Dubai College

[Noicant]

Just wondering if anyone can share what kind of CAT scores secured their child a place.

Not certain, but probably SAS 120+.

Yup I figured it would be 120+, thanks!

120 you can apply, 130 to stand a chance in maths

Technically anyone can apply of course and many schools in Dubai won't actually tell parents CAT4 scores, so a lot of parents apply blind, although there are the annual GL tests which give guidance. The line I managed to extract from DC when we were looking at Y7 places was they take the top 10% (but not sure if that's really true if as the previous poster says 130+ is required in maths!). I would assume that the 120+ is about right unless a child either performs exceptionally well at DC's own exams, or brings something exceptional to the table for music/sport etc.

Be aware that whilst the official line from DC is that you can't tutor for the entrance exams, I've not yet met anyone who didn't (regardless of whether the child then got in or not) - similar to 11+ in the UK. I blindly applied having drunk the cool aid from the admissions website on this point. Of course there are kids who get in without tutoring (and a flurry of them will now turn up on Mumsnet!) but it's not the norm and you're setting your child up to fail unless you at least do exam prep with them (unless they are actually in genius territory). Many will also have been tutored for the CAT4s to give them a higher score in anticipation of the DC entrance exams (again of course the official line is that you can't tutor for the CAT4, but we all know that's not true!).

I have also have feedback from parents with kids there that tutoring continues whilst kids are at the school and the pressure to keep up is intense. To be fair, tutoring is very common in general in Dubai anyway (my favorite so far is someone looking for tutoring for their UNIVERSITY student child) so I don't think this is something DC itself is encouraging/driving, but the reality is that it attracts a very results focused parent base. For some kids/parents that's exactly what they want/need but it's not for everyone even if they're academically at the level.

[I should say my kids didn't get in and obviously they are perfect little geniuses who any school should be begging for so not sure if I'm in part bitter and would be saying something different if they had gotten in :). I do know parents who have turned down places for this type of reason though. In hindsight I am very glad as it would have been the wrong environment.].