Dubai, UAE · PrivateDubai International Academy Emirates Hills is the longest established International Baccalaureate continuum school in Dubai, and it runs all four of its programmes: primary, middle years, diploma and career-related, from kindergarten to Year 13. Entry is from the age of three and pupils leave at eighteen. The school belongs to the Innoventures Education group. Among the unusual things about it: it is one of only twelve schools in the region to hold the top Green Flag of the Eco-Schools programme, and its own DIAMUN conference is affiliated to The Hague International Model United Nations - for a teenager who wants debating and international relations that is a working feature rather than a decorative one. Fees rise steadily by stage, from forty-five thousand dirhams in the first kindergarten year to eighty thousand in the final one, and for existing pupils part of the sum is paid in advance in the spring as a re-enrolment fee.
Key facts
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
NEASC · accreditationIB · PYP, MYP, DP, CP · authorised programmeInnoventures Education · school is part of the networkWhat stands behind each entry
An American accreditation working since 1885. For international schools it uses an approach where the visitors look first at live lessons rather than at folders of paperwork: the team works in the school for about a week. It is the only one here whose public directory honestly separates accredited schools from candidates.
What the badge means for this school. The school has been through this organisation's accreditation. It was judged as a whole: governance, safeguarding, staff, premises, teaching. The entry stands in the organisation's public register - anyone can check it.
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), MYP (ages 11-16), 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. MYP is the middle stage, ages 11 to 16. There are no exams here either; at the end an optional electronic assessment of pupils' work is possible. 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 →Innoventures Education is a Dubai school group; its site innoventureseducation.com dates its start to 2005 («Innoventures Education was established in 2005»), gives «over 9,000 pupils from over 120 countries» and «1700+ Staff from across the globe», and speaks of management: «schools and nurseries managed by Innoventures Education», and of Raffles - «took over the management of the Raffles Schools and Nurseries» in 2010. The schools are named: Collegiate International School, Dubai International Academy (Emirates Hills, Al Barsha, Town Square), Raffles International School, Raffles World Academy, Raffles World Academy Sharjah, Raffles Starters and eight Raffles Early Childhood Centres. Figures disagree inside the network itself: the same group page, published on two of its own school sites, prints different numbers for the same schools - DIA Emirates Hills «over 2700 students from over 85 countries» on collegiate.sch.ae/innoventures-schools-cis against «over 2000 from more than 77 nationalities» on diadubai.com/innoventures-education-dia-eh, Raffles World Academy «over 1900 pupils» against «close to 1,800 students», Raffles International School «more than 1300 pupils» against «over 1400 students». Ownership is not separated from management: the only word used is «managed».
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.