Cranleigh Abu Dhabi
About Cranleigh Abu Dhabi
Cranleigh Abu Dhabi is a private, co-educational British school for ages 3 to 18 on Saadiyat Island, part of Aldar Education and the sister school of Cranleigh School in the UK, whose name it uses under licence. It opened in 2014 on an 8-hectare site at the entrance to the island's cultural district, near Manarat Al Saadiyat. Its Pre-Prep (FS1 to Year 2) moved in January 2024 to a new purpose-built campus a short distance away, and Aldar Education plans to move the Prep School (Years 3 to 8) and Senior School (Years 9 to 13) to a new campus beside it during the 2027-28 academic year. The school teaches the Early Years Foundation Stage and the National Curriculum for England, then (I)GCSEs in Years 10 and 11 and A levels and BTEC Level 3 courses in the Sixth Form, with the Extended Project Qualification or a capstone project, alongside Arabic, Islamic Education and UAE Social Studies. ADEK rated it Outstanding in 2023 and again at its inspection of 27 to 30 October 2025, when it counted 1,550 students and 147 teachers; its largest student nationality groups were British, Emirati and American. A British Schools Overseas inspection by Penta International in April 2024 found that it meets the BSO standards.
Fees read from the school's published 2026-27 fee schedule; ADEK rating from its 2025-26 inspection report. Last checked 26 September 2026. How Talem verifies →
Annual tuition fees
Fees for 2026/2027, per year group. Excludes registration, uniform, and transport.
Tuition is the school's published 2026-2027 fee table, which matches ADEK's approved fees for 2026-2027 (licence 9251, and licence 9348 for the Pre-Prep campus, FS1 to Year 2); ADEK's figure is the most the school may charge. The figures are the same as in the school's 2025-2026 fee policy. Tuition does not include uniform, food, transport, examination fees or activities outside school hours.
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ADEK Rating
ADEK 2025–2026 inspection
Stages & pathways
Pre-Prep School
FS1-Year 2The Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 on the Pre-Prep campus, which opened in January 2024 a short distance from the main school, with its own library, specialist music room, sensory hub, STEAM room, art hub, Arabic rooms, swimming pool and multi-purpose hall (BSO, April 2024). Phonics is taught through Read Write Inc. from FS2 to Year 2, and mathematics through the White Rose scheme.
Prep School
Years 3-8Key Stage 2 and the first years of Key Stage 3 on the main campus, through a thematic curriculum in which subjects are taught around a common theme, combined with the Cranleigh Skills Curriculum. In Years 3 to 6 most of the curriculum is taught by the class teacher, with specialists for Arabic, PE, Islamic Studies, French, Drama, Art and Music. Key Stage 3 students can complete the Independent Project Qualification (IPQ).
Senior School
Years 9-11Year 9 prepares students for (I)GCSE, with options chosen from Term 2 through the core curriculum. Years 10 and 11 follow mostly IGCSE specifications, native speakers can take some language (I)GCSEs early, and high-ability mathematicians can sit GCSE mathematics in Year 10 and GCSE Further Mathematics in Year 11. The Senior Core Curriculum leads to the Level 2 Higher Project Qualification (HPQ). The option subjects listed are those the school entered for GCSE or IGCSE in 2025-26, with Pearson Edexcel, Cambridge and AQA.
Sixth Form
Years 12-13Part of the Senior School. Students take A levels or BTEC Level 3 courses, such as Engineering and Enterprise and Entrepreneurship, and every Year 12 student completes the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) or a capstone project within the Sixth Form Core Curriculum, which includes careers guidance. In 2025-26 the school entered A level or International A level candidates in art and design, biology, business, chemistry, computer science, drama and theatre, economics, English language, English literature, French, geography, history, mathematics and further mathematics, music technology, physics, politics, psychology and Spanish.
How to apply
Facilities
Auditorium and Recital Hall
An auditorium used for regular plays, shows and concerts, and a recital hall (BSO, April 2024; the school's facilities list).
Black Box
A black box performance space, alongside drama and dance studios (the school's facilities list; BSO, April 2024).
Science Laboratories
Science laboratories in a specialist science block, which also has rooms for computing, design and food technology (BSO, April 2024).
Design and Technology Workshop
A design and technology workshop (the school's facilities list).
Pre-Prep STEAM Room and Art Hub
On the Pre-Prep campus, a STEAM room and an art hub, with a sensory hub and a specialist music room (BSO, April 2024).
Libraries
Three main libraries, for the Pre-Prep, for Phase 2 and for senior students, with more than 30,000 books, over 2,000 of them in Arabic (ADEK, October 2025).
Music Rooms and Recording Studio
Music rooms and a recording studio (the school's facilities list).
Dance Studio
A dance studio (the school's facilities list; BSO, April 2024).
Extra-curricular activities
School leadership
Sarah Matthews
Principal
The principal's welcome on the school's page describes its motto, Ex Cultu Robur (From Culture Comes Strength), its philosophy of Thinking, Being and Giving, and the move of the Prep and Senior Schools to a new purpose-built campus on Saadiyat Island.
Damian Ward
Head of School and Vice Principal
Ginette Moore
Assistant Principal (Inclusion)
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Questions & answers
Where we are
Near Manarat Al Saadiyat, Cultural District, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Near Manarat Al Saadiyat, Cultural District, Saadiyat Island
View on mapSaadiyat Island, a short distance from the main campus
View on map
