Middle East School Search & Selection | Expert advisory on schools in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Riyadh
Securing the right-fit school for your child in the Middle East
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“Honest, unbiased and practical insights”
Unrivalled, specialist expertise in Middle East school admissions for relocating expat families
British, American or IB curriculum? Heritage brand or a new start-up? Staying local or looking worldwide at boarding? How to secure places at non-standard entry points? The school systems across the Middle East can seem complex and difficult to navigate. Adam D’Souza and the Select:ed team are sought out as leading education consultants and experts on international school admissions in the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
Our tailored provision for the Middle East region supports families with children aged 3-18, relocating to Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha or Riyadh.
We guide you through the process of selecting and securing places at the right-fit schools for your child. We leverage deep insight on these countries’ education systems, including market-specific knowledge on school groups and inspection systems, alongside our proven track records in British and Middle East school leadership roles to secure placements for children in leading academic institutions.
Select:ed’s modern, empathetic approach to school placement for the children of global professionals draws together two strands: academic profile + character fit. We call it IQ+EQ. Or the balance between classroom + sports pitch, rehearsal space or art studio.
Our primary aim is to design a pathway for your child that leads to happiness and success. We pride ourselves on recommending the best schools which will cultivate your son or daughter’s talents, and, most importantly, are the right fit for them.
“His advice on how to choose the right school was incredibly valuable. Adam took the time to explain the differences between various curricula, and provided me with clear, well-researched and unbiased recommendations. Adam is extremely knowledgeable and experienced on all aspects of the British curriculum and schools and how they compare to the system in the Middle East.
What I appreciated the most was his deep knowledge of the region (not just Abu Dhabi) and his honest, unbiased and practical insights – he knew many of the head teachers in the schools and understood the culture they will create at each school. Thanks to Adam’s advice, we were able to make an informed decision and we feel confident in our choice.” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
– Joanne, Surrey → Abu Dhabi, happy parent on Google Reviews
IQ+EQ
How we help you find the right-fit school for your son or daughter
At the heart of the unique Select:ed approach to educational consultancy in the Middle East is deep care for your child’s and your family’s emotional wellbeing. Our expert school search and selection advice is informed by human insight, and empowered by technology.
Your 5-step school placement strategy
How the proven Select:ed IQ+EQ approach opens doors to the right-fit schools for your child in the UAE, Qatar or Saudi Arabia:
1. Character portrait: revealing your child’s true potential
First, and most importantly, is founder of Select:ed, Adam D’Souza, meeting your son or daughter to build up a character/emotional portrait, which includes personal interests, approach in the classroom, relationships with teachers and discovering what motivates them to learn. For a relocation, this is crucial: your child’s adaptability, social skills and motivational style all contribute to how they will transition smoothly into a new expat community and school environment. This session, which typically takes place via video conference, ensures our recommendations are aligned with your child’s personality, making their relocation a positive growth experience.
2. Academic assessment: data-driven benchmarking vs schools’ entry requirements
The next step is benchmarking your son or daughter’s current academic levels against the academic entry standards of potential schools using our adaptive cognitive abilities assessment. This online test shows a child’s current potential in comparison to their peers. This data is essential: a) because it helps us identify schools that will provide the right level of academic challenge for your child; and b) it allows us to prepare a compelling ‘ready-to-offer’ application portfolio, positioning your child tactically for a quick and successful placement against fierce competition for limited spaces.
3. Strategic debrief: personalised data analysis and action plan
After the academic assessment, you will receive a personal debrief on a video call with your Select:ed educational consultant. We guide you through the inferences that can be made from the data in your child’s test report: identifying strengths and areas requiring more support. Then, we work together to collaboratively develop a detailed action plan, ensuring you are equipped to confidently discuss your child's profile with shortlisted schools.
4. Right-fit shortlist: school placement aligned with your goals and values
Adam and his Select:ed team of education experts will draw together the data from your child’s academic profile with the insight of the character/emotional portrait. This complete, all-round view of your child will be used to create a list of potential right-fit schools in your target city which are aligned with your son or daughter’s individual academic needs, character, interests – and your family values. We have local experts with significant school leadership and headship experience, who can organise personalised school tours, offering unbiased, on-the-ground insights that cut through the hype of brochures and schools’ marketing materials.
