Creative British School

Creative British School follows the UK National Curriculum, delivered from EYFS (FS2) through to A-Level (Years 12–13) on a single campus in Mohamed Bin Zayed City. The pathway runs from Foundation Stage through Cambridge IGCSE in Years 10–11, culminating in AS and A-Level qualifications in Years 12–13. Throughout all phases, the British framework is supplemented by mandatory Ministry of Education (MOE) subjects — Arabic Language, Islamic Studies, and UAE Social Studies — fully integrated into the timetable. French is offered as an additional language alongside Arabic, and the school operates an EAL (English as an Additional Language) support programme and Students of Determination provision for learners with additional needs, though inspectors noted that qualified support staff remains insufficient for the current enrolment of 1,015 students across 35 nationalities.

Academic performance data presents a mixed picture. The most meaningful published results come from international benchmarking assessments. In PISA 2022, CBS recorded scores of 422 in reading literacy, 439 in mathematical literacy, and 455 in science literacy — all below the international averages and below the school's own target of 500 across all three domains. In TIMSS 2019, Year 5 mathematics scored 455 and Year 9 mathematics 445, while Year 5 science reached 442 and Year 9 science 460 — all at the low international benchmark and approximately 30 points below the school's set targets. A brighter result came from PIRLS, where students scored 559, exceeding the intermediate benchmark, with 59% of participating primary students reaching the high benchmark level. MoE national exam results for Year 12 and Year 13 (2022/23) indicated outstanding attainment in Islamic Education and Arabic as a first language at post-16 level — the clearest academic high point in the available data. No GCSE, IGCSE, or A-Level results have been published by the school, which is a notable gap compared to peer British curriculum schools in Abu Dhabi that routinely report subject-level outcomes.

The 2023–24 ADEK inspection rated Creative British School Acceptable overall — a rating it has held since 2021–22, having previously achieved Good in 2017. Among the 105 British curriculum schools in Abu Dhabi, CBS sits in the lower performance band: 18 British schools hold Outstanding and a further 29 are rated Good, meaning CBS is among the 15 British curriculum schools rated only Acceptable. Inspectors identified the post-16 phase as the school's clearest academic strength, noting that students in post-16 make good progress in English, mathematics, and science, and that curriculum design and implementation in Cycle 3 (post-16) are rated Good. The EAL pastoral framework and parent partnership programmes — including the Hayakom Arabic sessions, the 'I Read with My Child' initiative, and a formal Parents Association — were also rated Good and recognised as genuine enrichment to student learning.

However, inspectors flagged significant concerns across earlier phases. English attainment in KG and Phase 1 was rated Weak — a regression from the previous cycle. Teaching and assessment regressed from Good to Acceptable in Phases 2 and 3, driven by high teacher turnover, instability in the senior leadership team, and an influx of students that has stretched capacity. The school's student-to-teacher ratio stands at 1:16, above the Abu Dhabi private school average of 13.6, and the campus is described by inspectors as clean but crowded, with inadequate access for students with mobility needs. GL standardised assessments (end of 2022/23) showed weak attainment in English and science in the secondary phase, and weak mathematics attainment in Years 9 and 10. Key recommendations include raising attainment to consistently Good across all phases, improving assessment rigour, addressing staff vacancies, and advancing plans for a new school building. The Read Write Inc phonics programme in EYFS and a newly implemented whole-class reading programme are positive recent additions, but inspectors noted these have yet to consistently impact achievement across subjects. University destination data is not published, representing a further gap for families evaluating the school's post-18 outcomes.