28 Did You Know
S ince DSIB was established in 2007, inspections have provided an independent measure of school performance, helping parents make informed choices while supporting schools on their improvement journeys. The two- year pause during 2024-25 and 2025-26 was introduced to give schools greater flexibility to focus on their own innovation, improvement and student outcomes. During this period, KHDA continued to monitor schools through targeted quality assurance visits, self-evaluation reports and external benchmarking assessments in place of traditional full inspections. The 24-Hour Notice Rule The return of inspections comes with one notable and significant change: schools will receive no more than 24 hours’ notice before inspectors arrive. The move mirrors the approach taken by Ofsted in the UK, which has long operated on a similar half-day notice model, and is designed to provide a more authentic picture of daily school life. Rather than evaluating a carefully prepared performance, inspectors will see schools as they truly are, day to day. What This Means for Parents For parents, the news is largely welcome. School ratings remain one of the most influential factors when selecting a school in Dubai, and inspection reports continue to provide valuable insight into teaching quality, student achievement, wellbeing, leadership and safeguarding.
“As a parent, I welcome the idea that the inspections are back. It gives us parents confidence that schools will always be looking to keep standards high, but I also recognise that this may add to stress levels of the staff in 2026/27 whilst this is all on a new timeline.”
What This Means for Schools For school leaders, the announcement presents both an opportunity and a challenge. The reduced notice period means that high standards must be embedded in everyday practice throughout the year, not concentrated in the weeks leading up to an inspection. Strong teaching, effective safeguarding, robust leadership and positive student experiences will need to be
consistently evident across every term. For many, this comes at the end of an already demanding and unique academic year. Schools that have used the inspection- free period to strengthen self-evaluation, invest in professional development and build sustainable improvement strategies may find themselves well placed under
Mary Connolly, Dubai Heights Academy
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