← Back to homeNorth London Collegiate School Dubai
Dubai, UAE · est. 2017 · Private
Illustration · Dubai
The Dubai campus of a London school, opened on 10 September 2017; besides Dubai the same school has campuses in South Korea, Singapore and Japan. The school calls itself academic outright and says it looks for pupils with academic potential who are ready to invest in the life of the school. The results bear this out and are printed for six years running: the average final-stage score was 38.1 in 2026 against a world 30.9, 37 per cent of graduates were above 40 points and two had the full score of 45; in 2025 the average was 36.8, in 2024 it was 37.2 with 84 per cent above 35 points, and the school calls 2021 its best year with an average of 40.1. At the middle stage there were 107 entrants in 2025 and an average result of 47.6 out of 56 against a world 37. Graduates go to Cambridge, Imperial College, the London School of Economics, St Andrews, Edinburgh and University College London, in the United States to Northwestern, the University of California in Los Angeles, Notre Dame and Emory, in Canada to McGill and Toronto. The campus covers 38,000 square metres three kilometres from the Burj Khalifa: 13 laboratories, a performing arts centre, an indoor eight-lane pool, courts and an artificial-surface pitch. There are more than a hundred activities a week, from chess, robotics and a science club to golf, sailing, diving and the Duke of Edinburgh's award, and in the senior school more than fifteen pupil academic societies work and weekly lectures are given. There are many languages: teaching is in English, and besides it the school offers Arabic, French, Spanish, German and Chinese, while in the primary school Chinese and Hindi are also offered as clubs. Supervision is arranged in detail: a deputy head is responsible for child protection, all staff undergo protection training, each of the two schools has its own psychologist, a nurse works on site full time, and there is a visiting doctor and a separate medical centre. The fee is high and depends on the stage: with the introductory discount for new pupils it runs from 79,351 dirhams in the pre-kindergarten group to 137,934 in the final grades. What is worth knowing in advance: on Friday the school day is short and ends between 10:50 and 11:30, and the number of its pupils the school does not report.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $21 607–37 559 a year
79 351–137 934 AED
Programmes
IB · PYP, MYP, DP
Admits from
3 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Arabic, French, Spanish, German, Chinese, Hindi
Registration fee
≈ $136
500 AED
About the fees The fee for the 2026-2027 year is printed in two columns: the sum approved by the Dubai education authority and the sum with the introductory discount for new pupils. The approved sums: the pre-kindergarten group 91,735 dirhams, the first year of kindergarten 96,157, the second year of kindergarten and the first to third grades 104,999, the fourth and fifth 108,314, the sixth to the eighth 127,103, the ninth and tenth 132,629, the eleventh and twelfth 143,681. The introductory discount is the bigger the younger the child: 13.5 per cent in the pre-kindergarten group, 12 in the first year of kindergarten, 7 in the second, 5 in the first grade, 2 in the second and third, zero in the fourth and fifth and 4 per cent from the sixth grade onwards. After the discount that comes to between 79,351 dirhams in the pre-kindergarten group and 137,934 in the final grades. Discounts for several children are counted from these sums already: 5 per cent for a second child, 10 for a third, 15 for a fourth and subsequent ones. There is a discount of 5 per cent for employees of companies the school names, up to 6.5 per cent for early payment and up to 100 per cent for the school's own staff on the terms of their contract. Meals, the bus, uniform and school trips are not included in the fee, and activities run by outside organisations may also cost extra. Payment can be made in cash, by cheque, by card or by transfer.
Admissions The school calls itself academic and conducts selection out loud: it looks at academic potential and readiness to invest in the life of the school through curiosity, motivation and a willingness to try new things. Restrictions by nationality, faith or sex the school does not set. The order is short: contact the admissions service and arrange a meeting, fill in an application through the school's own portal, take an age-appropriate assessment. The assessments differ: for the youngest, school readiness, behavioural development, ability to communicate, verbal and non-verbal reasoning and mathematics are looked at; for the older ones, verbal and non-verbal reasoning, working memory, processing speed and mathematics, with an interview added. A detailed admissions policy the school publishes as a separate file. The application costs 500 dirhams plus 5 per cent tax, and the fee is not refunded. Neither application deadlines, nor a list of documents, nor waiting-list rules does the school name on its admissions pages, and places in the primary school for the current year it declares free in every grade.
Stages and year groups Grades Pre-KG - Grade 12. The school sets out its stages like this: early childhood is the pre-kindergarten group and the first year of kindergarten, lower primary is the second year of kindergarten and the first and second grades, upper primary is the third to fifth grades, middle is the sixth to eighth, senior is the ninth and tenth, and the final stage is the eleventh and twelfth. The grade is set by date of birth against a 31 August cut-off, and the school prints the whole table: into the pre-kindergarten group for the 2026-2027 year go those born from 1 September 2022 to 31 August 2023, that is three- and four-year-olds, and onwards one year per grade to the twelfth, where seventeen- and eighteen-year-olds study. Beside each grade the school puts the British equivalent, from year zero to year thirteen. The school day for the youngest runs from 8:10 to 13:50 in lessons of 30 minutes, for the first to fifth grades from 7:50 to 15:50, for the middle and senior school seven lessons of 50-60 minutes from 8:10 to 16:00, and optional activities until 17:00. On Friday the day is short: the youngest finish at 10:50, the primary school at 11:15, the middle and senior school at 11:30. The 2025-2026 school year ran from 25 August to 3 July. Class sizes and the number of classes in a year group the school does not publish.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP, DP · authorised programmeschool is in an official registryconfirmed by a school document, by membership or by taking part in a networkclaimed by the school, no confirmation, not counted in the scoreGuide to all organisations → What stands behind each entry
IBInternational Baccalaureate
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). 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.
