subjects but a frame for the whole school: learning is built around lines of inquiry, and there are no exams at the end. DP is the final stage, ages 16 to 19: six subjects plus a compulsory core of theory of knowledge, an extended essay and CAS. The diploma is accepted by universities all over the world, and in a number of countries it counts for admission on the same footing as the local leaving certificate. CP is the final stage with a vocational slant, ages 16 to 19: some of the DP subjects plus an applied qualification. It is meant for those heading into a trade or an applied degree rather than an academic one.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →It gives a school approved centre status: that means Pearson exams can be sat in the school itself. What is checked is the premises, the equipment, the secure storage of papers and the presence of trained invigilators.
What the badge means for this school. The school can run Pearson exams on its own premises. The status says nothing about teaching, about results or about the school itself: any school able to run an exam securely holds it. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it. Which Pearson qualifications this school is approved for is not stated here.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Aldar Academies is a group of seven academies in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain that on its own site states plainly that it is part of Aldar Education: «Aldar Academies is proud to be part of Aldar Education« (About page) and «Aldar Academies Is proud to be part of the Aldar Education family« (Aldar Education page). The site dates its start to 2007 and the first school, Pearl British Academy: «From a single 247-student facility in 2007, we've grown into a highly sought after institution supporting over 9,000 students across seven Academies«. Figures on the same site disagree: the homepage gives both «over 7,500 students, across seven academies« and «over 9,000 students across seven Academies«, and «16 years of academic excellence«, while a neighbouring page says «17 years«. The academies are named: Al Ain British Academy, Bateen World Academy, Mamoura British Academy, Muna British Academy, Yasmina British Academy, Pearl British Academy, Yas American Academy; the Aldar Education page adds a nursery. The site also reports «Aldar Academies have invested more than Dh450 million in Abu Dhabi's education sector«.
What this means for this school. The network owns or operates the school. Its accreditation and programme authorisation the school obtains separately, in its own name.