Following our last visit to Cranleigh, our team described the school by saying that “Arguably this is the most successful school at achieving the feel of a British public school of any in the UAE, in the best sense of the word”. Since this visit, more well-known UK public schools have opened branches in the UAE (albeit most in Dubai) and it was time to revisit Cranleigh to see if this significant accolade still holds.

The Story so Far...

Cranleigh Abu Dhabi is located on Saadiyat Island, the new cultural home of the capital (the school can count the Louvre, and the Guggenheim as neighbours), and therefore almost an ideal location for a school – particularly one with an arts focus. The school makes an impressive first impression, with an architectural style which we would loosely summarise as glass, angles, columns and modern blocks, that would equally fit one of the emirate’s high end hotels or art galleries.

WhichSchoolAdvisor.com has received relatively limited feedback from parents of students at Cranleigh Abu Dhabi, but what has been received is overwhelmingly positive.

Recent comments from parents - reflecting their views of both positives and negatives include:

"Welcoming, good level of communication - discipline - good teachers; Weaknesses: higher standards needed to compete with UK [public] schools".
"Strengths: teacher / student ratio, teaching and learning, school community and environment, extra-curricula activities, academics, teacher/ student relationships. Weaknesses: very long school day".

Find out more about parents' views by reading the Buzz.

Founded in 2014, there are currently around 1,800 students at Cranleigh, but the spread out feel of the campus and spacious buildings do not suggest large student numbers.  Class sizes are small, with a maximum of 18 per class (throughout all phases of the school) according to information provided to WhichSchoolAdvisor.com. The single largest demographic within Cranleigh Abu Dhabi's student body is Emiratis (with close to 25% of students coming from the local community), British and Americans.

Students are supported by some 170 teachers and a further 40 teaching assistants.  The teacher:student ratio of 1:10 is very much on the low side and ensures that students receive individual focus and adapted teaching as required. The majority of staff at Cranleigh have extensive independent school experience, whether they have come from public schools in the UK or British International schools elsewhere. They appear to be satisfied with their employment - a staff turnover of 10% is well below the UAE average which is more than double.

In January 2022, it was announced that then current Principal, Michael Wilson, who joined Cranleigh in 2018, would be leaving the school at the end of the academic year.  The role of Headmaster (a more senior position) has been assumed by Tim McConnell Wood, who had previously  held the role of Vice Principal from September 2018.

In August 2023, Tracy Crowder-Cloe, who joined from Repton School Dubai, was appointed to the Principal role at Cranleigh. Her role at Repton, where she had been for four years, was Vice Principal Whole School and Head of Senior School.  

Cranleigh Abu Dhabi operates an extended day with students at school from 7.30am (for 30 minutes tutor time) to 3.30pm and later, as Prep time and Sports activities are built into the schedule (the Foundation Stage children attend until either 12.30pm or 2.30pm (depending on the needs of the child and family). Some children will take more than one Cross Curricular Activity (CCA), resulting in a school day that finishes around 6pm. This is an important point of note for prospective parents – the format of a Cranleigh school day has taken inspiration from the UK boarding school, where children’s home/school balance is an entirely different matter.

Parents may find it useful to understand the typically British public school terms in use at Cranleigh. The Junior School is made up of Pre-Prep students from FS1 to Year 2, and Prep from Year 3 to Year 8. Senior School students are from Year 9 upwards. The division in this way is based on the traditional UK expectation that students at the top of the Junior School will sit the Common Entrance exam for UK public/boarding schools (this is offered at Cranleigh Abu Dhabi also). Students that remain in Abu Dhabi then join the Senior School in anticipation of sitting the UK public exams (IGCSE and A Level).

In October 2023, the school announced the relocation of the Pre-prep section of the school to a new campus located next to New York University Abu Dhabi and set to open in January 2024. The school says that the new campus has been specifically designed for children aged three (Nursery) to seven years of age (Year 2). 

