Applications on the rise as UAE pupils return for new school year

▶ Families who arrived in the UAE as the new school year began dash to secure last-gasp classroom places

As families returned to the UAE after the long summer break, schools recorded a surge in enrolment applications.

Almost 200 Dubai schools opened on Sunday, with another 13 due to open next week. Abu Dhabi private schools also reopened last week.

Michael Wilson, headmaster at Cranleigh Abu Dhabi, said his school had a significant increase in the number of admissions requests, as did Gems Education Founders School Al Mizhar.

Indian curriculum Credence High School in Dubai also reported a “considerable increase in the number of admission inquiries” this year.

Schools across the UAE received a surge in applications for places as families returned from summer breaks and new facilities opened their doors.

The start of the new academic year prompted a flood of late registrations. One school reported a 50 per cent rise in requests.

In Dubai, 173 schools welcomed pupils back to their classrooms on Sunday. Another 13 schools there will open this Sunday.

Young students in Abu Dhabi returned to the capital’s 200 private schools on Sunday.

Michael Wilson, headmaster at Cranleigh Abu Dhabi, said his school is close to its 1,300-pupil capacity but said that he had seen a significant increase in the number of admissions requests.

“In the past 24 hours, we have had 13 new registrations,” said Mr Wilson. “We had a flood of inquiries at the beginning of August and we had another spike 48 hours ago.”

At the school, 99 per cent of pupils are back at their studies after the holidays.

Gems Founders School Al Mizhar said it was dealing with 70 live requests at the moment.

Credence High School in Dubai, which teaches the Indian CBSE curriculum, enjoyed a “considerable increase in the number of admission inquiries, and close to 100 children are joining the school this year”, said the principal, Deepika Thapar Singh.

She believes its modest fees and good rating by Dubai’s education body, along with the desire of Indian families to give their children a grounding in their country’s education system ahead of going home, may have boosted its popularity.

“I’m expecting the trend to improve and we feel things are looking brighter.

“This increase in admissions is not usual for us. There has been a 50 per cent surge in admission inquiries this year.”

Bill Delbrugge, headmaster at Dunecrest American School in Dubai said applications are

rolling in ahead of the school’s opening next week.

Marta Topornicka, director of admissions at Taaleem, an education provider in Dubai, believes the back-to-school charge is normal because some parents leave admissions to the last minute.

“There is a rush of new applications

this week. Many Taaleem schools are already at capacity.

“Sometimes, the father comes in early and starts looking around but the mother comes later and wants to review.

“Sometimes, you have families coming in quite late and they have been contacting

schools before they move. “They go through the process of admissions when they arrive. Hence the influx at this point in time,” Ms Topornicka said.

Henning Fries, the chief executive at Bloom Education, operators of Dwight School Dubai and Brighton College Abu Dhabi and Dubai, said: “Since both schools have officially opened their doors this week, we have seen a spike in parent inquiries, which is fantastic.”

Dwight School Dubai has capacity for 464 pupils. Brighton College Dubai teaches 484children, a figure expected to increase to 1,820 over the next five years.

Clive Pierrepont, director of communications at education provider Taaleem, said: “Our full and growing schools are very much in demand, but we have seen many more families leave Dubai and Abu Dhabi than in previous years, due to relocation and change of jobs.

“The inquiries in August were slower than last year but this was mainly due to the timing of Eid al Adha in August.

“Since the Eid holiday, we have seen many more families return to the Emirates and new families arriving just in time for the start of term.

“We are still busy processing hundreds of applications and have achieved over 99 per cent of our target enrolments across the whole group.”