British Curriculum

British private schools in Abu Dhabi follow the National Curriculum for England, which includes key subjects that are compulsory for students in Key Stages 1-4, including Mathematics, English, Science, Design and Technology, History, Geography, Art and Design, Music, Physical Education, Computing, and Modern Foreign Languages.

British secondary school qualifications, such as GCSEs, IGCSEs, and A-Levels, are widely recognized for university admission in the UAE and abroad.

Progression

The UK National Curriculum framework outlines the subjects taught and the learning standards for each subject.
Foundation stages are listed below:
1] While education is compulsory from age 5, most schools structure their preschool programs based on the Early Years Foundation Stage Framework (EYFSF).
2] Early years usually consist of Early Years Foundation Stage 1 (FS1) and Foundation Stage 2 (FS2).
3] Children must be three years old by September 1st of the admission year to enroll in FS1.
Key Stages are listed below.
1] After the foundation years, the different levels of education are referred to as Key Stages. The academic journey illustrates the age-to-year mapping.
2] Please note that the British system uses ‘Years’ rather than ‘Grades’ to classify children.
3] Year 2 is equivalent to Grade 1, Year 3 is equivalent to Grade 2, and so on.

The table below shows the academic journey that a student studying an American curriculum is expected to take

Age	Grade
3-4	FS1
4-5	FS2
5-6	Year 1
6-7	Year 2
7-8	Year 3
8-9	Year 4
9-10	Year 5
10-11	Year 6
11-12	Year 7
12-13	Year 8
13-14	Year 9
14-15	Year 10
15-16	Year 11
16-17	Year 12
17-18

Assessments

In the British system, the child's education journey includes the following formative and summative assessments:
FS2: Each child's teacher completes an Early Years Foundation Stage Profile. This profile is developed through observation, portfolio generation, or low-stakes formative assessments.
Year 1: The teacher conducts a statutory phonics screening assessment. If the child does not perform well, they must retake the test in Year 2.
Year 2: Statutory National Assessments are delivered in English reading, grammar, punctuation, spelling, and mathematics. The teacher assesses science, writing, speaking, and listening instead.
Year 6: National tests and teacher assessments are conducted in English and mathematics, while teacher assessments are conducted in science.
Year 10: Some students may choose to take the GCSEs or IGCSE subject exams.
Year 11: Students take the GCSEs/IGCSE or other national exams.
Year 13: Students take the A-Level exams, an essential qualification for university entrance.
All students in Years 4-10 studying the British curriculum are required to take the external GL-PT test series (PTE, PTM, PTS) in English, Mathematics, and Science.

Schools have the option to participate in accreditation schemes, such as inspection through the British Schools Overseas (BSO), endorsed by the Department for Education (DfE), UK.
Such accreditation ensures that the school equips students with the skills and qualifications required to seamlessly transition into or re-enter the British education system.
The British schools in Abu Dhabi are also affiliated and certified to administer GCSE, IGCSE, and A-Level Board exams.

Further Details

More details on the British National curriculum are available Click Here
More details on the Early Years Foundation stage are available Click Here
More details abon Key Stages 1-4 are available Click Here
More details on GCSEs and A-Level exams are available Click Here

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