Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet, in partnership with GEDU Global Education, has secured initial approval from the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) to open its first international branch campus in Dubai in August next year.

While the model of establishing international branches is familiar among UK independent schools, this marks the first time a UK state grammar school has embarked upon such a partnership.

To be known as Queen Elizabeth’s School, Dubai Sports City, the new branch campus will provide pupils in the UAE with access to the National Curriculum for England.

Queen Elizabeth’s Global Schools’ chief executive Caroline Pendleton-Nash said: “This landmark approval allows us to accelerate our vision to deliver world-leading K12 education to students from across the UAE.

“It represents an unprecedented and truly exciting milestone for global education. Queen Elizabeth’s School, Dubai Sports City, will be a co-educational school, opening initially from nursery to Year 8, with a phased growth through to sixth form.

“Its location in Dubai Sports City affords our students privileged access to unrivalled sporting facilities, embedding sport and physical excellence as a defining pillar of their education.

“The Dubai branch campus will remain faithful to the mission, ethos, tradition and exacting academic standards of Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet, while embracing Dubai’s spirit of innovation and ambition. Our mission is to nurture confident, able, and responsible young people who are prepared to lead happy and fulfilled adult lives and to make a positive contribution to others. In uniting the heritage of one of the UK’s most distinguished schools with the vision of Dubai, we aspire to set a new global benchmark for educational excellence.”

Neil Enright, headmaster of Queen Elizabeth’s School, Barnet said: “We are delighted to have received this encouragement from the KHDA to offer a rounded and enriching QE education to children in the UAE, spreading opportunity and supporting students to become the leaders of their generation.

“We are also excited by the potential for international collaboration, which, in time, will build a global network of Elizabethans for the benefit of our new students as well as those within the state sector in Barnet.”

Edward Hobart, the UK ambassador to the UAE said, “This milestone represents the first time a British state funded grammar school has expanded globally, testament to the enduring strength of UK-UAE educational partnerships.

“By bringing QE’s proven educational methodology and 450-year heritage of academic excellence to Dubai, it increases the opportunity for young people in the UAE to access world-class British education. I look forward to seeing the positive impact this worldclass institution will have on students and the broader educational landscape in the UAE.”