Living in Dubai the Expat's Guide

We all now know that Dubai is an emirate of extremes.  It wanted to be famous as being the biggest and best at everything it set its sights on – from luxurious real estate developments to retail projects, from tourism attractions to sporting events – however, in its bid for rapid advancement it took on extremes of debt at a time when the world was poised on the brink of economic collapse.

As a result, we all now know that Dubai is as famous for its incredible mountains of debt as it is for its positive achievements – and a lot of mud has been slung at the failing fortunes of many in Dubai.  From high-earning executives who have lost everything to massive construction firms that cannot meet their debt repayments, many have been affected by the sharp negative downward swing in Dubai’s fortunes.

However, there continues to be two sides to Dubai – i.e., the good and the bad!  It’s not all tales of disastrous deals and failing fortunes in the emirate you know…although some would say that those who remain and who are living the high life are in denial!  However, we would just like to point out that life for many expats still thrives in Dubai – but is it a place you would now like to live?  Is it a destination where you can still make a life and find a fortune?

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Expatriate children traditionally return to their old home nation or another well-recognised country such as America or the United Kingdom to complete their tertiary education.  This has a great deal to do with the fact that parents and their student children want an internationally recognised university education.  After all, most employers will require this.

Therefore, the good news for parents with student children who are living in Dubai is that there are internationally recognised universities actually in the emirate.  Many are affiliated with British, French or America university campuses for example, and as a result you don’t have to leave the emirate and pay both international tuition fees and expensive living costs for your student child when they attend college in another nation.

In this, the final part of out four-part guide to schools, universities and education in Dubai, we’re going to look at 10 of the most popular tertiary education establishments in the emirate.

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Secondary school education in Dubai is for children aged between 11 and 18, and children entering a school at this level for the first time may be required to undertake a short exam so that teachers can determine their abilities.  School fees vary across all establishments, but the older the child gets in Dubai, the higher the fee structure for their education.

As with the nurseries and primary schools we have examined, the best secondary international schools in the emirate also get booked up well in advance – therefore if you’re moving to Dubai in the near future it will be imperative that you enrol your student child as soon as possible and secure their place.

A number of the primary schools we discussed in the earlier article Primary Schools and Education in Dubai also take secondary level students right through to their final exams, so this article is worth looking at as we will not be repeating the same schools’ details in this article.

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