North London Collegiate School, Dubai, Dubai | Fees, Address, Admission, Vacancies, Reviews & More

Exceptional educational standards define this school, making it an environment where my fifth-grade son thrives. Despite its size, the school offers a welcoming atmosphere, and our son eagerly embraces each school day with joy. An impressive array of captivating extracurricular activities adds to the overall excellence of the educational experience.

I resoundingly agree with all the negative reviews below regarding experiences at the school reception. The administrative staff have the most obnoxious and atrociously dismissive attitudes, which they portray constantly. Even as a parent attending school events or making a menial inquiry, with my child watching, their behavior is certainly not educational. It is important to be respectful to one another. Reception interaction is not only the first impression of the day but also an important tool for parents to liaise with the school. I do not understand why these two very unprofessional administrative staff members, who possess zero interpersonal skills and minimum courtesy, are kept on. They cause discomfort at every school event or visit. They are nothing but hostile and rude. Besides this, the road and school parking infrastructure are nonsensical, causing traffic mayhem. Every school pickup is traumatizing. Also, in this poorly designed area, having two schools built makes the traffic even more terrifying.

Asking a 6-year-old math questions outside of his curriculum and what’s been taught to him at another IB school, and then failing him on the assessment test is wrong. My son is academically sound according to his class teacher. So what is all the drama about at this school? I think you want robots, not kids.

The short summary: terrible communication and attitude.

The more detailed backstory:

We are London-based and supposed to move to Dubai in early 2024, so we wanted to secure school places for our four-year-old daughter and two-year-old son. Despite our best efforts to convince them to do an online assessment for both children given the distance, the school insisted on an in-person assessment. We decided to bite the bullet and make the trip to Dubai with our two young children for the assessments.

Assessment day arrived, and we all made it to the school, as we also wanted to see where we would potentially be sending our children. While our daughter was doing the assessment, a lady took us on a tour and talked to us about the school. We asked about the process for our son, and we were told he needed an assessment as well, but those assessments typically take place in November. When our daughter finished, the lady who assessed her told us verbally that she did very well, and the lady who gave us the tour asked if our son could be assessed then. The answer was yes. We, of course, jumped on this opportunity, as we couldn’t make another trip to Dubai again in November.

The verbal feedback post-assessment was positive, but of course, we didn’t take that as a done deal, and we had to wait for the official outcome.

Sadly, the official outcome came a week later, and it was negative. This is not the problem, as this can happen, though I will never know what exactly you expect from a four-year-old and a two-year-old.

While I understand the school is fairly academic, and parents tend to be biased toward their children, I am not going to claim our kids are geniuses. However, we do know that both our kids are trilingual, speaking English, Arabic, and Russian fluently. Our son is only two, so he can’t speak much, but he understands everything in those three languages. Furthermore, our daughter attends one of the most prestigious private schools in London, and the feedback from the school on her performance so far has been great. I am not sure how many children you have around with these skills that also come from a household that is half Palestinian and half Ukrainian. But I guess diversity and interesting backgrounds are not a priority for this school.

Our issue is not the rejection but the lack of

I am a student, and the school receptionist is very unhelpful. She told us to take the long way instead of the short cut, giving us a condescending look. It was very annoying.

The pickup system and traffic are a disaster. Plus, many drivers like to cut in line.

Went here to attend a stand-up comedy show by Zakir Khan over the weekend at NLCS. The place looks like a 5-star facility for children. We were just waiting in the lobby and playground (lush green) for the show to start. You could add some lights and a music system in the lobby, and you could have a 5-star-rated Martin Garrix show here. Impressed.