Al Najah Private School, Abu Dhabi

Al Najah Private School operates one of Abu Dhabi's most established dual-pathway academic programs, built on the UK National Curriculum (EYFS through to IGCSE and International A-Level) with the addition of the IB Diploma Programme at Grades 11–12. This structure gives senior students a genuine choice between two internationally recognized exit qualifications — a feature that distinguishes ANPS within Mohamed Bin Zayed City and positions it among British curriculum schools in Abu Dhabi that offer meaningful post-16 breadth. The school has operated this framework continuously since 1987, providing a depth of institutional experience that newer entrants to the market cannot replicate.

Academic performance data presents a divided picture. At the senior level, the 2024–25 Irtiqaa inspection confirmed that students in the International A-Level and IB Diploma programmes consistently achieve high attainment in science and mathematics — a notable strength. International benchmark data supports this: IB stream students scored 591 in reading, 579 in mathematics, and 558 in science on PISA 2022, all comfortably above the international averages of 476, 472, and 485 respectively. The British stream also outperformed international norms, posting PISA 2022 scores of 518 in reading, 526 in mathematics, and 528 in science, though these fell short of the school's own internal targets. TIMSS 2023 results were similarly mixed: Grade 4 mathematics scored 512 and Grade 4 science 510, both exceeding international averages, while Grade 8 results remained above international benchmarks but below school targets. The PIRLS 2021 Grade 4 score of 554.84 placed students at the high international benchmark for reading literacy.

The picture in the lower and middle school is more concerning. The GLPT AY2023/24 standardized assessments recorded Weak attainment and progress in English, mathematics, and science in Phases 2 and 3 — a finding that stands in sharp contrast to the senior school's international performance and represents the most significant academic gap inspectors identified. The 2024–25 inspection, which maintained the school's overall Good rating — a position it has held since at least 2022 — attributed these declines primarily to low teacher expectations and insufficient differentiation for higher attainers. Among British curriculum schools in Abu Dhabi, where 29 of 105 schools hold a Good rating and 18 have achieved Outstanding, ANPS sits in the middle tier with clear headroom for improvement.

The school's enrichment offer includes a recently invested STEM Lab, participation in Model United Nations (MUN) and the World Scholars Cup, and the IB CAS (Creativity, Activity, Service) programme for Diploma students — the last of which has produced documented community engagement including volunteering at major Abu Dhabi events. Learning Support and SEN provision exist on paper, but inspectors flagged unfilled vacancies in the guidance and inclusion teams and noted that identification and provision for students of determination and gifted and talented learners lack rigor. Curriculum adaptation was rated Acceptable — the only curriculum sub-domain not to reach Good — reflecting this gap directly.

Parents and prospective families should weigh several inspection-flagged areas carefully. Beyond inclusion gaps, inspectors called for improvements to independent inquiry and critical thinking skills across all phases, stronger middle leadership aligned to the UAE School Inspection Framework, more rigorous self-evaluation, and an enhanced library collection — currently holding only 400 Arabic books for a school of 2,176 students, a resource deficit that is difficult to reconcile with the school's bilingual ambitions. [MISSING: IGCSE and A-Level grade-by-grade results; university destination data beyond a general reference to top British universities; specific IB Diploma average score or pass rate.] These gaps make direct comparison with peer British curriculum schools that publish full results harder to make, and parents seeking granular outcomes data will need to request it directly from the school.