Same Cambridge curriculum. More of your day back.

Mid-year transfers from The Cambridge High School to DIS are straightforward. The Cambridge syllabus is common to both, so a student in Year 10 studying Cambridge IGCSE English Literature, Mathematics, and Sciences simply continues on the same curriculum at DIS. The DIS academic team reviews the student's current subject choices, maps them to the live class timetable, and confirms a start date. Most students are in class within two weeks of enquiring. You will need the student's most recent school report and a list of current subjects. No entrance exam is required.

Yes, and this is one of the most important practical points for Abu Dhabi families. Because DIS delivers Cambridge IGCSE and Cambridge A-Level to the standard Cambridge syllabus, a student moving back to a physical British curriculum school in Abu Dhabi, the UAE, or anywhere in the GCC arrives with a fully documented Cambridge transcript, the same subject content, and predicted grades in the standard format. Admissions teams at ADEK-regulated schools recognise Cambridge qualifications from any approved source. You should inform the receiving school that your child has been studying with an online British school and provide the DIS transcript and teacher references.

DIS students in Abu Dhabi sit their Cambridge IGCSE and A-Level examinations at approved Cambridge exam centres. The British Council operates exam centres in the UAE and is the primary centre used by DIS students across the region. DIS is not a Cambridge registered centre; students register for exams independently through an approved centre such as the British Council Dubai. The DIS academic team provides full guidance on exam registration timelines, entry deadlines, and what to submit. Students should confirm local Abu Dhabi centre availability directly with the British Council well ahead of the relevant exam series.

Cambridge IGCSE and Cambridge A-Level are internationally recognised qualifications accepted by universities across the UAE, including the University of Sharjah, Khalifa University, the American University of Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi University, among others. UAE universities assess applicants on the strength of their Cambridge results, not on whether the school was a physical campus or an online British school. The qualification on the certificate is identical. Students applying to UK universities use UCAS in the standard way; DIS teachers provide predicted grades and references in the format required by UCAS.

All DIS teachers are postgraduate-qualified and GCC-based. The teaching team numbers over 100 instructors, each with a postgraduate teaching qualification such as a PGCE or equivalent, and the majority have prior experience in British curriculum schools. Teachers teach live on a fixed daily timetable on Gulf Standard Time, meaning your child is learning in real time with a qualified instructor, not watching a pre-recorded video. Teachers are available for direct messaging through the DIS platform outside lesson hours, and parents can monitor lesson attendance and assignment progress through the parent dashboard.

DIS runs a Monday to Friday timetable on Gulf Standard Time, which aligns directly with the Abu Dhabi and wider UAE working week. Live classes typically run from approximately 8:00 am to 3:00 pm GST, mirroring the school day at a standard Abu Dhabi campus. There are no lessons outside these hours for secondary students. This means the family schedule is broadly comparable to a campus school, with the key difference that there is no commute at either end. Parents in Abu Dhabi working standard Gulf hours will find the DIS timetable fits naturally around the household routine.

The AED 500 per month IGCSE fee covers all Cambridge IGCSE subjects your child is enrolled in. There is no per-subject charge and no premium for particular subject combinations. The fee includes access to live online classes on the daily timetable, postgraduate-qualified teachers, the full DIS resource library, assignment tracking, direct instructor messaging, and the parent dashboard. It does not cover external exam registration fees, which are paid separately to the exam centre such as the British Council. There are no charges for uniforms, transport, or campus facilities because none of those exist.

DIS live classes run with 4-6 students per group. Each lesson follows a structured plan aligned to the Cambridge syllabus, delivered by a qualified teacher in real time via the DIS platform. Cameras are on. Students ask and answer questions, respond to the teacher, and work through problems as a group. The small class size means a teacher can address each student directly during a lesson in a way that is rarely possible in a campus group of 24 or more. Lessons are scheduled on the fixed timetable; students join at the designated time, not whenever it suits them.

DIS classes run on a standard laptop, desktop, or tablet with a reliable broadband connection. A webcam and microphone are required for live participation, and most modern devices include both. The DIS platform runs in a standard web browser; no specialist software installation is needed. A minimum connection speed of 10 Mbps download is recommended for stable video in class. Students in Abu Dhabi on a standard home broadband or fibre connection will have no difficulty. If you are unsure whether your current setup is sufficient, the DIS technical support team can advise before enrolment.

Science subjects at DIS cover the full Cambridge syllabus, including the content that underpins practical assessments. Cambridge IGCSE Sciences, for example, include Alternative to Practical papers, which test practical skills and experimental understanding through written questions rather than a supervised laboratory session. DIS teachers prepare students thoroughly for these papers as part of the standard teaching programme. Students who subsequently transfer to a university course or a school with laboratory facilities will have the conceptual grounding to adapt quickly. This is the standard Cambridge route for internationally-based students and is well understood by universities and admissions teams.

Social development at DIS works differently from a campus school but is not absent. Live classes of 4-6 students create a genuinely collaborative group dynamic; students interact with peers and teachers in real time every day. Because the school day finishes without a commute, students in Abu Dhabi have the full afternoon and evening available for in-person activities: sport clubs, music, art, Arabic lessons, and community groups. Many DIS families find their children are more socially active outside school, not less, because they are not arriving home exhausted at 4:30 pm after a long campus day and a traffic-heavy return journey.

Yes. DIS accepts enrolments throughout the academic year, including mid-term. The Cambridge syllabus is structured to allow a well-organised mid-year entry, and the DIS academic team will review the student's current progress against the syllabus to identify any gaps that need to be addressed. For students in Year 10 or Year 12, the team will confirm whether a mid-year start leaves sufficient time to complete the required content before the exam series. In most cases it does, particularly for students transferring from another Cambridge school such as The Cambridge High School Abu Dhabi, where the syllabus alignment is direct.