What Are International Schools Like In Saudi Arabia: A Parent’s First-Hand Experience
The heat hit me the second I stepped out of the car outside my daughter Lila’s new school in north Riyadh, dry 38-degree September heat that fogs your sunglasses before you even reach the gate. I clutched a crumpled admissions email, seven-year-old Lila hid behind my leg sucking her thumb, and I wondered if I’d messed up choosing this international school over the smaller one closer to our apartment. The receptionist handed Lila a sparkly sticker with her name printed in both English and Arabic, and a teaching assistant in a navy hijab knelt down to ask about her favorite cartoon in slow, gentle English. Ten minutes later, when they waved me goodbye, I was half-convinced she’d be crying by recess. Instead, she ran out 20 minutes into the day, crumbs on her shirt and a date cookie in her hand, to tell me she’d already made a friend who shared her snack.
We moved to Riyadh from Manchester a month before that first day, and I’d gone into the process pretty nervous. Most of what I found online was generic, outdated, or focused only on the logistical bits for expats, not what daily life is actually like. I’d heard international schools in the Gulf were just exclusive bubbles for rich foreign families, disconnected from the country around them, but that hasn’t been our experience at all.
Lila’s Year 3 class has 21 kids, 8 of whom are Saudi from local families, and the rest are expats from 11 different countries. The school follows the British national curriculum, which is what we wanted for when we eventually return to the UK for university, but there’s mandatory Arabic for every student, no exceptions. When we arrived, Lila had never spoken a word of Arabic, so they put her in a small beginner group with an extra period a week at no extra cost. After a year, she can count to 100, ask for directions, and argue with her best friend over the last samosa in Arabic – that’s more progress than I’ve made in 12 months. Islamic studies is required for Muslim students, optional for everyone else, and cultural lessons are woven into everyday activities instead of being sidelined. During Ramadan, the whole school adjusts: no eating or drinking in common areas in front of fasting students, even non-Muslim kids can eat lunch in their classrooms if they prefer, and the school organizes a toy drive for local children that every kid can join. Lila made a decorated jar for collections that first year, and she still asks to do the same at our neighborhood every Ramadan now. It’s not forced, it’s just part of living here, which I’ve found a lot more grounding than pretending the local culture doesn’t exist, like I’ve heard some international schools do elsewhere.
That’s not to say everything is perfect. The biggest pain point for almost every parent I know is waiting lists. I put Lila’s name down 18 months before we moved, as soon as my husband got his job offer, and we still only got a spot because someone dropped out three months before term started. If you’re planning a move here, don’t wait to sort out school until you have all your visa paperwork finalized. Put your name down the second you know you’re moving – that’s the first thing I tell any parent asking me for advice now. Fees are also steep, comparable to international schools in Dubai or Singapore, and if your company isn’t covering them as part of your relocation package, it’s a huge monthly expense. That’s a major consideration for local families who are weighing international schools against public or private national schools.
Facilities are generally very good, which makes sense given the climate. It’s hot for eight months of the year here, so almost every international school has a fully air conditioned indoor sports hall, shaded playgrounds, and a swimming pool – and the air conditioning actually works, which is not something you can take for granted everywhere in the country. The school week runs Sunday to Thursday, with the weekend on Friday and Saturday, which takes a little getting used to if you’re moving from a Western calendar, but most families adjust in a month or so.
A few practical things I’ve learned that you won’t find on any school brochure: First, if you’re new to the area, take the admissions office up on their offer of a parent buddy. My buddy sent me a list of local tailors who make the required school uniform for half the price the school shop charges, and told me which after-school clubs are actually worth the extra fee (the art club is great, the understaffed primary robotics club is one to skip). That’s the kind of local information you can’t get from a website. Second, if you’re a Saudi parent comparing international schools, ask to sit in on an Arabic class before you enroll. Some schools cut back on Arabic instruction to focus more on English or test prep, and if you want your kid to keep up their native language, that’s a non-negotiable check. Third, if your kid is new and doesn’t speak Arabic, don’t panic. The beginner programs are built specifically for expat kids, and most peers are happy to help, no one makes a big deal out of small mistakes.
Last week, I picked Lila up from school, and she carried two rolled-up art projects under her arm. One was a painting of the Kaaba she did for Islamic Culture Week, the other was a glittery unicorn she made for her school art competition. She chattered the whole drive home about how her best friend Sara taught her a new Arabic song, and Lila taught Sara how to make slime. We stopped for mango ice cream on the way home, since it’s one of the few cool weeks of the year here, and had the windows rolled down. I still worry sometimes, about whether her curriculum will line up perfectly when we move back to the UK, about whether she’s getting enough of one thing or another. But this is what international schools in Saudi Arabia are, I think: not the perfectly polished, disconnected bubble some people expect, and not the same as an international school you’d find in New York or London. It’s a mix, equal parts familiar global curriculum and rooted in the place it’s located. Some days it’s messy, some days the admin takes a week to answer your email, but right now, for my kid, it’s working. We’re still figuring it out, one day and one date cookie at a time.
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