Raha International School, Abu Dhabi

Raha International School follows the International Baccalaureate curriculum in its complete continuum form: the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) from Preschool through Grade 5, the IB Middle Years Programme (MYP) across Grades 6 to 10, and the IB Diploma Programme (DP) in Grades 11 and 12. The school also offers IB Diploma Courses - a scaled-down DP option - for students who do not wish to pursue the full diploma. The school is currently in the application phase for the IB Career-related Programme (IBCP), which will be offered alongside the DP and paired with BTEC Level 3 qualifications, recognised by the UAE Ministry of Education as equivalent to A Levels. This will meaningfully broaden post-16 pathways for students with vocational or applied-learning ambitions. The IB's pedagogical DNA is inquiry-based learning: students are expected to construct knowledge through questioning, research, and reflection rather than passive reception. The IB Learner Profile - which develops thinkers, communicators, risk-takers, and principled citizens - underpins every phase of the curriculum. In the Diploma Programme, students study six subjects spanning language and literature, language acquisition, individuals and societies, sciences, mathematics, and the arts, alongside the compulsory Theory of Knowledge (TOK), an Extended Essay, and the CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) programme. This breadth and rigour is precisely why leading Russell Group and Ivy League universities increasingly prefer IB graduates. Academic results at Raha are genuinely impressive at the senior level. The 2024 IB Diploma cohort of 98 students achieved the school's best-ever results: a 96% pass rate, an average score of 34 points, with 78% of students scoring 30 or more points, 40% scoring 35 or more, and 10% scoring 40 or above. One student, Niyati Gupta, achieved the maximum 45 points - placing her in the top 1% of IB candidates worldwide. In 2022, 127 students achieved an average of 33.8 points with a 92% pass rate. In 2023, the school reported an average score of 32.5 points and a 94% pass rate - both above UAE averages of 31.97 points and 89.7% respectively. These results reflect a school whose senior academic programme is performing at a high level relative to its peers in Abu Dhabi education. The ADEK Irtiqa inspection confirmed strong academic attainment across most phases. English attainment reaches Outstanding in the senior phase (Cycle 3), with Very Good ratings across primary and middle school. Mathematics attainment is Outstanding in primary, Very Good in middle and senior phases. Sciences reach Outstanding in middle school and Very Good in senior phases. The weaker area is Arabic and Islamic Education, where attainment is rated Acceptable across most phases - a common challenge for IB schools whose curriculum framework does not prescribe Arabic content with the same rigour as ADEK-aligned programmes. University destinations reflect the school's international character. Graduates have been accepted to Cambridge University, the London School of Economics, Imperial College London, Stanford University, Dartmouth College, UCLA, McGill University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Melbourne. The UK remains the most popular destination, followed by the US, Canada, and mainland Europe. The school's Full-time Counsellors in both Primary and Secondary support students with academic guidance and university preparation. EAL provision is available at no additional cost (unless an Inclusion Assistant is required), and the school's growing Inclusion team now supports approximately 5% of the student body with additional learning needs.