Sharjah English School

Established in 1974, Sharjah English School has gained a strong reputation as one of the best not-for-profit schools in the region. Nearing its 50th anniversary, the school offers top-quality international education, comparable to some of the best schools in Gulf countries.

English Sharjah School was established by a few British companies looking for home-style education for their children in the UAE. Sharjah English School location is in University City, making it accessible for students residing in Sharjah, Mirdif, Ajman and most areas of Dubai.

The school follows the National Curriculum of England and Wales from the Foundation Stage until the Sixth Form. Initially, the school opened as a primary school near Maliha Road but added a secondary section in 2005. 

The school was inspected by the British Schools in the Middle East and British Schools Overseas. Sharjah English School, to this day, remains a top school and has made a place in the cheap British curriculum schools in Sharjah list put together by Bayut. Read this comprehensive Sharjah English School guide to learn more.

• Location: Maliha Rod, Sharjah University City
• School fees: AED 27,390 - AED 70,135
• Curriculum: British
• Co-ed or segregate: Co-ed
• Years offered: FS 1 - Year 13
• SPEA rating: Very Good

Located in the busy region of University City, the school enjoys proximity to several residential and mixed-use communities such as:

• Muwailih Commercial
• Oud Al Muteena
• Al Jurainah
• Al Gharayen

The nearest neighbourhood is Muwailih Commercial. This mixed-use area is close to the educational district of Muwaileh, which is home to many reputable schools in Sharjah. The northern border of the community connects to the Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road (E311).

Parents looking for accommodation options near the school can consider:

• Apartments for rent near Sharjah English School
• Apartments for sale near Sharjah English School
• Villas for sale near Sharjah English School

Sharjah English School has some of the best facilities found in UAE schools. The gigantic campus itself is a sight to behold. Classrooms are designed keeping the curriculum and age of students in mind. Each year group is provided with three classrooms, so students get maximum attention from the teachers. Seating arrangements and technological devices in classrooms support the learning process.

Other campus facilities include science and ICT labs, well-stocked libraries, a theatre, music rooms, a dance studio and campus Wi-Fi.

Students looking for sports facilities can find pitches for rugby, football and cricket with real grass, a running track, a full-sized swimming pool, an indoor sports hall, a gymnasium, a grandstand and acres of mature landscaped grounds.

Children also have access to a cafeteria, a school clinic and separate prayer rooms for boys and girls. The school requires students to wear a uniform available from the shops listed on the school’s website at an additional cost.

Sharjah English School is on Maliha Road near National Paints in Sharjah University City.

Sharjah English School gets positive reviews from parents and students. Almost completing its half-century, SES Private School enjoys an excellent reputation in the UAE educational sector.

A large number of students are placed on a waiting list as you read this guide. The school believes in enrolling fewer students in primary and secondary stages to preserve a safe and community-based environment.

Furthermore, sports enthusiasts can use the outstanding sports facilities. You will find rugby, football and cricket pitches with real grass, a running track and a grandstand.

The twelve-member board of trustees are committed to improving and maintaining the school’s performance in the coming years. There’s a proper succession plan in action where the senior leadership works with intellectuals and academicians to grow Sharjah English School.

Finally, graduates of Sharjah English School have been successful in getting admission into top universities around the world. They are now competitively serving in various fields. This is also a testimony of the hard work that the school puts in for student betterment.

Nonetheless, parents looking for excellent schools in the emirate can check out our list of the best schools in Sharjah.

SES School has designed an age placement guideline based on the British education system for parents to follow when seeking admission for their child.

Sharjah English School follows the British curriculum. The Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) framework is followed in the Foundation Stage, and the National Curriculum for England and Wales is followed from Year 1 onwards.

Children appear for the International General Certificate of Secondary Examination in Year 11. Advanced Subsidiary (AS) and Advanced (A) Levels exams take place in the Sixth Form or Year 12 and Year 13, respectively.

SES British School inculcates the Ministry of Education (MOE) curriculum for Arabic Studies, Islamic Education or Moral Education and Emirati Social Studies.

Foundation Stage

The purpose of the Sharjah English School curriculum for little ones is to heighten children’s curiosity and enthusiasm. The school provides a safe and secure environment where kids feel valued.

Teachers are given special training to generate opportunities for little ones to learn through investigative play. Similarly, they use outdoor resources to allow students to explore flora and fauna.

