← Back to homeRaffles World Academy
Dubai, UAE · est. 2008 · Private
Illustration · Dubai
The school has worked in Umm Suqeim since 2008, has more than 1900 pupils of over a hundred nationalities, and it runs the whole International Baccalaureate line: the primary stage from kindergarten to the fifth grade, the middle from the sixth to the tenth, the diploma in the eleventh and twelfth and the career-related stage. It takes children from 2.9 years: that is how the school itself labels the pre-kindergarten group in its fee schedule. The campus covers 30,000 square metres, with a hall of 500 seats, swimming pools, a sports hall, a football pitch, tennis, basketball and badminton courts, a dance studio, a library with books in several languages, laboratories and a product design laboratory; the grounds have round-the-clock security and video surveillance, and there are prayer rooms with places for ablution. There are many languages: teaching is in English, in the diploma stage the school offers Arabic, English, French and Spanish as a second language, with Arabic compulsory for pupils of Arab nationalities, and beyond that a home language programme works in Russian, French, Italian, Hindi and German. Results the school prints for five years and does not smooth them over: in 2023 there were 47 graduates, a 98 per cent pass rate, an average score of 32, 36 per cent came out above 35 points and only 6 above 40; the best year was 2021, when 55 graduates gave a full pass, the average score was 35, the best result 44 and almost a third were above 40 points. Graduates go widely: Stanford, Berkeley, the University of California in Los Angeles, Michigan, King's College, University College London, St Andrews, Manchester, Toronto, McGill, the University of British Columbia, Sydney, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Bocconi, Heidelberg. There is a lot of sport and it is set out by term: fourteen disciplines in the primary school and six team ones in the middle and senior school, with entry in the city school leagues. The fee runs from 33,544 dirhams in the pre-kindergarten group and the first year of kindergarten to 87,990 in the eleventh and twelfth grades, in three instalments. What is worth knowing in advance: the school warns honestly that its pupil support resources are limited and that it is designed for children with the ordinary spread of abilities.
Key facts
Tuition
≈ $9 134–23 959 a year
33 544–87 990 AED
Programmes
IB · PYP, MYP, DP, CP
Admits from
2.9 years · Pre-School
Languages of instruction
English
Languages taught
Arabic, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, Hindi
Registration fee
≈ $143
525 AED
About the fees The fee for the 2026-2027 year: the pre-kindergarten group and the first year of kindergarten 33,544 dirhams, the second year of kindergarten 40,253, the first and second grades 53,270, the third 53,671, the fourth and fifth 64,405, the sixth 64,807, the seventh to the ninth 72,188, the tenth 78,488, the eleventh and twelfth 87,990. It is split into three instalments, and the first is larger than the two that follow: in the final grades that is 30,796, 26,397 and 26,397 dirhams. Payment can be made through the portal, by transfer, by cheque, by card or in cash. Continuing pupils pay a re-registration fee of 5 per cent of the annual fee, from 1,675 dirhams in the kindergarten to 4,400 in the final grades, and it is credited against the first instalment. New pupils pay instead a registration fee of 10 per cent of the annual fee. For a second and a third child the school takes off 5 per cent, for a fourth 10, for a fifth 15, for a sixth and subsequent ones 20. On top of the fee the school asks families to count stationery, trips, uniform, external examinations, meals, the bus, textbooks and replacement of a pass.
Admissions The main intake the school makes for the start of the school year in September, but it accepts all year round when there are places, and it writes this word for word. Restrictions by nationality, faith or sex it does not set, but it honestly restricts on something else: the school is designed for pupils with the ordinary spread of abilities and says outright that its in-school learning support resources are limited. In the middle school admission is open to the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth grades, while about the tenth the school talks separately with each family; from its own primary school pupils move up without selection. The grade is set by age under the rules of the UAE education authority. An application can be made through the site or by coming to the school. For the entrance assessment the school charges 525 dirhams with tax, and the fee is not refunded; the order of assessments by age, the list of documents, application deadlines and waiting-list rules the school puts in its admissions policy file and does not print on its pages. As a separate pack it publishes a guide for new families, health forms and curriculum guides for every stage from kindergarten to the twelfth grade.
