Same Cambridge Results, a Fraction of the Fees

DIS students sit their Cambridge IGCSE and A-Level examinations at approved Cambridge exam centres. The closest established centre for students based in the UAE is the British Council in Dubai, which is accessible from Fujairah. Students register for exams in the standard Cambridge examination series — the same May/June or October/November windows used by every Cambridge school globally. DIS provides full guidance on the registration process, deadline dates, and required documentation well in advance of each examination series. Families in Fujairah should factor in travel to Dubai for the examination period, which typically spans two to four weeks depending on the number of subjects.

Yes. Cambridge IGCSE and Cambridge A-Level qualifications are internationally recognised regardless of how the lessons were delivered. UAE universities including those in Abu Dhabi and Dubai accept Cambridge A-Level results for undergraduate admissions. UK universities process DIS students through UCAS in exactly the same way as any other Cambridge applicant. The transcript and predicted-grade letter issued by DIS teachers reference the Cambridge syllabus codes and subject grades — no admissions officer sees the word "online" on the certificate itself. Students have used Cambridge A-Level results from DIS to apply successfully to universities in the UK, the US, Australia, Canada, and across the GCC.

DIS runs a structured live timetable Monday to Friday, Gulf Standard Time. Students log in at a set time each morning, attend registration, and move through timed lesson periods with a qualified teacher leading each class in real time. Cameras are on. Teachers take attendance, ask questions, set tasks, and mark work. There is a lunch break and an after-school window, just as there would be on a campus. DIS is not a video library or a self-paced platform. If a student misses a lesson, the session is recorded on the DIS platform so nothing is lost permanently, but the default expectation is live attendance.

Every teacher at DIS holds a postgraduate qualification and is based in the GCC. The team includes instructors with PGCE and QTS credentials, as well as subject specialists with Masters-level qualifications in their discipline. Teachers are recruited specifically for their subject expertise at Cambridge IGCSE and A-Level level. The current DIS teaching team numbers over 100 qualified instructors. All teachers are reachable directly through the DIS platform's messaging system, and parents can contact them outside lesson hours for progress updates or concerns.

Socialising at DIS happens in two ways. Inside the classroom, live class sizes of 4–6 students mean every student is known by name and participates actively in every lesson. Students build genuine academic relationships with their peers over a term or a year of shared lessons. Outside the classroom, because the DIS school day ends without a commute eating into the afternoon, students in Fujairah have more time for in-person activities — youth sports leagues, community clubs, mosque groups, neighbours, and family networks. Many DIS families find that the extra afternoon hours actually increase the quality and variety of their child's social life compared with arriving home exhausted from a long school day.

Absolutely. Because DIS students finish their school day earlier and without a commute, they have genuine after-school bandwidth for in-person activities. Families in Fujairah have enrolled children in local football academies, swimming clubs, martial arts programmes, and community arts groups alongside their DIS studies. DIS does not run campus-based sport or clubs — that is an honest difference from St. Mary's — but the school day is structured to leave the afternoon free precisely so students can pursue those activities independently. Many families view this as a feature rather than a limitation: the child chooses their own extracurricular mix rather than being limited to what the campus offers.

DIS charges AED 500 per month for IGCSE-level enrolment and AED 800 per month for A-Level enrolment. Both prices include all subjects — there are no per-subject premiums, no registration fees, and no annual increases built in at renewal. The monthly fee covers live online classes across the full Cambridge curriculum, access to all postgraduate-qualified teachers, the parent dashboard, instructor messaging, a full resource library, and assignment tracking. There is no long-term contract. Families can cancel with standard notice. There is no charge to book an initial 20-minute call with the DIS team.

Yes, mid-year and mid-term starts are supported. DIS operates a rolling admissions process and can integrate a new student into an existing live class group at most points in the academic year. The DIS team will advise on any syllabus content covered before the student joins, and teachers will provide catch-up guidance through the platform's resource library and direct messaging. For students transferring from St. Mary's or another Cambridge school partway through Year 10 or Year 12, the subject content is the same, so the transition is typically straightforward. A brief enrolment call helps the team place the student correctly.

Cambridge IGCSE science subjects — Biology, Chemistry, and Physics — include a practical assessment component. DIS prepares students thoroughly for the Cambridge Alternative to Practical (Paper 6 for many syllabuses), which assesses practical skills through written questions rather than laboratory sessions. This is a fully recognised and widely used assessment route within the Cambridge qualification. For students who require a centre-assessed practical component, DIS advises families on how to arrange access to an approved exam centre that offers supervised practical examinations. The team discusses the best route for each student's specific subject combination during the enrolment call.

Transferring from DIS back to a campus school is straightforward from a curriculum standpoint. DIS students study the same Cambridge syllabuses as every other Cambridge school, so subject content, year-group mapping, and predicted grades are all directly transferable. A receiving school will typically request a progress report and predicted grades, both of which DIS teachers can provide. Families should check individual admissions policies at the destination school, as some campus schools have year-group capacity constraints. The Cambridge qualification itself creates no barrier to re-entry into the campus school system at any stage.

DIS live classes run on a standard video conferencing platform accessible from any modern laptop, tablet, or desktop computer. A stable broadband connection of at least 10 Mbps is sufficient for clear video and audio. Most families in Fujairah with standard home broadband have no difficulty. A headset or headphones with a microphone is recommended for cleaner audio during class. The DIS learning management system, where students access timetables, resources, assignments, and teacher messages, is browser-based and does not require any specialist software installation. The DIS team provides a setup checklist and can troubleshoot connectivity issues before a student's first day.

DIS runs its full timetable on Gulf Standard Time, Monday to Friday. This means lesson start and end times align with the standard GCC working day and school week. Students in Fujairah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Riyadh, Doha, or anywhere else in the Gulf region attend classes at the same time as their classmates. There is no timezone confusion and no early-morning or late-evening scheduling to accommodate a different region. The Friday weekend is observed, and the academic calendar reflects UAE public holidays. Families who have previously dealt with UK-timezone online schools will find the DIS schedule a significant practical improvement.