The Dubai school tour: what to ask and what to watch for
The questions worth putting on a school tour — screen time, own iPad, hours of sport and languages, clubs, sibling club — and a summary of what parents complain about most after the first year.
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The school tour: questions worth asking
A school tour — a walk round the school with someone from the admissions team — is an essential step. The KHDA rating and report tell you about the quality of education, but not about how the school lives on an ordinary Tuesday. On a tour you can see that within an hour. Book ahead, and arrive with your questions ready.
Questions worth asking
- How much screen time do children have at school?
- Does my child need their own iPad, and from which year? If so, the children really do spend a lot of time on it.
- Are children shown cartoons at mealtimes or during breaks in the hot season?
- How many hours a week of Arabic and of an additional foreign language?
- How many hours of sport a week?
- Can I see the list of extracurricular activities (ECAs)? Which are free, which are paid, and how does sign-up work?
- Can older and younger siblings be dropped off and collected at the same time?
- Is there a sibling club where a younger child waits for an older one to finish, what do they do there and what does it cost?
- How does catering work: an in-house kitchen or an outside supplier, and how does food reach the youngest children?
- How does the school support children with weak English, and is it included in the fees?
- How does the school communicate with parents: one app or several, and how often do emails arrive?
- What is teacher turnover like, and where are the teachers from?
- Where do parents park in the morning, and how does the school bus work?
What parents complain about after the first year
We gathered parent reviews of two dozen Dubai schools. The same themes come up again and again — and almost all of them can be checked on a tour.
- Parking. The number one complaint at many strong schools. At morning peak, getting to the school gate can take longer than the journey itself.
- Screen time. An own iPad from the early years, with homework done on it, is a frequent source of frustration.
- A flood of emails and apps. A separate app for payments, for the timetable, for homework, for clubs — each with its own login. Important things are easy to miss.
- Academic workload. Parents from academically demanding school systems often feel children are not pushed enough in primary, especially in maths. In the IB this is a feature of the primary years: the workload rises sharply in the upper years.
- Club sign-ups. Places go within hours of registration opening, which is hard for working parents.
- Rapid growth. A school that went from half full to full in a year can struggle to keep up with itself: clashes, inconsistency.
What parents praise most often
- Care over settling in: teachers and assistants who help a shy child make friends.
- Support for children without English — many start understanding the teacher within a month or two.
- Facilities: pools, stadiums, climbing walls, theatres.
- Approachable teachers: emails get answered, meetings get agreed.
The golden rule
Read the reports and ratings, collect reviews, go on the tours — but in the end, choose on instinct. If something felt wrong on the tour, it probably was. A school where the parents feel uncomfortable rarely becomes the one the child loves.
Talk to a licensed broker: 📲 +971 50 120 32 64 on WhatsApp, @dubai_oleg on Telegram
How to book a tour and what follows it — see Getting into a Dubai school.
The full “Schools in Dubai” series
- Schools in Dubai: how the system works
- KHDA school ratings in Dubai: how to read them
- Getting into a Dubai school: the five steps
- School documents in the UAE: attestation and the transfer certificate
- Dubai school fees and how to pay less
- The school day in Dubai and the costs on top of fees
- The Dubai school year, holidays and starting age
- British, American or IB: choosing a curriculum in Dubai
- IB Diploma vs A-levels: what each gives a school leaver
- British schools in Dubai: twelve strong options
- American schools in Dubai
- IB schools in Dubai: seven international-curriculum schools
- Dubai school entrance assessments and the CAT4 test
- A child with no English at a Dubai school
- School first, home second: where to live near a Dubai school
The essentials
The most common questions on the subject, answered briefly. Figures come with the period they refer to — rates, visa thresholds and yields do not stand still.
Do we really need to go on a school tour?
Yes, without question. Book ahead and bring a prepared list of questions.
What is the single most useful question on a tour?
Whether your child needs their own iPad, and from which year. The answer says a lot about screen time at the school.
What is a sibling club?
A place where a younger child waits until an older sibling’s lessons finish. Often free, but not everywhere.
What do parents complain about most?
Parking, screen time, the flood of emails and apps, club sign-ups and — among families from academically demanding systems — too light a workload in the primary years.
This material is provided for information purposes and does not constitute individual investment advice. Property returns depend on many factors and are not guaranteed.