Located in Al Nahda, Dubai Carmel is a private school providing education for boys and girls aged three to 16, from Kindergarten to Grade 10.

There are currently 885 students (up 10% on last year) attending a school relatively popular among the local population – one in five of the student body is Emirati.

The school has 91 teachers and 39 teaching or support assistants. Most teachers have a university degree but only a few have a teaching qualification.

Special needs is a core focus of the school, and Dubai Carmel school provides a caring environment for students with a range of specific learning difficulties, including autism and Down’s Syndrome. In the school’s 2012/13 report the KHDA noted scope for improvement in the curriculum offered in the special classes to meet the needs of students more fully. This seems to have been addressed – in 2013/14 the report notes a “successful, inclusive approach to supporting students with special educational needs”.

The school runs five separate classes in Years 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8 for students with pronounced special educational needs. The school also integrated students with less serious special educational needs into mainstream classes

Across most phases of the school KHDA inspectors have noted the need to improve the quality of teaching and learning, particularly in the secondary boys’ section, to support better progress in all key subjects. Achievement across the core subjects is currently rated as ‘Acceptable’. The Acceptable rating the school seems unable to improve upon. It is the 5th year in a row that Dubai Carmel School has received this as an overall grade.

The school’s student sit the UK’s IGCSE examinations at Grade 10/11, using the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) board exams. According to the KHDA report, the school relies on text book materials to provide structure to the curriculum offered (2012/13). There are eight compulsory subjects: English, maths, chemistry, physics, biology, IT, environmental studies, and business studies.

In 2014-2015 the school will begin AS-Level in Gr.12 as an additional option. Again the school will offer a limited range of options,which include mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, and sociology – clearly a strong science orientation. The suggestion is the school will begin offering the full A Level option in 2015-16.

There is a focus on activities outside of the classroom, with sports and arts competitions being held between schools and field trips for various subjects offered to students, however parents in general are not satisfied with the number of extra-curricular activities offered.

Fees for the school are relatively highly affordable – ranging from 7,700 AED per annum to 13,000 AED depending upon age group grade. The school has recently updated its web site, and it includes some good information. As usual, WhichSchoolAdvisor.com would like to see more – in particular the annual publication of independent examination results.