According to Caroline Mather, Head of Pre-Prep, “The entire school cohort has been involved, including educators and parents; importantly, however, the children themselves have also been involved in the process.”

“We asked the children what they would like to see in their learning environment, and the sort of elements that would support their development and the way they learn.”

As a result of the feedback received, learning spaces in the classroom can be opened up into a shared, indoor learning space that is accessible from all the classrooms to aid whole school learning.  The outdoor space, which has been specifically designed for three-to seven-year-olds, includes a range of adventure play opportunities to help develop their gross motor skills and confidence. The outdoor areas are not just designed as play spaces; they are learning environments. 

The outdoor space also includes a winding terrace and ramps, leading to a play deck which includes built-in trampolines and different zones, such as quiet reading dens, free play or adventurous play. The new campus will house a 25-metre swimming pool, a multipurpose hall, a fully bespoke library with English and Arabic provisions, a Music room and Arabic specialist teaching rooms, among others.

In terms of staffing, all existing Pre-Prep staff will also relocate. Along with the classroom teachers, specialist staff will also be making the move, such as the Arabic and Islamic staff team, Swimming and PE staff and dedicated Music teachers.

The school has not advised how the vacated facilities in the main school building will be used once they are available.

What about the curriculum?

The school follows the National Curriculum for England from Year 1 to Year 9, with the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage) curriculum in Nursery and FS2. 

At Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11), when students begin their studies towards international examinations, they take IGCSE courses. Note, Cranleigh Abu Dhabi offers IGCSE (designed for international students) and not GCSEs (taken in the UK), with the exceptions of Arabic Second Language, Fine Art and Dance due to the unavailability of suitable IGCSE courses in these subjects. The difference between the international and UK based qualification has widened with recent reforms.

Visit our curriculum page here for more information.

The school then moves on to A Levels, hosted in its specialist Sixth Form Centre.  The school had considered the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme whilst it "watched closely the current overhaul of the UK's post-16 education landscape". However, Cranleigh eventually settled upon a ‘hybrid’ A Level route, complementing the more traditional study mode of A Levels with the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ). The EPQ is similar in concept to the IB Extended Essay, but more in-depth in delivery. It is completed over the two years of Sixth Form.

Cranleigh Sixth Form has also adopted the "Harkness style teaching" for its Sixth Form, which is a dialogue-based approach that allows students to further develop their independent thinking through tutorial style lessons around an oval table.

The ranges of CCA activities at Cranleigh is incredibly impressive with very varied options for children of all ages, with activities such as the ‘Cranleigh Cartoonist’, Parkour and ‘Engineers to Be’ for Year 2.  With its proximity to the water, older students are able to take part in a range of water-based activities, as well as the more traditional sports and after-school clubs.

What about the Facilities?

The entrance to the school opens onto a large foyer which is light and airy. Offices are to the rear of the foyer and great care has been taken to ensure that each has windows at both ends, so that the light streams through to the Reception area. Several impressive student art works are on display.

On our first visit to the school, entering via the main reception area, a quite spectacular entrance, we noted a surrounding area full of attractive apartment buildings. We later discovered that these apartments are the teacher’s accommodation, which were purpose built in tandem with the school.

There is a very comfortable seating area with large sofas for visitors. This side of the building looks out over the quadrangle with staff accommodation on one side, the main auditorium and sports facilities and a further teaching block (for the Senior school) surrounding the sports fields in the centre.

See for yourself how the school looks and feels - Experience it here.

The classrooms for the Early Years and Junior School are located on the ground floor, leading off onto corridors to the left of the main lobby area. Each corridor has classrooms on both sides and a central area for play and group activity. Between the corridors are outside shaded areas which are used for PE for the youngest children currently.

Classrooms are spacious, light, bright and airy and pieces of students’ work adorned on the walls add to the busy atmosphere.