Stages and year groups Grades Pre-KG - Grade 12. Twelve grades plus a kindergarten of three stages: the pre-kindergarten group and two years of kindergarten, then the primary school from the first to the fifth grade, the middle from the sixth to the tenth and the final eleventh and twelfth, which the school calls the sixth form of the British count. Ages the school puts straight into its fee schedule: the pre-kindergarten group 2.9-4 years, the first year of kindergarten 4-5, the second 5-6, the first and second grades 6-8, the third 8-9, the fourth and fifth 9-11, the sixth 11-12, the seventh to the ninth 12-15, the tenth 15-16, the eleventh and twelfth 16-18. The grade is set by age under the rules of the UAE education authority, and pupils from the southern hemisphere the school allows to repeat half a year when they move. The school day has two breaks: a short one of 20 minutes with a walk and a snack, and lunch of 40 minutes together with rest. From the first year of kindergarten to the first grade lunch is brought from home in a thermal bag; from the second grade it can be bought in the canteen. Class sizes, the number of classes in a year group and the length of the school day the school does not publish.
Accreditations and programmes verified against official registries
IB · PYP, MYP, DP, CP · 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), 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 →Exams and destinations from the school's official website
Average IB score
32 (world average 30.88)
Exam results The school prints final-stage results for five years running. 2023: 47 graduates, 98 per cent passed, the average score 32, above 35 points 36 per cent, above 40 - 6 per cent. 2022: 54 graduates, a 98 per cent pass rate, the average score 32. 2021 the school calls its best: 55 graduates, a full pass, the average score 35, the best result 44, above 40 points 29.1 per cent. 2020: 63 graduates, a 98 per cent pass rate, the average score 35. 2019: 42 graduates, a full pass, the average score 33. The claim of a hundred per cent pass rate on the school's home page applies not to all these years but to two of the five. Results of the middle stage and of the career-related stage the school does not give.
Where leavers go: Stanford University · American University in Washington DC · Occidental College · University of Texas at Dallas · Iowa State University · Syracuse University · University of Tulsa · University of Texas at Arlington · Hult International Business School · University of Miami · University of Michigan Ann Arbor · UCLA
and others, 81 universities in the school's list in allThe school lists universities by region: the United States, Canada, Britain, Asia with Australia, Africa and Europe, and separately the Middle East. Neither years, nor shares of those admitted, nor numbers of graduates by university does it give.
Facilities from the school's official website
✓Swimming poolSwimming pools on the grounds
✓Sports hallA sports hall and a dance studio
✓LaboratoriesScience laboratories, computer rooms and a product design and technology laboratory
✓Theatre or assembly hallA hall of 500 seats
✓LibraryA library with a shared network, fiction and popular science literature and books in several languages
✓CateringA canteen with a choice of lunches for pupils from different countries
·School transportnot stated on the website
·Boardingnot stated on the website
Also on site: Sports ground or field
Campus: 30,000 square metres in Umm Suqeim; the classrooms the school describes as open and spacious, with projectors and clusters of computers
Clubs and activities (50): Football · Cross-country · Aquathlon · Swimming · Netball · Athletics · Tennis · Basketball · Tag rugby · Rounders · Cricket · Badminton · Table tennis · Volleyball · Student leadership · Field trips · Duke of Edinburgh's Award · Mother tongue programme
Teaching staff from the school's official website
✓Teachers listed by namepublished
·Teacher qualificationsnot stated
·Number of teachersthe school does not say
·Students per teacher or class sizenot stated
By name the school lists the leadership team with qualifications: master's degrees in educational leadership, a master of business administration, British professional qualifications for leadership, a qualification in child protection and staff training, and a chartered accountant's diploma in the finance service. About its composition it says that it combines expatriate teachers with local ones and that all its educators are experienced and trained, and that psychologists work together with the pastoral service. The total number of teachers, their composition by country, class sizes and the pupil-teacher ratio the school does not publish.
Safety and wellbeing from the school's official website
✓CCTV
✓Security staff
·Access controlnot stated on the website
·Nurse or medical roomnot stated on the website
✓CounsellorPsychologists work together with the school's pastoral service
·Child protection policynot stated on the website
·Staff trainingnot stated on the website
·Anti-bullying policynot stated on the website
The grounds are under round-the-clock security and constant video surveillance, and there are prayer rooms with places for ablution. A separate child protection policy, the name of a designated safeguarding lead, an order of staff training, an anti-bullying policy and the presence of a medical room the school does not name on its pages; the school policies page is published as a separate section but does not disclose the composition of the documents.
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 data85 Facilities (10%) scored on disclosed data90 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.
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