Dubai College

History

Dubai College was founded in 1978 under an Amiri decree issued by the late Ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum.

Before the school moved to its current location, it was housed in two small villas near Safa Park. Dubai College started its first year with five teachers and twenty two pupils.

The Board of Governors set up a debenture system and arranged bank loans to fund a permanent building for the school. The contracted architectural firm was Brewer, Smith and Brewer. In 1979, the first school building, now dubbed A Block, was constructed near the Chicago Beach Hotel.

After some years of absence, the school has reintroduced a compulsory debenture system, payable for all new pupils entering the school from September 2015.

Dubai College was selected to host the COBIS Secondary Games 2016.

Academics

Regarded as the best British school in Dubai and among the top academic British curriculum schools in the world, Dubai College has consistently produced strong academic results, with students scoring exceptionally well in both GCSE and GCE Advanced Level examinations.

In 2009, Dubai College students received a 100% pass rate in the British Curriculum Advanced (GCE) level examinations. 99 candidates sat for 300 subject examinations with 70% achieving an A grade pass, in comparison to the UK average of 26.7%. 90% of students from Dubai College in 2009 gained admission to their first choice university, which included Princeton, Oxford, Cambridge, Columbia, and Cornell.

KHDA Inspection Report

The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) is an educational quality assurance authority based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It undertakes early learning, school and higher learning institution management and rates them as well.

A summary of the inspection ratings for Dubai College.

A summary of all the schools in Dubai's ratings can be found at KHDA School Ratings.

Enrolment

With a predominant reputation in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai College is a popular and highly selective choice. It receives about 450 applicants a year for only 132 spaces. It has approximately 820 students and more than 95 members of teaching staff.

Campus

The campus of Dubai College offers many facilities such as a large sports field with rugby pitches, football pitches, a cricket pitch and cricket nets as well as astroturf tennis courts and netball courts. There are also 3 Design and Technology workshops, a Music Centre with a recording studio, and a specialised Art department. The school has 5 computer suites, with internet access.

A new 950-seat auditorium began construction in 2007, and was opened in 2009. A Wi-Fi network was implemented into the Sixth Form centre in 2010 and the entire school in 2011.

The school is currently working on plans of a new set of sports stands along with a canteen near the field.

Student body

As of 2016 there were 887 students, with 60% originating from British families and the remainder from other foreign nationalities.

Extracurricular activities

Significant extracurricular activities participated in by Dubai College include the Duke of Edinburgh's Award, the Young Enterprise scheme, and F1 in Schools.

Athletics

Dubai College students annually partake in the 'Fab 5' athletics tournament, competing against other schools in the area. The college also competes in athletic competitions on a regular basis at Rashid School for Boys. The school also participates in the annual British Schools in the Middle East Games.

Debating

Dubai College is considered one of the leading schools for Debating in Dubai. They have successfully competed at various international and regional Debate tournaments and competitions, including the British Schools of the Middle East Debating Tournament, Debate Dubai, Cambridge Union Schools Debating Competition and COBIS Student World Debate Competition. Students from the school have also been selected to represent the UAE at the World Schools Debating Championship.

Rugby

Dubai College annually hosts the Dubai College Rugby 7's, and the Dubai College Rugby 10's tournaments. School teams from all over the United Arab Emirates and from the Persian Gulf are invited, and all the proceeds go to charity. Regular participants include the English College, Doha College, and Jumeirah College.

Dubai College also participates in the Gulf Under 18 Men section of the Dubai Sevens, and in an annual tour of Hong Kong preceding the Hong Kong Sevens.

F1 in Schools

In 2010 Dubai College participated in the F1 in Schools competition. Out of four Dubai College representative teams, Team Impulse won the UAE National Finals, and went on to represent the United Arab Emirates in the International Finals in Singapore. They won the Outstanding sportsmanship award. In the 2011 F1 in Schools UAE National Championships, two teams from Dubai College were entered, Team RedShift and Revolution Racing. Revolution Racing came 2nd overall, which means they will collaborate with a Malaysian team and compete in the world finals. Team RedShift won the Best Verbal Presentation award, as well as being named the 2011 F1 in Schools UAE National Champions. They will now represent Dubai College, as well as the UAE at the world finals due to be held in Malaysia in September.

Golf

Students from Dubai College annually create a workforce of over 100 people from years 9 and 10 to perform scoring duties at the Dubai Ladies Masters and the Dubai Desert Classic. They have also been scorers at the DP World Tour Championship, Dubai, the season-ending event of the European Tour.

Resignation of the headmaster

In 2009, schools in Dubai were subject to inspection by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), who separated schools into one of four categories; Outstanding, Good, Acceptable and Unsatisfactory. The assessments sparked significant controversy, partly because of the decision to link tuition increases to the results of the inspections. Outstanding schools were allowed fee increases by 15%, Good schools by 12%, Acceptable schools by 10%, and Unsatisfactory schools by 7%, diverging from the previous uniform allowance of an 8% increase each year.

The then headmaster of Dubai College, Dr. Carlo Ferrario, subsequently announced his resignation, citing government interference in the school’s operations as the chief reason.

In a letter sent to parents of students, Ferrario was critical of the school inspections launched in the previous year, and said he would depart at the end of the academic year because of significant changes in the "educational landscape". "Over the past two years this has changed markedly, with the level of intervention from external agencies ... reaching levels that, in my view, compromise [the school’s] independence," Ferrario said in the letter. "While school inspection is important and I applaud it, I believe the system of inspection that has been adopted in Dubai presents more disadvantages than benefits for schools like Dubai College," he said. "It is not a regime with which I feel able to work."

Dubai College was given a result of Good, the second highest rating, in both the 2009 and 2010 inspections.

Ralph Tabberer, the chief of schools at Global Education Management Systems, said of Ferrario; "Carlo Ferrario is an outstanding educator, so we need to take notice of his comments on inspections. They are supposed to drive out the weak, not the strong". The owner of GEMS Education, Sunny Varkey, has also been critical of the inspections.

Fraud by Accountant Employeee

In 2011, Dubai College discovered that they had been defrauded to the sum of several million Dirhams by an accounting department employee who proceeded to flee the UAE to his home country of India. The money was never recovered and seriously strained the schools finances for several years.

Notable Alumni