Great care has been taken to ensure that even the youngest children can see outside via low-level windows, and that equipment is totally appropriate to their needs – much has been produced locally to the school’s specifications.

The spacious school canteen is also located on the ground floor.  Food is prepared on site and we had good feedback from parents and students alike.

Older students are accommodated on the Second floor, where there are also specialist Science labs (we were particularly impressed by the labs offering both ‘lecture hall’ style seating and practical work spaces) and the Library.

What about academic achievement?

Cranleigh's first cohort of students to sit their public examinations was the IGCSE cohort of 2017-18.  Since then, the school has regularly published its examination results and these have been included in the annual results' round up that WhichSchoolAdvisor.com produces each year.

Whilst we fully appreciate that exam result are not - and should not be - the sole measure of a good education, they are, without question, an important indicator of a school's ability to achieve the best from its students and a factor that supports parents to make the right school choice for their children.

Much has been made of the inflation in grades that took place during the pandemic years across all curricula, with schools and their staff inevitably having been considered to have erred towards a best-case scenario.  The UK Department of Education initiated discussions about how the Exam Boards will be expected to return to a grading outcome that "deflates" the awards back to pre-pandemic levels.  The first impact of this was felt in 2022.

In 2023, the UK Department of Education followed through on its wish to see exam grade boundaries and pass rates returned to pre-pandemic levels amid much concern about the reduction in the award of the top grades, and a fall in pass rates.   There is evidence across the UAE of the impact of this decision on almost all schools and their students.

At Cranleigh, a cohort of 54 were entered for  A Level examinations.  44% of entries were awarded A*- A, with 70% at A*-B and 90% at A*-C.  All entries achieved 100% at A*-E (the pass rate).

For a round up of UAE wide 2023 A Level examination results, go here. 

At IGCSE in 2023, 101 students entered the examinations. 28% of entries were awarded A*, with 52% receiving A*-A, and  72% receiving A*-B. 97% of all entries achieved a pass grade of A*-C with 99% of students achieving pass grades.  

For a round up of UAE wide 2023 IGCSE results, go here.

As examinations returned to normal in 2022, so students were prepared in a fall in exam grades and pass rates.

At A Level, Cranleigh provided very little information about the results, informing us only that 48% of entries had been awarded A*- A and 91% had been awarded A*-C. 

At IGCSE more information was made available.  A cohort of 130 students were entered for the examinations. 32% of entries received A*, whilst 53% were awarded A*-A and 72% A*-B.  The total of entries awarded the pass grades of A*-C  was 99.4%.

For 2021, students were again unable to take the A Level and IGCSE examinations, these instead being awarded on the basis of internal assessment and predicted grades determined by teachers and leadership of the school.

The school announced that at A Level, a cohort of 35 students had studied for the examinations.  The total number of exam entries was not provided (but on average, we would have expected this to have been three, with the most talented students taking four).  Of the exams awarded, 49% achieved an A* grade (double the percentage of 2020), whilst 70% achieved A*-A (compared with 49% in 2020), 73% A*-B, 94% A*-C and 100% A*-E. The highest achieving student achieved 4 awards at A*.

I/GCSE results for 2021 for the cohort of 105 students, included 37% of entries graded 9, 59% of entries graded 9-8 (A*), 75% graded 9-7 (A*-A) and 99% of all entries being awarded A*-C with this the overall pass rate.  There was less evidence of grade inflation with the I/GCSE results compared with 2020. Details of the number of exam entries were not provided. 

In August 2020, Cranleigh revealed the following results:

At A Level, 26 students (double the number of last year) were entered for the examinations, with 23% of exam entries receiving the top A* grade, 49% receiving an A* or A and 73% graded A*- B. Over a quarter of students achieved 100% A and A*.

The 2020 A Level cohort was Cranleigh’s second group of A Level students and exceeded last year’s grades with gains of up to 17% seen between the 2019 and 2020 results.

