Of all the things I first noticed when coming to school in the UK was the comparable lack of diversity in the schools. In the Middle East international schools really are that – I had been used to being surrounded by a large majority of Indians and Pakistanis as well other British nationals and South Africans, New Zealanders, Chinese, Russians, Uzbekistanis, Americans, Canadians, Lebanese, Syrians, Brazilians, Ugandans etc… This cultural mix at schools meant that whenever I went over to friends’ houses I had to embrace a new set of cultural customs and you got to see how different people interpreted the same piece of information.

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There was also a difference in that there were mandatory Arabic lessons throughout school up until GCSE level where you were able to opt out of Arabic. This extended even further if you were Muslim to compulsory Islamic studies up until GCSE as well. This did vary between schools though as some schools were stricter with Islamic practices than others. Come Ramadan however, irrespective of your religion or belief, your were subjected to a shorter school timetable with a slightly later start in the morning, going from around 07 45 to around 08 45, and if you were eating or drinking anything in the school you had to do this within classrooms and out of public sight to be respectful to the Muslim students.

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Another part of education was the yearly celebration of national day where everyone was able to come in the native clothing of their home countries and there were many stalls around school celebrating Arab culture to the extent that Arab dancers and musicians would come into the school and put on performances. On some days you would even listen to the national anthem of the UAE before the beginning of the school day. This didn’t mean that other cultures were ignored though – being an American or British curriculum meant that things such as Remembrance Day were also celebrated at school.

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Finally, the last major difference I noticed was that during biology lessons in the UAE, if you wanted to study evolution, you needed to get a permission slip signed by your parents saying they were happy for you to learn about this. This was aimed at being respectful to those families whose religions did not endorse evolution as a concept and who wanted their children to not learn about any related ideas. I did not see anything like this happen in my school in England which I found interesting.

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There are many and more subtle differences between the schooling systems across these two countries but, of all that I can think of, those mentioned above are the ones which stand out the most. Hopefully this provides some insight as to what British curriculum international schools in the UAE are like compared to the UK.