Same Cambridge curriculum. No school run. Thousands back in your pocket.

Yes. DIS accepts mid-year enrolments across all year groups, including Year 10 and Year 12 where Cambridge IGCSE and A-Level programmes are already underway. The admissions team will review your child's current position in the Cambridge syllabus, confirm which units have been covered at PACE, and place them directly into the relevant point of the DIS programme. There is no waiting list and no academic year boundary to cross. Families who have moved between emirates or received a short-notice posting change use this route regularly. The process takes a few days, not weeks.

Students based in Ajman and the Northern Emirates typically sit Cambridge IGCSE and A-Level examinations at the British Council Dubai, which is an approved Cambridge exam centre. The British Council administers the full Cambridge examination series across all standard IGCSE and A-Level subjects. DIS does not operate as a Cambridge registered centre itself; students register directly with the exam centre. The British Council Dubai is approximately 45 to 60 minutes from central Ajman, and examinations are scheduled across the standard May-to-June and October-to-November windows.

All DIS teachers hold postgraduate qualifications — PGCE, QTS, or equivalent Cambridge-recognised credentials. The teaching team is entirely GCC-based, which means they teach on Gulf Standard Time, understand the academic calendar Ajman families operate on, and are available for direct messaging through the DIS platform. The class size of 4–6 students per live session means each teacher has significantly more contact time per student than is possible in a campus class of 24 to 28. Qualifications are not a differentiator between DIS and PACE; they are comparable. The class size is where the student experience diverges meaningfully.

Yes. Cambridge IGCSE and Cambridge A-Level qualifications are internationally standardised by Cambridge Assessment International Education and are accepted by universities across the UAE, the wider GCC, the UK, the US, Australia, and Canada. UAE universities including those in Abu Dhabi and Dubai routinely accept Cambridge A-Level results for undergraduate entry. The qualification on the transcript does not carry a notation about delivery method. What matters to admissions teams is the grade, the subject, and the examining body — all three are identical whether the student attended a campus or a DIS live class.

A live DIS class runs on a fixed timetable, Monday to Friday, on Gulf Standard Time. Students log in to the DIS platform at the scheduled time, cameras on, and the teacher takes a register exactly as on a campus. Classes have 4 to 6 students. The teacher delivers the Cambridge-aligned lesson in real time, students ask questions, group tasks run live, and the teacher responds to individual answers during the session. Lessons are recorded and accessible via the platform afterwards for revision. The experience is a live lesson with a small group, not a pre-recorded video or a self-paced module.

Cambridge IGCSE science subjects require practical work as part of the syllabus. DIS addresses this through a combination of structured at-home practical tasks using accessible equipment, virtual laboratory simulations that mirror the Cambridge practical assessment criteria, and guided written alternatives where Cambridge permits them. Teachers brief students thoroughly on the alternative practical assessment route, which is accepted by Cambridge for students who cannot access a physical laboratory. DIS academic staff are experienced in preparing students for the Cambridge practical examination paper — Paper 6 or the alternative to coursework — and track each student's practical component separately within the platform.

Returning to a physical campus school after a period with DIS is straightforward. Cambridge IGCSE and A-Level qualifications are fully portable and universally recognised. If your child has completed Year 10 IGCSE coursework with DIS and you move back to a campus school for Year 11, the new school can review the Cambridge syllabus progress and integrate the student without academic penalty. DIS provides a full transcript of modules completed, predicted grades, and teacher assessments on request, which any British-curriculum school's admissions team will recognise immediately. The qualification pathway is identical, so there is no academic gap to bridge.

PACE Creative British School's published fees run from approximately AED 28,000 per year at primary level to AED 50,000 or more per year at IGCSE stage, in line with MoE-regulated fee bands. DIS charges AED 500 per month for IGCSE — that is AED 6,000 per year — with every Cambridge subject included and no per-subject surcharges. At A-Level, DIS charges AED 800 per month, or AED 9,600 per year. There are no uniform costs, no transport fees, and no canteen charges. A family at IGCSE level moving from PACE to DIS would typically save AED 36,000 to 44,000 in the first year alone.

DIS classes run on any modern laptop, desktop, or tablet with a reliable internet connection of 10 Mbps or above. A webcam and a microphone are required — both are built into most current laptops and tablets. No specialist software is needed beyond a standard web browser and the DIS platform login. The platform works on Windows, macOS, and iPadOS. DIS recommends a wired ethernet connection where possible for stability during live lessons, but a strong home Wi-Fi connection is sufficient for the majority of students. The IT team provides a pre-enrolment connection check as part of the onboarding process.

DIS runs a Monday-to-Friday timetable on Gulf Standard Time, which aligns directly with the UAE school week. Classes begin in the morning and follow a structured daily timetable with registration, lesson periods, breaks, and a lunch window — mirroring a standard British school day in terms of structure. Students in Ajman, Sharjah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and across the wider GCC are all on the same timetable. There is no time-zone mismatch and no need to accommodate a European or UK school clock. The timetable is visible on the DIS student and parent dashboard at all times.

Social development at DIS happens in two places: inside the live classroom and outside it. The classroom itself — 4 to 6 students, cameras on, live interaction — is a genuinely social learning environment. Outside class, students typically have more time for in-person activities because the commute is eliminated and the school day ends earlier. Ajman students have used this time for football academies, music tuition, swimming clubs, and community groups. On university applications, the Cambridge qualification is assessed on the same basis as any campus student's. UCAS does not distinguish between delivery methods; the subject, grade, and examining body are what matter.

DIS enrols students for the full Cambridge curriculum at their year group level, which covers all standard subjects on the Cambridge IGCSE or A-Level timetable. The AED 500 per month IGCSE fee and AED 800 per month A-Level fee cover all subjects — there is no partial-enrolment pricing tier. This is by design: the Cambridge qualification requires a balanced subject spread, and DIS structures its programme to ensure students sit the required number of subjects for their target qualification. If you have questions about a specific subject combination or year group, the admissions team can confirm the exact timetable during a 20-minute call.