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Dubai school with up to over Dh200,000 fees hits student intake target
GEMS School of Research and Innovation has reached its planned student numbers as it prepares to expand further, incoming principal Richard Jones says
- PUBLISHED: Fri 28 Aug 2026, 6:00 AM
GEMS School of Research and Innovation (SRI), one of Dubai’s highest-fee schools, has hit its target student intake as it continues to grow, with incoming principal Richard Jones saying the immediate priority is to make full use of the school’s extensive facilities and opportunities.
Jones, who joins SRI in January 2027 from Bryanston School in Dorset, where he has been head since 2022, said he was not arriving with a list of changes to make.
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Instead, his focus will be on ensuring the school delivers fully on what it has already invested in, before looking at what could be developed further.
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Speaking to Khaleej Times on Wednesday, he said, “I'm not coming in with any preconceived ideas about what needs to change. The school is fantastic. The opportunities, the facilities, everything there is amazing. And I guess for me, the first thing to do is make sure that we are utilising all of the facilities and the opportunities that we that we've got.”
SRI, that follows a British curriculum, was developed as GEMS Education’s flagship campus with a Dh367 million investment — around 30 per cent higher than the budgets of previous premium school projects.
With fees surpassing Dh200,000 in senior grades, the school is aimed at families willing to pay a premium for access to specialised facilities, technology and research opportunities.
School reaches planned intake as it expands
The school opened up to Year 8 last year and, according to Jones, reached its target number of students. He said enrolment remains strong as the school prepares for the new academic year.
“So, my understanding, obviously, I'm not yet on the ground, is that the numbers have been incredibly positive. The school opened up to Year 8 last year, and hit the target number. It's in a really strong position. The school is growing as you would expect.”
The growth has also meant a continuing need to bring in teachers, although Jones said staff retention had remained strong despite the wider regional conflict.
He said SRI was continuing to recruit educators with the expectation that they would play a central role in delivering the school’s approach.
“What makes SRI different is we are absolutely setting our school out to make sure that we are recruiting the best educators that that there are, because they're the people who are directly working with the students and the children day in day out, so they've got to be exceptional practitioners to be part of SRI.”
From classrooms to robotics, media and motorsport
For parents considering Dubai’s premium schools, Jones said the question was ultimately what children receive for the fees they pay.
He pointed to SRI’s design and range of spaces, arguing that learning is not restricted to conventional classrooms. Students can pursue interests ranging from broadcasting and podcasting to design technology, athletics and motorsport.
“If you're a parent and you're looking at the different schools on offer in here in Dubai, you want to understand what you're getting for those different price points. I think anybody who visits SRI, and certainly when I first visited, and even the few times I've been back since, the first thing is the amazement at how big it is…it feels different.”
Jones said the breadth of options could allow students to discover interests that build confidence beyond a particular activity.
“Each child is different. Each child learns in a different way. Each child is going to find their passion in a totally different thing. My own two children are totally different. It might be that some children find their passion in the media, broadcasting suite or the podcast studio or doing DJing or in the DT (Design and Technology) level.”
He also sees SRI’s links with businesses and organisations as important to its future direction, allowing the school to understand the skills employers are looking for and feed those insights into students’ learning.
Jones said parents were also attracted by the school’s focus on preparing children for a changing world.
“I think parents have chosen SRI because of the outlook that the school has…the name ‘The School of Research and Innovation’. They're choosing a school… because I think they want to challenge what's already out there, one that's looking forward rather than that's looking back on what's always been done, because the world is changing at such a fast pace.”
For Jones, the next stage is therefore less about changing SRI’s identity and more about making sure its existing investment translates into the experience promised to students and parents.
“So that's probably my priority, making sure that we're delivering what we've got there now to the best of our ability, and then it's always a case of saying, okay, well we’ll see how can we improve that? What else might we be doing? What else should we test, etc.”
