# School admission before arrival in Dubai



## cooltide (Dec 10, 2013)

Is it possible to arrange admission to a school before we move to Dubai - most of the material I have read appears to indicate that you need to be present in Dubai for the child to take admission tests and have residency visa's etc before you can confirm the offer a school place ?

As a single father -simultaneously finding childcare, arranging permanent accommodation, finding a school etc and starting a new job is going to be a real logistical challenge but if I can crack school admission before arrival that would be a huge step forward - any suggestions or advice would be very welcome!!


----------



## BBmover (Jun 15, 2013)

School admissions open in January for September start but if you are moving sooner than you can have your child enrolled sooner if accepted. The admissions test is taken at the school, in Dubai, and I haven't heard of schools that don't do it thus way but I could be mistaken. The entrance test determines if your child is accepted as well as meeting your child and you. Some do the test before moving to Dubai, so on a visit, then once they arrive have a confirmed place. Some schools may allow admission while still awaiting residency visa. My only suggestion is contacting schools you are interested in now - schools reopen on 5th January and discuss with them OR think about a visit to Dubai with organised admission tests to undertake? Good luck!


----------



## cooltide (Dec 10, 2013)

Thanks - you've confirmed what I had assumed from the reading I had done.


----------



## vantage (May 10, 2012)

cooltide said:


> Is it possible to arrange admission to a school before we move to Dubai - most of the material I have read appears to indicate that you need to be present in Dubai for the child to take admission tests and have residency visa's etc before you can confirm the offer a school place ?
> 
> As a single father -simultaneously finding childcare, arranging permanent accommodation, finding a school etc and starting a new job is going to be a real logistical challenge but if I can crack school admission before arrival that would be a huge step forward - any suggestions or advice would be very welcome!!


it is a real pain, definitely!
your one biggest headache.

One thing to note, coming from Scotland, is that you are going into the English system. note that the years are numbered differently in England and Scotland.

e.g. P3 in Scotland = Year 2 in England......

our daughter ended up skipping a whole year of school because of this! We knew it, but the school here arsed it up. She's doing great, though, so on the plus side, we've saved a year's fees!

how hard it is to get them in depends on what year they want into. the early years are often the hardest. i was talking to a headmaster yesterday who has a waiting list of several hundred pupils for the first couple of years, but was unable to fill Year 4 this year, and has a big waiting list for year 6, for the first ime ever. It's all a bit random.

It is a self-perpetuating problem. People get onto more than one waiting list, because they are worried about getting a place. The waiting lists are therefore inflated, so people sign up to more (at a non-refundable 500AED a time...) Clearly, if every child is on 3 waiting lists, the lists are 3 times longer than the reality.
The schools make a fortune out of the process..

you can register them for several schools whilst in the UK. i did. i didn't get much love until i was actually here though, and could go door knocking.

Be a bit of a 'friendly' pain. visit the school. call them two or three times a week. Make them all think they are the only school for you. 

As for your priorities...
school first
childcare second
housing third

you, in particular, being alone, will need your housing near the school (and work, if possible) so you need to nail the school before getting a permanent place to live.

schools reopen on the fifth, but the registration departments are all open now. they are busy taking money off people...
our daughter did a school test back in Scotland. They sent it by email to the headmaster back home, who made her sit the test with her friends, so that she didn't feel singled out. If you can get through these stages back home, then it becomes a straightforward wait after that. 

good luck!
it can be done, and it can be done alone. It is a painful mont hor two, but it all comes to an end!


----------



## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

Hi,
We went through same process at the end of last year and the advice from Vantage is spot on.
Interestingly, i was looking at some brochues from the new GEMS schools and they were asking for a 1000AED registration fee!
I dont know if this is KHDA approved and whether all the schools are now going to be charging this increased amount - if so, then registering at a few schools will start to get expensive!
Best of luck - which schools are you looking at and what area will you be working?
Cheers
Steve


----------



## cooltide (Dec 10, 2013)

vantage said:


> it is a real pain, definitely!
> your one biggest headache.
> 
> One thing to note, coming from Scotland, is that you are going into the English system. note that the years are numbered differently in England and Scotland.
> ...



