Dubai school reveals expansion plan to add 1,800 new students as demand rises

GEMS Founders School – Dubai (GFS) is set to expand in time for the start of the 2021-22 academic year in September, increasing its capacity by an initial 1,000 places and rising to a total of 1,800 in the longer term.

The school’s campus will be enlarged to encompass the purpose-built site previously occupied by GEMS Al Barsha National School for Boys, located next to GEMS Founders School.

Matthew Burfield, principal and CEO of GEMS Founders School – Dubai and vice president – education at GEMS Education, said: “The GEMS Founders brand has shifted the education landscape in Dubai, ensuring families have access to the fantastic quality they have come to expect of a GEMS Education school and at an affordable fee point.

“The success of the GEMS Founders model is reflected in the opening of a second GEMS Founders School in Al Mizhar in 2018 and now the further expansion of the first school. We are incredibly excited about the additional opportunities this campus expansion will offer our children.”

Following the National Curriculum for England, GEMS Founders School – Dubai was opened in 2016.

Burfield said the expansion will allow the many families currently on the waiting list to join the Founders community.

Matthew Burfield, principal and CEO of GEMS Founders School – Dubai and vice president – education at GEMS Education

He added that the expansion of the campus will feature new facilities including two sports halls, two multi-use games areas, a football pitch, a dance studio, two libraries, one dining hall and 200 sq m of playground area.

GFS opened FS1 to Year 8 in September 2016, with record numbers of children joining in the first year. In September 2018, the school received approval to open Year 10 and Year 12, allowing it to launch its IGCSE and A Level programmes.

Today, GFS is a full through-school offering internationally recognised qualifications through Cambridge and Oxford AQA International Examination boards. It achieved a Good rating in its first DSIB inspection.

The expansion is subject to final approvals from the relevant government authorities.