5. Ongoing support: ensuring a smooth transition for your child
Care for your family does not end with the offer letter. We are committed to ensuring your child is smoothly settled in their new school, and that your family feels fully supported as you begin your new chapter in the Middle East. Looking further ahead, we are proud of the long-term relationships we have developed with families – which can include tailored tutoring or coaching, or simply checking in to learn more about your child’s school experience. Several children our team supported in primary school are now working with us again for sixth form applications.
“Adam is the consummate professional, extremely knowledgeable and bags of experience in the field, highly motivated and genuinely keen to find workable solutions for our daughter/family. Very easy to work with. His reports are very well written, case specific and very thoughtful/ extremely helpful to us as a family with qualitative and quantitative observations. The schools obviously engage with him from a position of trust, confidence and transparency that he injects into the whole process. Thank you so much Adam!!” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
M, O and S, happy family from London, writing on Google Reviews. The daughter secured an in-year move to a co-ed senior school, moving from single sex girls’.
Breadth of expertise
Adam, Hannah, Natalie and all the Select:ed education experts can support you with finding the right-fit schools, and securing a place for your child, in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha or Riyadh.
The pillars of our admissions success
Why choose us as your expert guides to find the right-fit schools in the UAE, Qatar or Saudi Arabia for your child?
— Empathetic understanding of your child: considering IQ+EQ to provide a smooth transition
Relocating to the Middle East is a significant transition for your entire family. For a professional parent, ensuring your child thrives emotionally is as important as academic excellence.
Your child’s character, talents and academic profile are at the heart of our process. Our unique IQ+EQ approach builds up a 360-degree view that goes beyond just grades to assess your son or daughter’s emotional and cultural fit with a new school, ensuring that they receive the right balance of support and challenge.
— Data-driven insight: benchmarking against leading global schools’ standards
In the rapidly-evolving Middle East schools market, data-driven benchmarking is essential to cut through the marketing hype. The top British-curriculum schools in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha and Riyadh are often managing substantial waiting lists. But which schools’ outcomes measure up against the leading global competition?
Our robust, detailed assessments provide you with an accurate, objective snapshot of your child's current academic performance. This is paired with our analysis of potential schools’ academic outcomes, which we compare against leading British independent and global private schools.
— Unbiased, expert guidance: consultants, not agents
Some educational “consultants” operate as agents, taking referral commissions from schools. We believe strongly that this is morally wrong, and a conflict of interest.
We do not accept commission payments from any institution; your Select:ed education experts work exclusively for you, helping to craft the best school journey to suit your child and aligned with your family values, with integrity and heart.
FAQs
-
Typically, the whole process takes 2-3 weeks from start to finish.
Once we have completed the age-tailored character profiling and academic benchmarking assessments, it usually takes around a week or two to prepare the detailed school search report, which includes personalised why and why not for your child for each school.
-
Select:ed uses a fixed, per-project fee structure, giving you control and confidence over the whole process.
Typical project cost for a full School Search and Selection project would range from £4000-7500 GBP or 20,000-38,000 AED, depending on the exact scope of the project (i.e. mainstream, SEND, categories of schools, managed placement etc.)
-
Traditionally, educational consultancy was a ‘legacy’ business, built on the individual relationships between consultants and school admissions departments. This is a vital piece of the puzzle, but cannot be the whole story.
EQ (Emotional Quotient) profiling: We conduct a tailored assessment of your child’s character, interests and motivational style. This is vital for assessing how they will cope with a new culture, climate and the transient nature of expat schooling.
Targeted shortlisting: We shortlist schools not just on academic results (IQ), but on their pastoral care structures, the diversity of their expat community support systems and the quality of their transition programmes for newly relocated students.
Preventative fit: By understanding your child's character, we avoid schools that might be a good academic fit but a poor cultural or social fit, mitigating the risk of adjustment challenges a few months into the relocation.