The three major skills taught to children at this stage are:

• Playing and Exploring
• Active Learning
• Creative and Critical Thinking

Middle School and Upper School

These stages include Year 3 to Year 9. The curriculum becomes more rigorous with few teacher-specific subjects being introduced. Students are engaged in classroom assignments, homework and reading projects to challenge their growing minds.

Exams and assessments are conducted twice or thrice each term to observe the progress made by each student against the set benchmarks. If a student is struggling, they are encouraged to take extra classes to improve their performance.

Similarly, various activities, after-school clubs and field trips ensure that students can implement classroom learnings in the real world. This also brings a much-needed break from heavy coursework.

Students must submit final term projects which reflect the learning and comprehension skills of the subjects taught. All in all, students are transformed to become self-reliant, confident and effective members of the global community.

Secondary School

The secondary section includes Key Stage 4 and Key Stage 5. Students appear for the General Certificate of Secondary Examinations (GCSE) or International General Certificate of Secondary Examination (IGCSE).

During Key Stage 5 and the Post-16 phase, students are involved in critical thinking, independent research work, projects, community services and extra-curricular activities. These opportunities increase their chances of securing seats at prestigious colleges and universities worldwide.

Subjects taught in the secondary stage are:

Sharjah Private Education Authority (SPEA) is a government organisation that overlooks the quality of private educational institutions in Sharjah. Annually, SPEA inspects schools and rates them based on a six-point scale as shown below:

Sharjah English School is rated "Very Good" by SPEA.

Recently, Sharjah English School University City was inspected by two agencies – British Schools in Middle East (BSME) and British Schools Overseas (BSO). Both agencies rated the school as ‘Outstanding‘.

BSO works under Penta International that is responsbile to carry out an inspection in accordance with the guidelines provided by the Department for Education (DFE). The purpose of the inspection and report is to inform parents, teachers, senior management and school’s management about the overall effectiveness of the school against a common set of standards.

There are a total of nine (9) standards that are inspected and reported including:

• The quality of education provided by the school
• The spiritual, moral and cultural development of students
• Welfare, health and safety of students
• The suitability of the proprietor and staff
• The premises and accommodation
• The provision of information for parents, carers and others
• The school’s procedure for handling complaints
• Leadership and management of the school
• The quality of provision for boarding

The most recent report published has positive reviews regarding the school. Sharjah English School in University City is well-led and managed by the senior leadership. All stakeholders take a keen interest in the performance of the school.

Students have been observed to be confident, disciplined and respectful. These features have led them to achieve excellent attainment across all subjects. Similarly, children are taught a broad, rich and inclusive curriculum with the help of modern and consistent teaching strategies.

On the other hand, the report seems to find a couple of areas where they thought the school was lacking. Sharjah English School must use summative assessment data to formulate teacher’s lesson planning. Additionally, management must ensure that uniform marking policy is applied across the school.

Aligned with British curriculum schools, Sharjah English School’s academic calendar starts in August and ends in July. The 10-month long academic year is split into three terms.

Sharjah English School’s admission process for the next academic year starts from January of the existing year. Even though the admission program is based on merit, priority may be given to UK passport holders, families of sponsoring companies or children with siblings already studying at the school.

You can either collect the application form from the school or download it from the website to start the process. Once the form has been filled and submitted to the admissions office or emailed, parents are requested to provide the following mandatory documents:

• Two photocopies of birth certificates
• Two photocopies of passport, including the page that shows a current residence visa
• Two passport size photographs
• Two photocopies of Emirates ID and Original ID card
• Last two school reports
• Leaving certificate, or letter, from the previous school (original letter).
• Signed admission documents
• Medical booklet completed and signed

Once these documents are submitted, Sharjah English School University City, Sharjah will call your child for an age-appropriate assessment. Before the entrance exam takes place, you have to pay a non-refundable and non-transferable assessment fee of AED 400.

If your child clears the assessment, an offer letter will be extended via email or call to the applicant. Parents or sponsors are required to pay a registration deposit of AED 5,000 to secure a seat. This amount will be adjusted against the final term’s fee or refunded in case of withdrawal of the student from the school, provided all prior financial obligations to SES School are cleared.

Existing students must enrol for the coming academic year before 1st April. Failure to do so means students will be required to apply as a new student in September or will be placed on a waiting list if one exists.

