Dubai College, UAE

The College

Established forty-six years ago, Dubai College has a national and international reputation as a world class learning organisation. We are an independent, coeducational, not-for-profit, selective school for boys and girls aged 11-18. We follow an adapted English National Curriculum and our aim is to provide a rich holistic education and academic excellence for our students. We exist to equip young people with the deep learning and good character that they will need to flourish in their lives, underpinned by four pillars of sporting, creative, philanthropic and academic endeavour. 

Dubai College has been rated ‘Outstanding’ by the KHDA since 2010 and consistently outstanding by British Schools Overseas. Academically, Dubai College is recognised as one of the world’s highest achieving international schools, with academic excellence and a passion for profound knowledge as our core mission. The school has featured for the last five years in the Spear’s Schools Index as one of the top 150 private schools in the world. Dubai College is delighted to have been recognised with the Pearson Outstanding School Award 2024, celebrating our students' incredible academic achievements. We proudly commend 21 Outstanding Pearson Learner Award recipients, attaining 11 Highest Mark in the World awards and 10 Highest Mark in the Middle East awards.

The College occupies a nineteen-acre site on the coast very close to the Palm Jumeirah at the mid-point between Dubai Marina and the iconic Burj Al Arab. We proudly achieved Leed Gold certification for our multi award-winning Jafar Centre. The Centre opens up a world of possibilities for our students, offering them a rich and multifaceted environment for learning, relaxation, and social interaction. At the core of this building are our Harkness rooms, our state-of-the-art DC Digital Studios and the Bridgeman Library which serves as a true sanctuary, nurturing a culture of research and scholarship among our students.

The Sports and Performing Arts Centre of Excellence (SPACE) includes a 150-seater black box theatre, music practice rooms, drama, spinning and aerobics studios, an extensive gymnasium, a double width sports hall, a cafeteria and 25m swimming pool equipped with electronic timers. Elsewhere on campus we have extensive grass playing fields, a multi-purpose auditorium and lecture theatre, purpose-built science laboratories, and a flagship English department.

Ethos

As a College we are aiming to engineer balance in the lives of students who are academically very able. There is no blueprint for a Dubai College student rather we are aiming for students to discover for themselves who they are and who they want to be. By creating a wealth of opportunities for students to participate in as broad a range of experiences as possible whether they are sporting, creative, philanthropic or academic, we are enabling them to discover their own place within the school community and in time within the world outside. We never lose sight of the fact that our academically gifted students aspire to perform as well as possible in public examinations and we continuously champion the academic. However, the ability to work as a member of a team, to manage set-backs and failure and to recognise personal strengths and weaknesses will be as important in enabling them to live their life with integrity and is consequently a core focus of what we do here. As a result our students leave us as confident individuals with the knowledge, skill set and outlook to succeed at the very best universities and eventually in their chosen, often very challenging, career paths. When asked what standards we expect of one another as professionals DC staff demonstrate a real sense of vocation, that working at Dubai College is not a job but a lifestyle choice. Teachers believe strongly that they should be able to fulfil their academic responsibilities to their students and must be accountable for the outcomes of every one of their students. The next most important expectation of staff at Dubai College is that they should embrace whole school life and contribute fully to the extra-curricular programme both during and after school hours.

As members of a school which feels more like an extended family than an institution, we hope to educate well-mannered citizens who are empowered to fulfil their aspirations. The “not-for-profit” status of our organisation perfectly embodies our ethos: everything is invested in the school and the students with nothing left over.

The College really does have a great feel about it. It already has an exceptionally strong national and international reputation and if you feel you have the potential to build on our reputation as a centre of excellence on the global stage we would very much like to hear from you.

Tomas Duckling
Headmaster

Dubai College is committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of young people and we select staff that understand and share this commitment. All applicants must be willing to undergo child protection screening, including checks with past employers and obtaining a Police Certificate or Good Conduct Certificate from the country the applicant last resided or was employed in, which may include Disclosure & Barring checks.