RGS Dubai | Mumsnet

Faxton · 2026-07-05T16:38:01+00:00

Hi! Does anyone have kids in RGS Dubai? My kids will go to year 1 and year 3. The school looks very warm and cosy, but I wanted to find out about academic provision. How does it compare to other schools in Dubai? How does it compare to UK prep schools? Do they give homework? Do they use ipads very early on? How are the teachers - are they quite young and tend to move on quickly or are they older and more experienced? Do kids get challenged academically? Basically, it seems to me that kids are quite happy in the school, but does it also prepare them well academically? Thank you for your replies!

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kjfkjfbkjfb · 06/07/2026 10:26

I'll preface by saying both myself and my sister and her family moved back to the UK in 2022, so I'm not super up to date with it all, but I've still got a lot of friends there!

We looked at RGS and we have quite a few friends who've got kids there and at other schools in Dubai. This is going back a couple of years, but we liked it. The only thing I will say, as a parent whose kids have now been to multiple international schools at this point, all over the world as well as in Dubai, before now being settled in the UK, and who myself went to an international school - international schools are just nowhere near as good as british schools!

You just won't get the same education at all, so you can't really compare it to the UK, and I don't know anyone at an international school who isn't 'topping up' the education with tuition which is something you'll need to bear in mind financially. Also, dubai teachers aren't allowed to be tutors 'on the side' and the dubai based tuition agencies are very hit and miss, so most tend to use online tutors who are UK based, especially if they want their kid to come back to a UK uni.

Have you joined the facebook groups? There are a couple of very useful ones if you have a look (British Mums Dubai I think is the most useful one)

Original poster

Faxton · 06/07/2026 14:46

kjfkjfbkjfb · 06/07/2026 10:26

I'll preface by saying both myself and my sister and her family moved back to the UK in 2022, so I'm not super up to date with it all, but I've still got a lot of friends there!

We looked at RGS and we have quite a few friends who've got kids there and at other schools in Dubai. This is going back a couple of years, but we liked it. The only thing I will say, as a parent whose kids have now been to multiple international schools at this point, all over the world as well as in Dubai, before now being settled in the UK, and who myself went to an international school - international schools are just nowhere near as good as british schools!

You just won't get the same education at all, so you can't really compare it to the UK, and I don't know anyone at an international school who isn't 'topping up' the education with tuition which is something you'll need to bear in mind financially. Also, dubai teachers aren't allowed to be tutors 'on the side' and the dubai based tuition agencies are very hit and miss, so most tend to use online tutors who are UK based, especially if they want their kid to come back to a UK uni.

Have you joined the facebook groups? There are a couple of very useful ones if you have a look (British Mums Dubai I think is the most useful one)

Thank you! Yes, speaking to people there, it does seem that math and english tutoring is a must. I was just wondering if i can at least get a strong school of the ones that are available :) I know JESS is well regarded, but they don't have space. Another thing I'd care about is that the kids and families in the school are grounded and sensible even if they are wealthy. I've heard varying stories of kids boasting about their parents' cars, and birthday parties turning into some sort of competition, so am wondering if it's possible to find a place where people are sensible in that respect.

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