The school is building stronger academic foundations to create greater depth and opportunity
There comes a point in the life of a young school when the conversation begins to change.
Core strengths established, a culture has formed and the first cohorts of students begin to provide tangible evidence of what has been built.
For NAS Abu Dhabi, that moment has just arrived.
Now entering a new phase under Principal Thomas Kinnersley, the school is building on strong GCSE outcomes, continued growth and a close community to broaden its academic pathways.
Central to that evolution is its recently announced candidacy for the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP).
For Kinnersley, maturity is not simply about becoming a bigger school. “It’s about the greater educational depth that we are able to offer,” he explains.
“Not just in our academic programmes, but the richness of the experiences, the opportunities, the pathways and the consistency that students have available to them.”
More routes to success
Importantly, the proposed IB pathway is intended to sit alongside, rather than replace, the school’s existing A Level provision.
Longer term, NAS Abu Dhabi is considering further options creating what Kinnersley describes as “multiple routes to graduation”.
It is a direction that feels particularly relevant within the UAE’s international community.
For Head of Key Stage 5 Rizwana Shaikh, that international outlook matters.
Students may ultimately choose universities in the UK, US, Europe or elsewhere around the world, making different pathways attractive to different learners.
At its heart, however, the expansion is about something more personal: ensuring students can continue within a school that knows them.
Head of Year 12 Claire Masters highlights the importance of being able to support a child who may have joined NAS Abu Dhabi as early as FS1 all the way through to graduation.
If A Levels ultimately prove not to be the right fit, she argues, there should be another meaningful route available.
“Success will look different for every young person, and our role is to make sure they feel valued, supported and able to move forward with confidence,” adds Masters.
The aim is simple: every student should feel they have a pathway towards their own version of success.
Building on strong foundations
That breadth is being developed alongside a proven academic culture. The school’s latest GCSE results included 45 per cent of grades at 8 or 9 and 60 per cent at grades 7 – 9.
Yet Kinnersley is keen that headline results do not become the only measure of success.
“The story for me lies within the progress,” he says. “We are here to help every child make progress from whatever their starting point is.”
Shaikh agrees. “High achievement comes from outstanding teaching and a culture that refuses to place limits on what students can accomplish.”
Academic ambition, personalised support and aspirational targets have all contributed to students making significant progress from their individual baseline.
Masters also points to the connection between pastoral and academic support, with students developing study habits and learning about cognitive science alongside their subject preparation.
It provides an important platform as the school moves towards the IB, a programme that will itself bring new pedagogical approaches, professional development for teachers and opportunities to develop students’ thinking skills throughout the school.
Evolution, not revolution
Kinnersley arrives in Abu Dhabi with useful experience for this particular stage of NAS Abu Dhabi’s journey.
Having previously led within the Nord Anglia family in Qatar, he has already experienced the development of a Sixth Form from A Levels through to the introduction of both the IB and BTEC pathways.
But his arrival is not being positioned as a reset. “It’s evolution, not revolution,” he says. “I’m not coming in to change things.”
“We want to protect what we’ve got, build on it and be ambitious in the way that we can actually take it to the next step.”
That includes drawing on expertise across Nord Anglia’s global network as NAS Abu Dhabi progresses through the IB candidacy process, learning from schools that already have significant experience and strong outcomes within the programme.
It is perhaps this combination of a cultivated framework and continued curiosity that best characterises the school’s next chapter.
As NAS Abu Dhabi continues to grow and mature, Kinnersley is clear that evolution should never come at the expense of the culture that has been established.
New pathways, greater breadth and richer opportunities will continue to shape the school’s next chapter, but its fundamental character should remain constant.
“We will protect and nurture our culture, as we evolve, ensuring that what makes this school special remains unchanged.”
For parents, that offers a compelling picture of what maturity can mean for a school: not losing the energy of its early years but using strong foundations to create more possibilities for the young people growing up within it.
Visit nasabudhabi.ae to discover how this school is truly creating pathways designed around the ambitions of every student
