Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet, has secured initial approval to open the first international branch campus under its QE Global Schools initiative.
Queen Elizabeth’s School, Dubai Sports City, will provide an education delivered to the same high academic standards that have made QE Barnet one of the UK’s leading schools. The new school will offer the QE Essentials – the coherent set of meticulously developed programmes, initiatives and concepts which together underpin a QE education.
QE Barnet is working with its partner, GEDU Global Education, to open independent, fee-paying schools in UAE and India – the first such venture by a UK state school. The international schools will open under the QE banner but will operate as independent campuses, each with its own principal, senior leadership team, and teaching staff.
The approval from Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) clears the way for the school to open next August: applications for places open on 4 November 2025.
Headmaster Neil Enright said: “We are delighted to have received this encouragement from the KHDA to offer a rounded and enriching QE education to children in the UAE, spreading opportunity and supporting students to become the leaders of their generation.
“We are also excited by the potential for international collaboration, which, in time, will build a global network of Elizabethans for the benefit of our new students as well as those within the state sector in Barnet.
“Our intention is also to use revenue from QE Global Schools to support long-term educational excellence at Queen’s Road.”
The announcement drew praise from Edward Hobart, His Majesty’s Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, who said: “I am delighted that Queen Elizabeth’s School will open in Dubai Sports City next year. This milestone represents the first time a British state-funded grammar school has expanded globally, testament to the enduring strength of UK-UAE educational partnerships.”
“By bringing QE’s proven educational methodology and 450-year heritage of academic excellence to Dubai, it increases the opportunity for young people in the UAE to access world-class British education. I look forward to seeing the positive impact this world-class institution will have on students and the broader educational landscape in the UAE.”
Dubai Sports City is a complex built around five major sports venues that provides a mix of residential, retail, leisure and recreational facilities. Teaching at the new school will follow England’s National Curriculum.
Caroline Pendleton-Nash, CEO of Queen Elizabeth’s Global Schools, said: “This landmark approval allows us to accelerate our vision to deliver world-leading K-12 education* to students from across the UAE.
“While the model of establishing international branches is familiar among leading UK independent schools, this marks the first time in history that a distinguished UK state grammar school has embarked upon such a partnership. It represents an unprecedented and truly exciting milestone for global education.
“Queen Elizabeth’s School, Dubai Sports City, will be a co-educational school, opening initially from Nursery to Year 8, with a phased growth through to the sixth form. Its location in Dubai Sports City affords our students privileged access to unrivalled sporting facilities, embedding sport and physical excellence as a defining pillar of their education. This will be brought to life through our QE Flourish Programme, which nurtures character and personal development across the strands of Care, Challenge, Create and Compete, realising the boundless potential of our students.”
QE Flourish is one of the QE Essentials. Other elements include: an emphasis on free-thinking scholarship; bespoke pastoral care with a focus on character education (supported by the House system at QE Barnet); QE Futures, which helps all pupils find their individual pathways after school; and membership of QE Connect, the supportive global alumni network.
“The Dubai branch campus will remain faithful to the mission, ethos, tradition, and exacting academic standards of Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet, while embracing Dubai’s spirit of innovation and ambition,” Ms Pendleton-Nash added. “Our mission is to nurture confident, able, and responsible young people who are prepared to lead happy and fulfilled adult lives and to make a positive contribution to others. In uniting the heritage of one of the UK’s most distinguished schools with the vision of Dubai, we aspire to set a new global benchmark for educational excellence.”
* K-12 is short for kindergarten through to 12th grade, reflecting the US school system from the age of around 5 to 17 or 18.
- Top is an artist’s impression of the new campus in Dubai. Also pictured above is Mr Enright with GEDU Group CEO Dr Vishwajeet Rana and with Ms Pendleton-Nash.