Dubai's desert dormitories

British public schools are queuing up to open colleges from Doha to Dubai, as demand rises for a quintessentially English education.

A school bell beckons pupils back into class; youngsters tear around picturesque courtyards under the watchful eye of their teachers; the thump of willow on leather echoes across rolling sports fields.

It could be just another summer's afternoon at one of England's celebrated public schools. Look beyond the stone gates however, and the gleaming spire of the Burj Dubai gives the game away - this little corner of England is at the very heart of the Gulf.

The 450 year-old Repton School will welcome up to 1000 pupils to its new Dubai campus this September. It is one of several British public schools preparing to open colleges in the Gulf.

Wellington College in Berkshire is in talks with organisations in Bahrain and Qatar, while South London-based Dulwich College has been linked with a US$10m project to create the 'playing fields of Arabia' in Dubai.

A senior official at upmarket Oundle School in Cambridgeshire has also confirmed the school is in talks to open up in the emirate.

A shortage of school places in the region caused by an influx of expatriates is attracting a surge of interest from fee-paying public schools and colleges in the UK.

"You only need to look around to see how many people are coming into the Gulf every day - there is a clamour for school places every year," says Chris Wright, an educationalist and founding headmaster of Wellington International College in Dubai.

"There is a demand for a British-style education, and it resonates with high standards and access to universities, as does the American diploma system and curriculum."

A 2007 McKinsey & Company report into regional schools noted that student performance in core subjects such as Maths, Arabic, English and Science, was low compared to international standards.

This represents a significant problem in a region where more than 40% of the population is under 15 years old. As a result, parents are increasingly turning to private schools in a bid to secure higher teaching standards for their children - since the early 90s, private school enrolment in the UAE has increased fourfold.

"From the very beginning the school was conceived to bring the traditions, the heritage and the quality of education that you associate with Repton in the UK, to Dubai," says Repton Dubai headmaster David Cook.

"There is a genuine desire both here and in Derbyshire to make this relationship as close as possible, and so both schools will have teaching staff of a similar standard."

"In Dubai, the standard of education at the mid-market and premium levels is extremely high," says Wright.

"Whether you're an Emirati or a Brit or an Australian, a parent always wants the best education for their children, and I'm sure there are a lot of parents thinking that they get better here than they did at home."

No relation to its English namesake, Wellington International College is part of the private GEMS Education network. However, while GEMS accepts day pupils alone, Repton will offer both weekly and full boarding places, and expects that at least one third of its pupils will make use of the state-of-the-art dormitories currently under construction.

"Repton is a renowned boarding school, and from the very beginning boarding was central to the ethos and values of the school," explains Cook. "We have bent over backwards to ensure that the boarding is central to life at the school, and determines the way the school is organised."

Advocates of the boarding model maintain that pupils benefit not just from an extra level of pastoral care, but also greater opportunities - be they academic, extracurricular, or even social. 'Character-forming' is a popular expression amongst the alumni of UK and US boarding schools, and an expression that Repton Dubai's headmaster uses more than once.

Due to the fact that the junior school caters exclusively to day pupils, boarders will never outnumber those who go home at the end of each school day. However, an interesting trend is emerging at Repton Dubai: according to Cook, the majority of boarders live closer to the school than the day students.

"The weekly boarding is proving a very popular option for Dubai parents," he says.

"Rather than travel every day to pick their children up, parents are happy to let their children have the whole boarding experience. They get an extremely attractive environment with very caring housemasters and tutors, and access to facilities which are second-to-none."