Please note that Sharjah English School does not accept admission requests for Year 10 and Year 11. It is difficult for students to catch up with the school’s syllabus halfway through the academic year.

Parents must ensure that their child meets the following age placement criteria before starting the admission process.

This is based on the age of the students on 31st August (for schools beginning in September).

* This is to cater to students transferring from systems that admit students of a younger age)

Sharjah English School’s fee schedule presented here can be paid in three instalments. The breakdown of the tuition fee is as follows:

The annual tuition fee includes charges for books, medical services and classroom supplies. However, secondary students are expected to have their stationery.

Additional charges include:

• Transport charges
• Uniform charges
• Assessment fee (non-refundable): AED 400
• Security deposit (adjusted against final term’s tuition fee): AED 5,000
• Re-registration charges: AED 2,000

SES British School offers a 10% sibling discount on the annual tuition fees of the eldest child of a family with three or more siblings. You can pay Sharjah English School fees via cash, cheque, bank transfer or credit/debit card.

Hot food is served at the school canteen. Sharjah English British School has outsourced the catering service to an external organisation that works under the guidelines provided by the school.

Ingredients used to prepare lunch are fresh and nutritious. However, the school does not permit vending machines on-site and works with parents to discourage the consumption of junk food.

SES University City provides transportation to students. The buses cover areas within Sharjah and some neighbourhoods in Ajman and Dubai. Parents must contact the school’s transport department and see if their pick-up and drop-off locations are covered by the buses.

Transportation charges are not included in the school’s fee and must be paid separately.

Apart from regular camps and activities, students can get involved in community and charity works, expeditions and holiday camps. Each year students can participate in overnight camps to engage in rock-climbing, kayaking, mountain biking and much more.

External service providers in partnership with schools also arrange camps during vacations. Here, your child can learn and participate in a wide range of activities. However, parents have to pay an additional fee for these camps.

Sharjah School offers premium sports facilities including rugby, football and cricket pitches with real grass, a running track, gymnasium, a sports hall, swimming pool and grandstand plus acres of mature landscaped grounds.

SES Sharjah promotes social, artistic and sporting activities to produce resilient and well-rounded individuals. The school realised that there’s not much that students can achieve in limited school hours; hence your child can sign up for after-school clubs.

This English School in Sharjah has designed different extracurricular and co-curricular activities for primary and secondary students.

Primary Section

Extracurricular activities and after-school clubs are offered by faculty as well as external providers. These activities are available from Monday to Thursday after 02:30 pm.

Though the clubs can change each term or year, a typical selection includes swim squad, cooking, rugby, netball, ICT, art, lego, cross-stitch and choir.

Private clubs offered to primary students run from Monday to Friday and include Arabic, karate, drama, fitness, gymnastics and ballet.

A more comprehensive list of activities is posted on the SES Communicator app (more information regarding this app is given in the later section).

Secondary Section

After-school clubs offered to senior students are quite diverse and challenging. Some recent offering include:

Activities for secondary students are designed keeping in mind their future in colleges and university. The Sixth form is the last stage before students transition to colleges and universities for higher education. The sixth form is critical for students developing their CVs or portfolio to get admission to top universities worldwide. The right number of extra-curricular activities on a CV can be the ultimate selling point.

Students can be a part of camping and various holiday and overnight camps arranged by the school. Your child can get involved in charity work and community service. On the other hand, overnight camping trips allow students to engage in rock climbing, kayaking, and mountain biking.

Field trips and international trips are also arranged to explore learning beyond the classrooms. For more details, check out the field trip section.

Sharjah English School has designed an extensive music program. Under this initiative, singing tuition is offered. Students are taught to play the piano, violin, cello, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, recorder, flute, clarinet, drums and saxophone.

The venture is largely student-led. Participants showcase their talent during the Annual Battle of the Bands, a program successfully running for 10 years. This competition is held on the final day of the second term. A panel of judges include experts from local schools or local bands.

Interestingly, SES is the centre for Associated Board Royal Schools of Music grade exams, covering the five northern emirates of the UAE. In fact, many SES students appear for these exams.

At times SES School Sharjah works with external providers to provide services and ventures that the school can’t provide. Students can sign up with these companies and participate in activities like karate, gymnastics, dance, cricket, tennis, climbing, diving and much more.

Sharjah English Private School arranges various trips for students to explore the different areas of Sharjah and the UAE. Students love visiting tourist attractions, amusement parks and culturally rich sites.