Register to check for yourself, and the full guide →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Average IB score
38.1 (world average 30.88)
Exam results The school prints final-stage results for six years. 2026: the average score 38.1 against a world 30.9, 37 per cent came out above 40 points, two got the full score of 45. 2025: the average 36.8 against a world 30.5, above 40 points 25 per cent, the best result 45. 2024: the average 37.2 against a world 30.32, above 35 points 84 per cent, the best 44. 2023: the average 37.2 against a world 30, the best 45, grades 6 and 7 went to 68 per cent. 2022: the average 38.1 against a world 32, above 40 points 40 per cent. 2021 the school calls its best: the average 40.1 against a world 33, above 40 points 46 per cent. The middle stage: 2025 - 107 entrants, the average result 47.6 out of 56 against a world 37, above 50 points 41 per cent; 2024 - 88 entrants, the average 47 against a world 37.48, above 50 points 40 per cent; 2023 - 50 entrants, the average 49 against a world 38, above 50 points 40 per cent. The numbers sitting the final stage and the shares passing the school does not give.
Where leavers go: University of Cambridge · Imperial College London · London School of Economics · University of St Andrews · University of Edinburgh · University College London · University of Bristol · University of Bath · University of Warwick · University of Leeds · Northwestern University · UCLA
and others, 21 universities in the school's list in allThe list the school gives for the 2025 intake and divides by country: Britain, the United States and, in a separate line, the other destinations. Neither shares of those admitted nor numbers of graduates by university does it give.
Facilities from the school's official website
✓Swimming poolAn indoor eight-lane pool
·Sports hallnot stated on the website
✓Laboratories13 science laboratories, and the school notes that all of them are in use
✓Theatre or assembly hallA performing arts centre
·Librarynot stated on the website
✓CateringA large canteen where lunches and snacks are prepared
✓School transportA school bus; the terms the school puts in its rules for applicants
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field
Campus: 38,000 square metres in Nad Al Sheba, three kilometres from the Burj Khalifa tower; the campus the school describes as designed by educators, with large, light classrooms
Clubs and activities (100): Chess · Programming and robotics · Science club · Science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics · Chinese · Hindi · Orchestra · Choir · Drama club · Private music lessons · Private drama lessons · Tennis · Football · Netball · Cricket · Swimming · Athletics · Aquathlon · Cross-country · Rounders · Basketball · Badminton · Dance · Golf · Sailing · Scuba diving · Model United Nations · Art · Duke of Edinburgh's Award · Student academic societies · Weekly academic lectures
Teaching staff
The school publishes neither the number of its teachers nor their qualifications.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
·CCTVnot stated on the website
·Security staffnot stated on the website
·Access controlnot stated on the website
✓Nurse or medical roomA nurse works on site full time, and there is a visiting doctor and a separate medical centre for those who fall ill
✓CounsellorTwo psychologists, one each in the primary school and in the middle with the senior school
✓Child protection policyA separate child protection and safeguarding policy is published as a file
✓Staff trainingChild protection training is compulsory for all staff and is repeated regularly; its extent depends on the degree of responsibility
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The person responsible for child protection is named by name and post: she is the deputy head for pastoral care, and the school prints her work email. In the primary school protection is the responsibility of the deputy head of the primary school, in the middle and senior school of the head of the support service. Every new member of staff the school vets before appointment, and outside organisations working on its site are obliged to observe its code of conduct. A separate anti-bullying policy and the presence of video surveillance the school does not name on this page.
Reviews
No reviews yet. The community rating counts towards the score once a school has five verified reviews - until then we do not show a zero, so as not to mislead.
Criteria breakdown criterion weight in brackets
Academics and programmes (16%)95 Community rating (16%)no dataparent reviews are needed: the criterion switches on at the fifth verified one Exams and destinations (12%) scored on disclosed data80 Safety and wellbeing (12%) scored on disclosed data75 Accreditation and verifiability (10%)85 Teaching staff (10%) scored on disclosed data55 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data85 Clubs and activities (8%) scored on disclosed data78 "Scored on disclosed data" stands where we count only what the school has written about itself on its own site: exams and destinations, safety and wellbeing, teaching staff, facilities, clubs and activities. A low score here means the school does not write about this, not that the school does not have it: a school with good security and a sparse site will score low. A school can fill in its profile, and the score will be counted again.
The score is counted from 8 of the 9 criteria.Only those with checkable data count: programmes and accreditations from official registers, the fee from a published price list. Where it says "scored on the median", the school has no data and the middle of the list is put in its place, so that a gap gives no advantage. Admissions, teaching staff and reviews come in as their data arrives.
The full methodology → Similar schools in the country