Applying for a Place at DBGS
We are delighted that you are considering Dhahran British Grammar School
as a prospective school for your child. Please find below some general
guidance to assist you in the admissions process. You should contact
the school office directly for specific guidance and we will be delighted
to deal with your enquiry.
A Year 8 student working on maths challenges with a Key stage 1 student at maths fun day
Dhahran British Grammar School is not a selective school and we accept
children across the broad range of normal ability. Please note that we
are not able to accept pupils who may require a specialist teaching programme
or one-to-one support within the classroom.
If you are in the process of relocating to Saudi Arabia please contact
the school well in advance to check the availability of places in the
age appropriate year groups for your child(ren). We often have families
arriving with little or no notice. This can create difficulties for the
family if particular year groups are over-subscribed. Although it is
not usually possible to guarantee your child a place in the school until
you have arrived in Kingdom it is important that you begin an early dialogue
with the school.
Children seeking placement from Year 3 and above are required to go
through an admissions testing process. The school uses age-appropriate
standardized testing in English and mathematics to determine whether
applicants meet the school’s admissions criteria. Muslim families
are required to apply for Muslim approval, after satisfactory completion
of admission tests, before placement can be made within the school. The
Muslim approval process is a Saudi Ministry requirement and the school
registration department assists Muslim families with this process.
Testing in English and mathematics is just one stage in the admissions
process. We also take into account previous school reports and parents
should provide evidence of previous school records when families first
visit the school. No child will be accepted into school unless copies
of the most recent school reports are provided.
We do not carry out formal testing for pupils seeking to enter the Foundation Stage or Key Stage One (children aged 3-6 years). Whenever practicable we will invite prospective pupils into the age-appropriate class for a morning to ascertain the level at which the pupil is operating. Class teachers in Foundation and Key Stage One will carry out an in-house assessment to gain evidence to inform the admissions process. Please note that the school will only accept children if they are toilet trained. It is not acceptable for children to attend school if they are still wearing nappies/diapers.
Pupils seeking to enter the school’s GCSE programme should note
that we do not accept any new pupils directly into Year 11. We advise
that all pupils beginning a GCSE programme with the school should start
in Year 10 and from the beginning of Term One in August. We typically
will not allow children to enter our GCSE programme after the first term
of Year 10.
The school always places children in age-appropriate year groups unless
there are mitigating circumstances. If your child has been advance-placed
or promoted within another school system this will not necessarily mean
that we will maintain this placement within our school. Each application
is viewed, however, on its individual merits.
For all admission enquiries, please contact the school office on +966
3 330 0555 Ext. 2003. Alternatively you may contact the school through
the usual email contact of brparents@isgdh.org