The school also celebrated its GCSE success with 34% of results obtained at grade 9, 57% of grades receiving a grade 9-8 (A*) 79% receiving a grade 7 or above and 99% of results being at grade 4 or above in a cohort of 64.

In early 2021, Cranleigh released the results of its students' Extended Project Qualification results. Intended to reflect the high regard to the IB Diploma's Extended Essay, the EPQ is increasingly sought after by UK universities in particular.

The EPQ is an independent research project that challenges students to extend their abilities beyond the A Level syllabus. It is equivalent to half an A Level and is highly regarded by many universities as it helps develop critical thinking skills, and thus supports applications. Over 60% of Cranleigh students took the EPQ in addition to three or four A Levels. Additionally, the remaining 40% of the Year group completed the Cranleigh Capstone project which is a mandatory research programme similar in nature to the EPQ.

In 2019, some 75 students (so well over double the 2018 cohort) sat 341 examinations.  The results speak for themselves, with 55% exam entries graded A*, 73% graded A*-A, 98% graded A*-C, and with 97% of students achieving a minimum of 5 passes at A*-C including Maths and English.  The highest achievement by an individual student was 10 passes at A*.

Also in 2019, Cranleigh had its first cohort of A Level students. A small group of 15 students sat a total of 37 examinations. 29% of results were graded A*-A, 63% A*-B, 82% A*-C and there was a 100% pass rate at A*-E.

In 2018, Cranleigh Abu Dhabi had the first cohort of 31 students take IGCSE exams out of which 25% received A*, 51% A* - A and 92% A* - C. 

What the Inspectors say

The 2018-19 ADEK report ranks the overall performance of the school as Outstanding for the first time [note, Abu Dhabi schools are inspected once every two years], a rating that many observers felt the school was due previously. This means it is one of only seven private schools across Abu Dhabi Emirate to have achieved the highest inspection rating.

At the time, the inspection report noted;

"The overall performance of Cranleigh Abu Dhabi School is outstanding. Students’ achievement is outstanding in nearly all subjects and phases. Teachers are highly adept at delivering lessons which promote students’ academic knowledge and skills. The curriculum is extensively adapted to support students’ wider interests and aspirations. School leaders ensure that students receive very high-quality care and guidance, and this supports students’ personal development very well. School leaders’ self-evaluation is comprehensive, and they have quickly established a highly effective and fully inclusive school". 

Key Strengths of the school included:

• Students’ exceptionally high attainment in national and international examinations;
• Foundation Stage children’s and students’ positive behaviour, attitudes towards learning, and relationships with others;
• Teachers’ subject knowledge, their understanding of the curriculum, and their skills in promoting students’ academic and personal development;
• The extensive extracurricular provision and the effective implementation of the taught curriculum;
• Successful safeguarding arrangements, the high levels of care provided to students and the quality of the premises;
• Leaders’ establishment of a fully inclusive school that supports and promotes UAE and Emirate priorities. 

On the face of it, it seemed difficult to determine what more Cranleigh might need to do to maintain the impressively high standards that were already clearly in operation.  But, of course, there is an ethos of continuous improvement across the school.

ADEK's inspection team identified a range of areas for development, and two key areas for improvement were expected of the school.  Cranleigh should: 

• Raise students’ achievement in Arabic language, so that it matches the outstanding achievement found in other subjects by developing Arabic first language (AFL) students’ speaking skills using standard Arabic; supporting Arabic second language (ASL) students’ skills to write extensively; [and] improving the quality of teaching so that it matches the consistently outstanding standards found in other subjects.
• Promote students’ skills to be fully independent and self-reliant learners by: improving students’ skills to reflect on their own learning, set themselves challenging targets for improvement and initiate innovative and enterprising ways to achieve goals; [and] adapting lessons and the taught curriculum to provide students with more opportunities to independently self-review and plan their own learning.