Our IQ+EQ approach combines data-driven academic benchmarking with an empathetic all-round portrait of your child’s interests, motivational style, strengths and weaknesses. Select:ed’s in-house dataset now extends to more than 3000 data points on 300+ schools around the world, allowing us to track patterns in academic performance.
-
Our team has in-depth understanding of both the main city markets in the UAE, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
We have a particular specialism in supporting British families moving from the UK to the UAE, helping you navigate the complexity of securing a school in the Middle East, which seems similar to the British system but is not in many important ways!
Founder Adam D’Souza taught in academically selective independent schools in London, and held leadership roles in international schools groups. Other Select:ed consultants have been headteachers and senior leaders in British and international schools, including both the Dubai and Abu Dhabi markets.
We offer a tailored service for families relocating to the United Arab Emirates, with an expert resident advisor available in both cities.
-
Founder of Select:ed Adam D’Souza is a renowned teacher and expert in school entrance. He and his team have experience as teachers, heads and admissions directors in British and international schools. In addition:
Regulatory deep dive: We have in-depth knowledge of how to interpret KHDA/ADEK/MOEHE/RCRC compliance and what this mean for your child's daily school experience, looking beyond a headline score.
Local market dynamics: There is no substitute for being on the ground, and understanding the ‘texture’ of the market; Adam regularly visits the region to build relationships with schools and interview parents. Our relationship with you as a family extends well beyond the day your child starts at their new school.
School leadership track record: Our team includes former UK and international headteachers and admissions directors. This gives us a unique insight into the standards and expectations that are exported from the British system to the top international schools in the Gulf.
This team includes local experts in each city who are deeply connected to British/international school education trends ‘on the ground’.
We can advise on the varying school fee structures, debenture requirements and the fluctuating visa-dependent admissions environment that is unique to the Middle East.
-
Yes, definitely. Select:ed is a consultancy, not an agent, so our singular aim is finding the right-fit schools for your children. That may be separately or it may be together – we understand that there are lots of factors around that decision.
Our expertise encompasses schools of all different types in the Middle East region: standalone primary vs all-through, legacy schools vs school groups, mainstream vs specialist SEND provision.
We are happy to offer a sibling discount.
-
Our expertise is specifically tailored to bridging the gap between the UK and Middle East British-curriculum schools. We go beyond simple website information by evaluating schools on factors including:
Curriculum: We assess the school's specific GCSE/A-Level/IB offering and attainment data, ensuring a direct path for your child's future UK/international university applications.
Regulatory performance: We interpret the latest KHDA (Dubai) or ADEK (Abu Dhabi) inspection reports, translating what these local benchmarks mean in terms of UK-equivalent quality and governance.
Teaching quality: We offer insight, based on local expertise, into the quality of teaching and pastoral care within each potential school.
-
We recognize that your relocation might not align with the typical August/September school year start. Our strategy for securing competitive in-year admissions is:
Proactive relationship management: As an unbiased consultancy, led by former teachers and school senior leaders that does not accept referral commissions, we maintain transparent, trust-based relationships with school admissions directors and group-level senior leadership of school operating companies across Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha.
We can prepare a 'ready-to-offer' portfolio of schools that are somewhat ‘below the radar’, based on our IQ+EQ profiling, allowing us to submit a complete, compelling application the moment a place becomes available, bypassing admin delays.
-
Select:ed is an unbiased consultancy that works for you; we are not agents. Therefore we will only contact schools on your behalf if you give us the go-ahead to do so.
In addition, we have developed strong data security procedures, e.g. around sensitive personal data and assessment scores. Our data protection policy includes AI.
-
After our initial consultation call, which is free of charge, your Select:ed education expert will prepare an individual proposal for you and your child. We will then schedule a follow-up call, usually within 2-3 days, to talk through our planned programme of support.
The whole process, from initial consultation to final delivery of the report and follow-up, typically takes around 2-3 weeks, although this depends on variables such as range of schools, managed application support, SEND needs etc.