British International School Riyadh Reviews (19)

Average Ratings

Overall 3.21
Facilities 2.07
Academics 2.50
Teachers 2.50
Sports 2.86
Music & Arts 1.79
Science & Tech 2.21

Reviewer Nationalities

Danish (1) Canadian (1) British (8) American (1) Zimbabwean (1) Saudi (1) Australian (1)

How would you rate British International School Riyadh?

Peter, 16/02/2024 @ 19:34:59
Relationship   Parent

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The most frustrating thing for me is lack of discipline and consequences for kids who bully, are racist and disruptive. Time and time again I hear the same complaint from other parents. Families leave because of the issues and the school just plucks another kid from the wait list charging 30,000 SAR just to join. They actually make more money when victims are turned over so clearly its not worth the effort of enforcing bad behaviour.

Anonymous, 09/05/2023 @ 12:17:07
Relationship   Pupil

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The security guard keep shouting at everyone for not parking in the right spots, they get annoyed even when they don’t tell us. Computer facility: The facilities are alright but The computer labs need an upgrade, they need better mice and keyboards. Sport facilities: They teach a wide range of sports such as football, volleyball, basketball, rugby, and swimming which is quite helpful but you don’t really learn from them, since it’s the same thing over and over throughout the years. Academics and Opportunities: The academics are amazing, they teach you the things you need to know to be successful and the opportunities are endless. Music and Arts Departments : The music and arts departments are alright, the reason the score is low is due to the music department with the annoying and rude teachers in my opinion, they get mad at the littlest thing and criticize you all the way. Science Department: The science department is probably the best department, fun experiments and topics although most of the teachers are really strict and get mad easily. School trips: The amount of school trips are amazing, you could go Switzerland,USA,China,Tokyo, Farm, Zoo, it’s endless, and they’re usually full of fun. Overall: It’s a good school in terms of facilities and academics, but the only thing they need to improve on is becoming stricter as well as having better teachers. I would give the school a 4 star but it there is room for improvement.

A Nonomus , 27/03/2023 @ 14:48:58
Relationship   Parent

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BISR management has little regard for parents aside having them pay fees . Complaints are not addressed and frankly dangerous student behaviour is brushed under the carpet. Do not expect British standard discipline or manners. The Al Hamra campus resembles an run down juvenile correction facility but the wardens, sorry teachers, have no power over those students who continually offend with the current governance and management.

Jana, 08/02/2023 @ 05:56:18
Relationship   Parent

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Genuinely one of the WORST schools i’ve ever been to. HORRIBLE treatment of students coming from grown adults who are hypocritical, abusive, racist, elitist and the most deceiving and manipulative people you’ll ever meet. The tours and website visits you see won’t tell you the reality of the mistreatment. The head staff are all interconnected cult of psychos who steal you for your money and manipulate your children. My child has been harassed verbally and countless of times has the head staff touched her and absolutely go off limits of boundaries that made her extremely uncomfortable. In reality, no student likes the school itself. So before you enrol your children here, think about what trap you are setting them up for, from verbal abuse and harassment (COMING FROM TEACHERS NOT STUDENTS). If i could give this a negative star i would.

Hasnaa Genaidy , 02/10/2022 @ 11:36:44
Relationship   Parent

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It is a school that lacks supervision where bullying takes place and the school tries to cover it up and under play it, the school also does not apply the same standard of consequences for all students so there is no fairness nor equality between the students and the kids can see that for themselves...which is bad.

A parent, 01/09/2022 @ 19:00:23
Relationship   Parent

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I wish that we had never applied here. The communication is nonexistent. They insist on only communicating through school email addresses but send non-working passwords that can only be reset by using a PIN sent to… the email address that you can’t access. And there is no one to contact about any of this. Or rather, there likely is a contact, but they never disclose who this person would be or how to reach them. No one in the administration seems to care at all about the students or parents. Our entire experience has been an exercise in frustration.

Helena, 22/08/2022 @ 06:42:21
Relationship   Pupil

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The school has extremely poor teachers and getting a good teacher is like winning the lottery. Administrators are rude and disrespectful and a lot of the teachers and headmistress are racist, Islam a phobic and homophobic. The way the school runs is incompetent, school starts in less than a week and the timetables published have gaps (the teacher was written as unknown) and the school posted a insta story saying they were looking for a new teacher - keep in mind this was a few days before school starts. The headmistress said there was going to be new uniform but has not yet released it (similar thing happened last year and for the first half of the year no one had correct uniform). The school in itself if the level of a public school in the uk, which does not at all justify the ever increasing price. This year the school fees increase and the teachers salary has been cut so they can build a new school (I find this extremely annoying as it will be finished in 5 years once the majority of those paying have already graduated).