The subsequent inspection of Cranleigh that was due to take place in the 2020-21 academic year was cancelled, together with all other inspections in the UAE, as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic.  The school did not, therefore, undergo a subsequent inspection until May 2023, when it was again awarded the Outstanding rating.

In common with all other Abu Dhabi schools, the inspection teams evaluated only four of the six key performance standards and issued an abbreviated inspection report without commentary or recommendations. However, the report does include a series of pie charts indicating the percentage of each rating awarded across all key performance indicators inspected. 

If anything, it would seem that Cranleigh has improved upon the earlier report!  Whilst in 2018-19, 94% of indicators were rating Outstanding an 6% rated Very Good, the 2022-23 report shows that there are no longer any Very Good ratings - essentially showing that all ratings across the school that were inspected are Outstanding.  

If you would like to read the ADEK inspection reports - and we highly recommend that you do so in order to understand the strengths of the school and those areas for development - you will find them here.

The Buzz

The WhichSchoolAdvisor.com Parent Survey has received a limited number of responses from Cranleigh parents, but those who have commented (a total of 18) have been pretty positive - giving the school an overall score of 4.1/5 - a positivity rating of 82%.  Of course, how representative this number of responses is of the whole community is difficult to say.

Probably the most telling response is that 94% of parents would recommend the school to others!  The balance were not entirely sure. Parents are overwhelmingly satisfied with communication and feedback from the school,and  the disciplinary policy (both 78%), and the academic performance  which receives an overwhelming 83% satisfaction rating, with none of the respondents in disagreement; (the balance are partially satisfied).

If there is a niggle, it relates - perhaps unsurprisingly - to the fees, which 33% feel offer value for money, and a further 56% believe that they do at least partially, but 11% disagree.  Perhaps because of these misgivings, 17% have considered moving their child(ren) to another school - though this is still low compared with the average figure for the UAE of 25%. 

If you are a parent, teacher or student at Cranleigh Abu Dhabi and would like to share your opinions and experience with other potential members of your community, please complete our Survey. Your views matter!

Unfortunately, ADEK does not include any direct feedback from parents in their report.

Our View

The school’s high fees have undoubtedly put pressure on Cranleigh to deliver quickly.  Certainly, it seems from the feedback we have received directly during visits to the school and from our survey, the published examination results and ADEK inspection rating, it appears to have done just that.

Cranleigh leaves a hugely positive impression in terms of its scale, appearance and its highly organised, busy, bright and cheerful atmosphere. It has quite a reputation to live up to, but following our second visit to the school, WhichSchoolAdvisor.com team was left feeling the school is delivering on all its promise.

What about Fees?

Fees are at the very top end for Abu Dhabi, where schools tend to have lower fees than in neighbouring Dubai. They range from AED 67,560 in FS1 to Year 1, AED 77,960 for Years 2 to 4, AED 83,150 for Years 5 to 9 and AED 100,130 from Years 10 to 13. This is at the very top of the range in fees (and would be even for Dubai). However, Cranleigh Abu Dhabi is positioning itself as one of, if not the, premium option in the capital, operating in a very exclusive location, with the experienced staff you would expect from a similar school in the UK.

Cranleigh Abu Dhabi has a scholarship programme, which is "designed to broaden access to its holistic and enriching educational model, as well as to attract and support talented students who show passion for and potential in their chosen field." There are scholarships available in Sports, Visual Arts and Performing Arts. Applicants from across Abu Dhabi are invited to apply as long as they are entering Year 7 and above.

This school is in a Best School by parents ranking

Cranleigh Abu Dhabi is a Best of school, a ranking determined by parent surveys on the site. It can be found in the following Best of rankings:

• #48 in Best Schools in the UAE
• #8 in Best Schools in Abu Dhabi
• #2 in Best A Level Schools in Abu Dhabi
• #6 in Best Ultra-premium Schools in the UAE
• #1 in Best Ultra-premium Schools in Abu Dhabi

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