Inspection Results
Our Inspection Results
“The spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils is outstanding. It is a significant strength of the school.” – British Schools Overseas Inspection Report, March 2022
As a leading private full through school, Kent College Dubai is inspected by various bodies and organisations, some of which are mandatory, and others which are voluntary. Inspection Results reports give parents an excellent indication of how the school is performing across a wide array of assessment criteria. Inspecting bodies can spend up to a week inside the school for each inspection, assessing all aspects of school including management standards, appropriateness of facilities, effectiveness of teaching and learning, safeguarding, and parent and pupil opinion. After each inspection, the school is issued with a comprehensive inspection report. These reports are used by the school Board of Governors and the school’s Senior Leaders as the foundation for further improvement. The insight given allows our school to learn more about where we are at in terms of best practice, and can also be used as a springboard for selective improvement. These reports can also be useful for existing and prospective parents wishing for a detailed overview of what our school is all about.
Herewith a list of the bodies to which we are affiliated and/or by which we are inspected:
British Schools Overseas
The BSO Scheme is the UK Department for Education’s voluntary inspection scheme for overseas schools. Overseas schools describing themselves as “British” are subject to recognition by the British government under the voluntary inspection scheme.
The Department for Education (DfE) has put in place arrangements for inspection against a common set of standards that British Schools Overseas can choose to adopt.
The intention is to inform parents of pupils in British Schools Overseas how standards measure up against the standards that apply to independent schools in England. Inspectorates approved by the DfE and monitored by Ofsted are available to inspect.
British schools overseas produce inspection reports which are made available to parents and prospective parents. These reports will inform parents and prospective parents about the quality of provision within the inspected school, and its compatibility with independent schools in England.
An essential element of the inspection is considering the extent to which the British character of the school is evident in its ethos, curriculum, teaching, care for pupils and pupils’ achievements. By achieving UK inspection based approval, participating schools will be able to demonstrate that they provide a British education that has similar characteristics to an education in an independent school in England.
CLICK HERE to download our BSO Inspection Report.
British Schools in the Middle East
The BSME supports a network of high quality British international schools in the Middle East. They facilitate an invaluable partnership between their member schools and business partners specialising in educational services, products and tools. Furthermore, the BSME offers a robust and varied professional learning calendar to support career progression pathways at all levels, as well as providing high-level sporting, academic and performing arts events for students.
Their Headship Induction Partner Programme provides new Principals and Heads with the support they need while they find their feet in the region. They support the accreditation of member schools and lobby regulatory bodies to the benefit of these schools.
Kent College Dubai is a member school of BSME.
Council of British International Schools (COBIS)
The Council of British International Schools (COBIS) is a membership association that represents more than 450 schools and organisations, globally. High-quality COBIS schools, which educate over 165,000 students and employ more than 17,000 teachers, can be found in 80 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas. COBIS Supporting Associates provide a wide range of services and resources to the international schools sector.
- COBIS represents its members and their interests, lobbying on their behalf with Government, education authorities and educational associations.
- COBIS provides quality assurance of the highest standard with their Patron’s Accreditation and Compliance.
- COBIS provides opportunities for career advancement through their professional learning and CPD courses.
- COBIS facilitates valuable networking opportunities, both online and face-to-face, for their members based all around the world.
- COBIS hosts engaging, educational and inspiring inter-school competitions and events for students of all ages.
- COBIS provides valuable resources to promote and maintain excellent child protection and safer recruitment standards at their member schools, by processing Prohibition Order checks, providing safeguarding policies and templates, and via their partnership with ACRO on the International Certificate for Child Protection.
Kent College Dubai is a member school of COBIS.
Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA)
All private schools in the UAE are regulated by the KHDA and inspected by the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB). The KHDA is responsible for the growth and quality of private education in Dubai. As such they support schools, universities, parents, students, educators, investors and government partners to create a high quality education sector focused on happiness and wellbeing.
School inspections mandated by the KHDA are carried out by the DSIB. New schools in Dubai can only be inspected in their third year of operation. Kent College Dubai opened its doors in 2015, and therefore their first KHDA inspection took place in the 2018-2019 Academic year. We were awarded the highest possible rating that a new school in Dubai can obtain, which is ‘Good’. In subsequent years, all ‘Good’ schools take actions towards being awarded a ‘Very Good’ or an ‘Outstanding’ rating – however these two latter ratings cannot be earned on their first inspection.
Thereafter, the COVID-19 pandemic hit and we have not had another inspection since. As the world navigates its way back to the ‘new normal’, we look forward to our next KHDA inspection, and will post the report here once this has taken place.
CLICK HERE to read our Distance Learning Evaluation Report by the KHDA.
CLICK HERE to read our DSIB Inspection Report.
Our Principal comments about our inspection results:
Now in our seventh operational year, it’s been incredible to witness Kent College Dubai’s growth.
We are exceptionally proud of the outstanding results of our recent British Schools Overseas (BSO) Inspection carried out by Penta International, which was held in March this year. This is the most recent school inspection that Kent College Dubai has undergone, and we could not be happier with the outcome! We excelled across all assessment criteria, and I was particularly pleased to see the words ‘outstanding’ and ‘excellent’ dotted throughout the report.
“Teachers set very high expectations in lessons across all year groups, fostering a culture in which pupils strive for academic excellence, grow in confidence, and at times develop their independent learning skills. Consequently, attainment is outstanding across all year groups, and progress is being made in lessons by task-based learning.” – BSO Inspection Report
With regards to Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB) inspections, it has not been possible for us to be inspected for the larger part of the Covid-19 pandemic. Our last annual Dubai Schools Inspection therefore was in the 2018-2019 Academic Year. This inspection was indeed also our first – schools in Dubai can only received their first inspection after three years of operation.
The school achieved an overall result of “good” during the 4-day inspection process and was noted as having “a strong capacity for further improvement.” For the school’s first inspection, the result is extremely pleasing for any new school in Dubai undergoing its first inspection, with planning for future inspections well and truly underway.” It should be noted that a result of “good” is the highest possible rating that a new school on its first year of inspections can achieve. Each subsequent year thereafter is an opportunity for the school to build on their data collection and processes in order to achieve a higher rating.
We look forward to having our second inspection soon.
Our sister school, Kent College Canterbury partakes in the Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) inspection framework, where on its most recent inspection achieved an “excellent” in all five areas of the ISI framework (link).