Top UK school opens new international branch in Dubai

The Telegraph – One of the highest achieving schools in the UK, North London Collegiate, is opening a branch in Dubai. The London-based all-girls school’s venture comes on the back of rising demand for English international schools abroad, with expats and wealthy local families in Asia fueling the surge in new branches being established.

With Chinese, Indian and Arabic families desperate to provide their children with a British education, recent government figures have revealed that international schools now inject almost £1 billion into the British economy.

The North London Collegiate School, which charges £6,354 per term, has already established a school in Jeju, South Korea. Since opening in 2011, NLCS Jeju has quickly established itself as one of the leading schools in North East Asia for International Baccalaureate results.Alongside the new project in Dubai, NLCS told The Telegraph that plans to open a school in Singapore were also underway.

Opening in Septembe r 2017, NLCS Dubai will operate as a coeducational day school teaching  International Baccalaureate  programmes  – which qualify students to study at British universities.  The school will open to 1,800 students aged three up to 16, with the view to expanding to sixth form by 2019.  Providing prospective pupils with state-of-the-art facilities, NCLS has been ranked the number one school for International Baccalaureate results since 2004, when the diploma programme was first introduced.

Commenting on the launch, Dan Lewis, the new head of  NLCS  Dubai and currently deputy head of the London school, said: “We believe what we have to offer will be unique in Dubai. The school will have a strong academic focus, as North London Collegiate does in the UK, as well as a vibrant breadth of extra-curricular activities, performances and trips.

“The Dubai market is ready for a top academic school to come in from the UK, I think that is fair to say. We are very excited to bring our in our expertise and rigour, through the lens of the high quality  IB  curriculum, which is the “gold standard” in international terms.”He added that staff would be recruited and trained in the UK and would adhere to the same approach implemented in South Korea.

Founded in 1850 by Frances Mary Buss, a Victorian headmistress and pioneer of women’s education, NLCS alumni. Situated in Edgware, North London, alumnae of the school include Anna Wintour, Editor in Chief of US Vogue, RachelWeisz, film and theatre actress, and Roma Agrawal, structural engineer for the Shard, London.