British International School Riyadh (BISR)
Reviews & Information

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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).

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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.

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Old overcrowded campus and expensive fees.

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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 ?

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