Emma, 17/02/2022 @ 16:21:58
Relationship   Parent

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The school exists purely for teachers to make money. As recruitment and retention is so difficult in the country teachers definitely come first - so great if you're a teacher, less so as a student or family who come a definite second. While many of the teachers are genuinely nice people the attitude of the school is very much that they have a captive audience so they can charge and act how they wish, and any British/English speaking children are used to market the school and help other nationalities.

Simon, 04/02/2022 @ 11:33:10
Relationship   Parent

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Old overcrowded campus and expensive fees.

Mike, 22/01/2022 @ 06:08:51
Relationship   Parent

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The good teachers make this school but turnover is high. The previous Head Teacher was visibly involved in the school but since the new Head arrived the school has lost its core focus and been diluted by grand plans and expansions to other campuses. Management have a very attitude and exclude parents, who should be partners in education. March 2020 till very recently , children had to work online . Yes there is a pandemic but not offering fee reduction was very poor. Returning to school after almost 2 years to same dirty old campus and cramped classes. Where did the money go ?

Ari, 21/01/2022 @ 09:20:22
Relationship   Parent

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The schools vision is unclear and there is poor communication about finances and strategic plans. The fees are higher than other much more well regarded schools in the region. What is the most telling is many teachers and board members educate their own children elsewhere, the Principal of the school is unmarried and childless and the new Head of Primary has arrived without his family. Not really "doing it for the kids " in my opinion.

Jonas , 20/01/2022 @ 03:41:48
Relationship   Other

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The receptionist and admissions officer could not have made me feel less welcome. I understand the school has a very good educational reputation but my decision to move my family to Riyadh was reversed upon dealing with these people. My company advised that this school prioritises British Citizens but the admissions officer said not necessarily and offered little to make me feel my children would be accepted and welcomed in the school.

SHAHID, 03/04/2021 @ 19:08:47
Relationship   Parent

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We had a good time for our 2 kids (Year 3 and Year 1) at BISR. At this stage, academics are very important as this is the age group when the base needs to be strong for the kids. Relationship between teacher and students is stronger when the interaction is live in class. However, COVID-19 had a negative impact on the overall learning of the kids and the online schooling put lot of undue pressure on the parents who had to juggle with all the kids at home, working from home while the high tuition fees continued to play havoc with the parents. School board did not want to offer any fee discounts other than one month deferral for paying 50% of the fees. While noting the aforementioned, I must admit that teachers are of good quality and they pay good attention to the kids. I want to remain impartial in general and must say the school is good. Final note that there are not many good schools in Riyadh and options are limited. Either you have the high end schools with exorbitant fees touching the skies or you have low level schools with no education standards. Hence, you are left with limited options.

Paul, 24/03/2021 @ 07:32:08
Relationship   Parent

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Great school with excellent teachers.

Reviews from Google

Recent reviews posted on Google.

Google logoRating: 

Abbie Senn, 2 months ago


The school is really good. The teachers are really friendly and very fun. Lovely classes and a great experience for me. Excited to come back and see my friends.

Google logoRating: 

Abbie Senn, 2 months ago


The school is really good. The teachers are really friendly and very fun. Lovely classes and a great experience for me. Excited to come back and see my friends.

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Hamza Shekhani, a month ago


My best 10 years spent in this school

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Alex, 4 months ago


From years R-8, this school is fine. But after that, it's time to take your qualifications seriously and move your final years of education elsewhere. In the nine years that I was here, the education superseded the schools in England. Some teachers lack interpersonal skills and act like machines. I still remember all of their names and the dumb things they did, like give me a detention for mistakes they've made but were unwilling to admit it. However, returning to England made me realise how much worse it is there. I was in all the middle sets at BISR, but when I returned home I was suddenly the smartest kid in the year. This school takes bullying a lot more seriously than other schools, except when the teachers do it themselves. From my experience, they handled bullying. But false accusations are also taken seriously, some students in my time picked up on it and would do this to others. There's also students and teachers who shouldn't be here; a handful of lowlives from around the world attend this school; British, Arabic, Australian, whatever. You're forced to take part in sports days and swimming galas. Waste of a school day, why shouldn't I be absent from these? I'd have been more productive staying at home.

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Steve Milicent, 6 months ago


My son got beaten up on the third day of school by a few bullies, he says he didn’t do anything to them. He also complained about the teachers being late and sometimes not even attending lessons. When I tried addressing the issues with the principal, he kept on making excuses like I am not available because of this or that etc. As soon as the first semester ended, I moved him to AIS-R. My son says he is much more happy there.

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