On the other, Sharjah English School has more advanced school trips for secondary students. Since the Sixth Form curriculum focuses on the practicality of the academic side, it prepares students for the real world. To complement the lessons taught, the school takes senior students on international trips.

These trips are arranged according to the subject or activity students are most interested in. Recent trips include:

• Rugby trip to Sri Lanka
• Ski trips and IA expeditions to The Seychelles and Georgia
• Geography field trips to Cyprus and Sri Lanka
• History trip to Russia
• Art and Design Tour to Barcelona
• Drama and Art trip to London

Similarly, the school’s skilled musicians travel to Bahrain each year for the Young Musicians of the Gulf competition.

After-school care is offered as an after-school club. Year 3 to Year 6 students can participate in teacher-led clubs offered after school from Monday to Thursday.

SES has a medical centre on-site that is primarily responsible for carrying out annual health checks. Furthermore, the nurse at the clinic tends to injuries sustained on the campus.

The clinic is visited by a school doctor frequently. Your child’s medical report and history are recorded and maintained in the clinic that can be used for future reference. Nevertheless, SES University City, Sharjah, requests parents to provide the school with an updated medical form at the time of admission. Please highlight any medical condition since this will help nurses and the doctor make decisions during an emergency.

Sharjah English School Sharjah is a strong advocate of parents’ involvement in a student’s academic journey. Hence, has designed a Parent Support Group (PSG).

The main objective of this group is to allow parents to interact with the school and other parents. They can become ambassadors of the school and assist the community with their volunteer service and new ideas.

To put the chain into action, PSG is a prominent part of two major events. The Winter Fayre and the International Picnic events are held each year where parents promote the school’s inclusive and international family. PSG focuses on community building and has no part in planning school policies or administration.

Funds generated from these two events are used to improve SES performance and infrastructure. In the past, these funds were used for the installation of an updated Wi-Fi system throughout the school, shading for the swimming pool, playground equipment, new ICT equipment, digital cameras, PE equipment, music or sound systems, interactive white boards, substantial gazebos and trellis tables.

Since PSG is an initiative with a purpose and defined goals, parents are invited to weekly meetings that are held on Thursdays at 08:00 am sharp. If parents can’t attend the meeting, they are welcome to try other projects managed by the PSG group.

To become a part of PSG, you can send an email to sespsg.chair@gmail.com or sespsg.secretary@gmail.com or join the private Facebook group.

Another initiative taken by SES School in University City is SES Communicator. This system was introduced to replace traditional means of communication such as SMS, email and letters. By downloading this application, you can access the school calendar, event notifications, parental letters, news, links to resources and issue alerts such as cancellation of a school event.

Other than this, there is a Sharjah English School portal where you can sign in by creating an account and view various features such as the student’s progress report, attendance, exam results and much more. For more information, you can check out the Sharjah English School contact details below along with the school’s social media sites.

• Phone Number: +971-6-558-9304
• Fax Number: +971-6-558-9305
• Emails
  • General Enquiries: enquiries@sharjahenglishschool.org
  • Admission Enquiries: admissions@sharjahenglishschool.org

GENERAL INFORMATION

• SES Website
• SES Facebook
• SES Twitter
• SES Instagram

Note that the cover image belongs to Sharjah English School

What are the timings of your school?

The school remains open from Monday through Friday. The timings are:

• FS 1 and FS 2: 07:50 am to 01:50 pm
• Year 1 - Year 6: 07:50 am to 02:50 pm
• Year 7 and above: 07:40 am to 03:40 pm

Do you conduct after-school activities?

Yes the school organises a range of extracurricular activities after school hours.

How many grades/years are there in your school?

Sharjah English School welcomes students from FS 1 until Year 13.

How many students are currently studying in your school?

The school currently receives more than 850 students from different nationalities.

Can you please describe the academic calendar of your school?

The academic calendar starts in the last week of August and ends in the last week of June.

Can you please mention the range of the tuition fee charged by your school?

Tuition fee ranges from AED 26,400 to AED 67,600.

How do you communicate with parents?

There are multiple ways of contact with parents including a parent portal, parent-teacher meetings, the SES Communicator application, parent support group, social media pages and by booking an appointment with a teacher.

Do you have a cafeteria or a canteen on campus?

The cafeteria on school campus offers healthy foods to children.

How often does your school arrange field trips?

The school takes students on filed trips frequently.