3 UAE institutions among 10 finalists for World's Best School Prizes 2025
Three schools from the UAE have landed among Top 10 finalists for the prestigious World's Best School Prizes 2025. This is the first time the country has had three schools reach the final stage.
Dubai British School Jumeirah Park (DBSJP), Arbor School, and Applied Technology Schools — Umm Al Quwain Campus (ATS-UAQ) have each earned recognition across key categories — Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, and Innovation respectively — marking the first time three UAE schools have reached the final 10 in the same year.
What qualifies these schools in top 10?
In an interview with Khaleej Times, Rebecca Coulter, Principal, Dubai British School Jumeirah Park (DBSJP) explained that DBSJP stands out for its strong belief in education as a shared journey, built on deep partnerships between students, staff, families, and the wider community.
Coulter highlighted that their academic success, inclusive practices, and wellbeing initiatives all stem from a collaborative ethos.
She said, 'Our nationally celebrated inclusion programme is a direct reflection of our collaborative ethos. As the first school in the UAE to achieve both the Inclusion Quality Mark and Centre of Excellence status, we ensure all voices are heard. From working closely with parents of determination to co-creating support strategies with specialist teams, we make inclusion a shared responsibility and a daily reality.'
'Our co-curricular and enrichment offer is deliberately inclusive and outward facing. With over ninety clubs and a calendar filled with cultural celebrations, community iftars, sustainability drives, and service initiatives, our school is a place where people connect across backgrounds and generations,' added Coulter.
Alan Williamson, CEO of Taaleem, said, 'We are immensely proud that Dubai British School Jumeirah Park has deservedly been named a Top 10 finalist for the World's Best School Prizes 2025. This international recognition reflects the outstanding work of the school's dedicated teachers, talented students, and highly supportive community. Their unwavering commitment to excellence, innovation, and inclusion exemplifies the very best of our educational values.'
Meanwhile, Arbor School earned its spot for embedding eco-literacy within its curriculum, empowering students to tackle pressing environmental challenges through hands-on learning at its biodomes, regenerative gardens, and other sustainability-focused initiatives.
Gemma Thornley, Principal, Arbor School said, 'Arbor School is uniquely positioned with an integrated curriculum that intertwines the National Curriculum for England with a bespoke ecoliteracy programme. Our standout initiatives include the Centre for Abundance, where students work alongside experts in sustainability, science, and systems thinking to address real-world problems. Our Living Campus, which features biodomes, regenerative gardens, and native habitat areas, provides immersive, hands-on learning environments where children explore food systems, climate adaptation, and ecological resilience,' told KT.
She added, 'Beyond curriculum, our student-led eco-committees, community conservation projects, and the integration of environmental justice across subjects ensure that sustainability is not confined to science lessons, but interwoven throughout the student experience.'
Applied Technology Schools-Umm Al Quwain Campus-ATS-UAQ (ATS-AQ), a public secondary school in Fallaj Al Mulla – Umm Al Quwain, UAE, which has integrated AI, engineering, and sustainability into its project-based curriculum to transform the way students are solving real-world challenges and learning crucial life skills to become workforce-ready, has also been named among the top finalists.
Five categories
The winners of the five World's Best School Prizes — for Community Collaboration, Environmental Action, Innovation, Overcoming Adversity, and Supporting Healthy Lives – will be chosen by an expert Judging Academy based on rigorous criteria. In addition, all 50 finalist schools across the five Prizes will also take part in a Public Vote, which opened today, to determine the winner of the Community Choice Award. All six winners will be announced in October.
Vikas Pota, Founder of T4 Education and the World's Best School Prizes, said, 'In a world being turned upside down by AI, as technology reshapes the way we learn and renders jobs that have existed for centuries obsolete, amid growing challenges of climate change, conflict, poverty and populism, the world our young people are entering has never felt more precarious. And a good education, with humans at its heart, has never been more important.
'It is in schools like Dubai British School Jumeirah Park, Arbor School, and Applied Technology Schools-Umm Al Quwain Campus-ATS-UAQ where we find the innovations and expertise that give us hope for a better future. Congratulations on becoming finalists for the World's Best School Prizes 2025. Leaders and schools around the world have so much to learn from these inspirational UAE institutions.'
The winners and finalists of these global schools' prizes will be invited to the World Schools Summit in Abu Dhabi on November 15-16, where they will share their best practices and unique expertise and experience with policymakers and leading figures in global education.
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