Outstanding academic results drive interest in Dubai’s newest UK Curriculum School

Dubai, 7 May 2019:   It’s human nature to associate higher prices with better quality across the majority of industries and sectors. One of Dubai’s newest UK curriculum schools looks to buck this trend once again when it opens its doors in September 2019.

Al Salam Community School, the sister to Al Salam Private School is looking to replicate its academic achievements but this time with the help of enhanced facilities and specialist learning spaces. 

Al Salam Private School has consistently been at the top of Dubai’s results for some time and the high academic performance of their students has always been a distinguishing feature of the existing school and they hope to enhance this further alongside wider opportunity for students interests and talents to be met.  
The UAE’s Vision 2021 National Agenda focuses on student achievement in international tests such as The Trends in Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

The UAE’s aim is be ranked in the top fifteen countries for TIMSS by 2021. Students at Al Salam have consistently demonstrated superb academic outcomes on these assessments and has proudly represented the UAE better than the majority of schools in Dubai

To put things in perspective, based on 2015 results, if Al Salam Private School were to compare international league table results, students in Year 5 Maths would rank fifth in the country league tables behind S. Korea, Hong Kong and Singapore. Similarly, within Year 9 Science, Al Salam would top the country league tables ahead of Singapore with an overall score of 620. Within Year 9 Science, Al Salam (620) also came out on top, ahead of Singapore. 
Their academic results are equally as impressive in the PISA league tables as they came out on top in reading. 
It’s results like this that put Dubai on the education map. 

These achievements are testament to their focus on quality but also equally impressive, as their average fee of 23,000 AED is significantly lower than the majority of schools in Dubai. 

Speaking about the academic achievements of Al Salam, Director, Taher Gharib commented “Our academic achievements are the outcome of our high expectations and our efforts to ensure that our children feel part of a wider community and are fully enabled through holistic support systems and an environment of care. We blend different approaches to learning for different situations so that our learners are constantly challenged to do their best. We’re delighted with the results but our focus is always on the children and their learning.” 

High-quality but inexpensive schools are high in demand in the current economic climate, and parents are sensitive to the value-added components of expensive schools, such as luxurious specialist facilities, and celebrity chef food suppliers. In September 2018, 14 new schools opened in Dubai bringing an additional 20,000+ school seats to the market with an average 

price of AED 55,490. Al Salam Community School will have fees ranging from 22,000-38,000 AED. With these fees, students will still get a 6-lane, 25-metre swimming pool, indoor basketball court, a dedicated UAE Heritage Centre and library, sports pitches and outdoor court, flexible learning spaces and much more. 

The School will initially cater for children aged between 3 to 18, and will be joined by 450 secondary children who will move from the existing Al Salam campus to the new school. Whereas most schools open with Primary only and build their way up, Al Salam Community School is starting with an already established and successful secondary school and growing from the top down. This is intended to create a greater sense of stability around quality, high expectations and high standards across the school and overcome the uncertainty about student pathways which other new schools typically face.

Al Salam’s academic results at a relatively affordable price point put it way ahead of schools that demand higher fees. The fees of Al Salam Community School make it possible to study the full English National Curriculum without facing the burden of charges at Dubai’s most expensive schools.

Al Salam Community School may the sustainable model of the future for Dubai. When parents tighten their budgets, they generally gravitate towards the basic expectation of schools which is to enable the student’s achievement opening doors for their next steps, and in education terms, this means qualifications and results. Al Salam has demonstrated their ability to achieve exceptional results, the new school will further enhance the student experience with facilities which punch well above their school fee range Although the fees are slightly more expensive than their home campus, they are still significantly cheaper than the majority of new schools that opened in 2018. 

It’s clear that parents are now getting their first choice of school, which has not been the case for many years. Premium schools are offering discounts and scholarships to entice and incentivise parents in order to fill places.

With new operators coming in at the affordable end of the market, and with the expansion of existing operators, the pressure on the higher priced schools to deliver on academic results will increase, as parents will question whether the exorbitant facilities and symbolism of branding is worth more, than outstanding academic results, and a sustainable financial model.