Thanks - thats really very helpful - what school was it that enabled your child to sit the entrance test in Scotland?


----------



## cooltide (Dec 10, 2013)

Stevesolar said:


> Hi,
> We went through same process at the end of last year and the advice from Vantage is spot on.
> Interestingly, i was looking at some brochues from the new GEMS schools and they were asking for a 1000AED registration fee!
> I dont know if this is KHDA approved and whether all the schools are now going to be charging this increased amount - if so, then registering at a few schools will start to get expensive!
> ...


Thanks Steve - at the moment I have only just started looking at schools but the first on my list is the Wellington International School as it has good ratings and allows my son to sit the exam at home. I'll be working in the Downtown area. 
Do you know this school?


----------



## vantage (May 10, 2012)

cooltide said:


> Thanks - thats really very helpful - what school was it that enabled your child to sit the entrance test in Scotland?


GEMS Wellington Primary, so basically any of the GEMS schools, probably.
not sure about the others


----------



## zatapa (Jun 21, 2013)

By the way, residence visa is not required for admission. It needs to be in process though. 

Our daughter did a test for fs2 at Regent Intl School the week she arrived, all paperwork was not finished until two months after she started her school.


----------



## cooltide (Dec 10, 2013)

vantage said:


> GEMS Wellington Primary, so basically any of the GEMS schools, probably.
> not sure about the others




That makes sense as its the secondary school that I was looking at. I am keeping my fingers crossed I can maybe secure a place before I come out - I'll adopt some of the tactics you have suggested! Thanks.


----------



## cooltide (Dec 10, 2013)

zatapa said:


> By the way, residence visa is not required for admission. It needs to be in process though.
> 
> Our daughter did a test for fs2 at Regent Intl School the week she arrived, all paperwork was not finished until two months after she started her school.


Thanks - thats helpful - the more info I get , the more I see some light at the end of the tunnel.


----------



## vantage (May 10, 2012)

cooltide said:


> That makes sense as its the secondary school that I was looking at. I am keeping my fingers crossed I can maybe secure a place before I come out - I'll adopt some of the tactics you have suggested! Thanks.


the new GEMS Al Khail school is opening secondary for 2014, so may be easier to get places there, given they are starting from scratch.......

yrs 7,8,9 start 2014
yrs 10,11,12 start 2015


----------



## Stevesolar (Dec 21, 2012)

cooltide said:


> Thanks Steve - at the moment I have only just started looking at schools but the first on my list is the Wellington International School as it has good ratings and allows my son to sit the exam at home. I'll be working in the Downtown area.
> Do you know this school?


Hi,
Yes I know this school. 
When we arrived in Dubai we put our then 7 year old son in a GEMS school but moved him to a different school this September.
I am personally not a big fan of the GEMS system. I find them too commercial and impersonal.
Interestingly, our son goes to cricket at a GEMS school on a Friday and it was there that I looked at the brochures for the new Al Khail Schools - these were the ones with the increased 1000AED registration fee.
The big problem in Dubai is that there is simply a world of difference between a school in the UK and a Dubai school with a UK curriculum!
Cheers
Steve


----------



## vantage (May 10, 2012)

Stevesolar said:


> The big problem in Dubai is that there is simply a world of difference between a school in the UK and a Dubai school with a UK curriculum!
> Cheers
> Steve


you're not wrong there!
with a Scottish perspective, for the same money you pay here, you do NOT get the Dollar Academy / Fettes / Heriots education, however much they claim 'excellence'
It's a bit of a joke really.

Agree that GEMS are very 'commercial' but we have had truly excellent, mature teachers for both our children in the two years we've had here.
Avoid schools that have graduate teachers. You do not want a young teacher who's first experience of teaching is here. They need 4/5 years UK grounding first, i'd say.


----------

