Long waiting lists at Dubai’s top private schools prompt operators to open new campuses

City's population expected to grow to 5.8 million by 2040, putting extra demand on schools

Dubai English Speaking School will be opening a new primary school next year. Photo: Dubai English Speaking School

Dubai's private school operators are planning to expand their campuses or launch new schools to keep up with demand from the growing population, with more than two million more people expected to live in the emirate within six years.

Dubai English Speaking School, established in 1963, is one of the oldest schools in the city and has hundreds of pupils on its waiting list. To meet this demand, leaders at the institution have decided to launch another school.

“With Dubai’s population growth showing no signs of slowing … we’ve seen a significant increase in applications over the last few years,” said DESS principal Christopher Vizzard. “Our waiting lists reflect this trend, and while the number of families on the lists varies depending on year group and circumstances, families are encouraged to apply early to secure a place.

“Both the secondary and primary school have been oversubscribed for a number of years now, with the waiting list ranging from 30 to 40 people, up to triple figures, depending on the time of the year."

Their new primary school will be separate from the college. It will be located in Academic City and will open in September 2025. “One of the reasons why we've chosen to build the primary school in the location that we have is because of [Dubai's] development plans,” said Mr Vizzard.

He added that the plan was to “open places for every year group from foundation stage one all the way through to year six” and is confident of having “all places filled for September”.

The city's population is growing, with the Dubai Statistics Centre showing it has increased by almost 100,000 in a year, hitting about 3.8 million in June. Dubai’s 2040 Urban Master Plan suggests the city's population will soon be as high as 5.8 million, with its daytime population, of those commuting from other emirates to the city, expected to hit 7.8 million.

Previously, The National had reported that in keeping with the 2040 forecast, the school population could approach 550,000. Currently, there are more than 360,000 pupils enrolled at Dubai's private schools.

Fiona Cottam, principal at Hartland International School, said they have waiting lists from nursery to year three, with no further scope for expansion. “We're just on the 2,000 pupil mark now, and when I think back to four years ago, we had 500 pupils and have quadrupled in size in four years,” she said. “It's just extraordinary in terms of the growth, not just in the city, but around our specific location, with an increased number of town houses and apartments that families are moving into.”

The school has “an additional capacity of about another 400-500 seats that we can manage now on our existing site”, she said, admitting that it was always going to be a challenge in terms of growth.

Parents were increasingly choosing schools based on where they live, rather than travelling across the city, which used to be the case before, she added. “I think it will become more like it is in parts of the UK where people go to their local school and I think that will help traffic. This could develop over the next five to 10 years,” said Ms Cottam.

Earlier this year, The National reported that schools in Dubai South had reported an increase in admissions, as more families moved to the area.

New schools and expansion plans

Anticipating the demand, school operators are planning new schools, expansions and increasing recruitment drive for teachers.

Taalem, which launched Dubai British School Jumeira this year, is set to open Dubai British School Mira in the next academic year. Two new schools will launch in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and their proposed opening is in the academic year 2026. Alan Williamson, chief executive of Taaleem, highlighted that their four new Greenfield schools will “provide 7,800 additional seats in Dubai and Abu Dhabi”.

He added that their British curriculum schools “are already at full capacity with 100 per cent enrolment, and our broader curriculum portfolio operating between 84-90 per cent”. Mr Williamson said they were working to meet demand with the “anticipated influx of 65,000 young people into the UAE, coupled with 50 per cent of our (pupil) intake over the last three years coming from competitor schools”.

Gems Education also recorded a high capacity utilisation, the term used to measure how full a school or group of schools is, at over 90 per cent for their schools.

Dino Varkey, group chief executive at Gems Education, said they opened two new schools this year - in Dubai South and Masdar City. The group also expanded capacity in two existing schools with the opening of a new senior school campus at Gems World Academy Dubai and a new middle school block at Gems Dubai American Academy. More expansion projects are already under way, including at Gems First Point School – The Villa and Gems Royal Dubai School.

“We are committed to investing in building more capacity across our portfolio and have stated publicly that we will deliver approximately 25,000-30,000 new seats over the next three years,” said Mr Varkey.

Not all schools have expansion plans

Despite the growing waiting lists in nearly all year groups, Dubai British School Jumeirah Park does not have any expansion plans. “We're very aware of the limitations of our building. We are already full, which means that our wait-lists are growing,” said school leader Rebecca Coulter.

She added that parents needed to start doing school tours two years in advance as “wait-lists get very, very full very, very quickly”.