Admission to an international school in Jeddah?

Hi Hafsa

Unfortunately this is very much in the school's control. The only thing I could suggest would be to contact them directly and persist until you speak to someone.

I would also have a look at our Education and Schools in Saudi Arabia page, to get a general sense of the school system.

Competition is very high at international schools and your situation doesn't sound too surprising - I am sure there are other parents in the same position. If it is possible, it may be worth your while to at least consider other schooling options.

Best of luck,

Xavier

Hi there,

Unfortunately the schooling situation in Saudi Arabia can be a bit difficult for expats - the main reason being that only Saudi citizens and naturalized Arabs can legally attend public schools there. The only option for expat parents is enrolling children in one of the international schools.

It's normally advised for parents to apply for these schools far in advance because they are quite difficult to get into and some schools may give preference to certain nationalities. For this reason, I would say your options are probably quite limited at this point. You could try contacting various schools individually to ask if admission is still open and explaining your situation. I'm not sure how successful this will be but if you are desperate it might be worth trying.

Technically you could homeschool your child, but this might be a challenge in Saudi Arabia as it's not commonly done there.

You might also find the Expat Arrivals Education and Schools in Jeddah page useful.

Best of luck.

Meagan

Hi There, Our family is in the process of relocating to Jeddah and we are bit concerned about kids schooling. The reason being majority of schools have already closed their admission for the term starting from this Aug/ Sep. So I am wondering what would people like in our situation can do when arriving after the admissions have been closed. Any valuable suggestions would be much appreciated.