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For UAE families waiting on IB Diploma results this evening, the first wave of announcements has landed, and the news is remarkable. Four students across the country have scored the maximum 45 points, an achievement reached by fewer than 0.1 per cent of IB candidates worldwide in a typical year. Six more students have scored 44. Across Innoventures Education's three UAE schools alone, 60 students have achieved 40 points or above.

For the Class of 2026, whose academic year was reshaped by the US-Israel-Iran conflict and whose final examinations were cancelled in favour of the International Baccalaureate's Non-Exam Contingency Measure (NECM), the results are more than an academic milestone. They are proof that the country's schools, teachers, families and students have collectively delivered one of the most resilient IB cycles in recent memory.

Here is what UAE families need to know about the first round of results, the students behind the top scores, and what they signal about the wider UAE IB community.

The Innoventures results

Innoventures Education, which operates Dubai International Academy Emirates Hills, Dubai International Academy Al Barsha, and Raffles World Academy, is one of the first UAE school groups to announce full results.

The headline figures across the three schools:

• 100 per cent pass rate for the Class of 2026
• Average score of 35.8 points, well above the global average
• Four students achieving the maximum 45 points
• Six students scoring 44 points
• 60 students scoring 40 points or above
• More than USD 15 million in university scholarships secured across the cohort

The 35.8 average is a striking result. The global IB Diploma average typically sits around 30 to 31 points. Scoring almost five points above that, across an entire cohort, is significant, and it becomes more significant when the disruption of this year is taken into account.

The university destinations tell an equally strong story. Graduates from the Innoventures cohort have received offers from a long list of top international universities, including the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, the London School of Economics, King's College London, the University of Edinburgh, Durham University, the University of Leeds, the University of Manchester, the University of Pennsylvania, Brown University, McGill University and the University of Texas. Students will pursue degrees across medicine, engineering, economics, law, architecture, business, technology and the arts.

Poonam Bhojani, CEO of Innoventures Education, framed the results as evidence of student character above all else. She said this year's results are a testament to the resilience, determination and character of the students, who have navigated challenges with courage and emerged stronger. Success, she said, is built not only on academic ability but also on perseverance and purpose. The group is immensely proud of the Class of 2026 and looks forward to seeing the meaningful impact they will make in the world.

The four students who scored 45

Four Dubai International Academy students achieved the perfect 45 points. Their names, and their reflections on the moment, are worth reading in full.

Nour Bilal Al Husseini, a Lebanese expat, said the moment felt almost unreal. She had spent so long imagining the day, she said, and now it had arrived. She described feeling incredibly relieved and proud, but also aware of everything the years had contained, the ordinary school days, the laughter, the challenges and the memories. It felt, she said, like closing a chapter of her life that she would always look back on with a smile.

Kane Simpson, an Australian expat, said the IBDP was both challenging and rewarding, and that he could not have done it without the support of the DIA community. He was grateful, he said, for the guidance from his teachers and staff, who made the achievement possible.

Aadit Chandrani, an Indian expat, said the IBDP was challenging yet deeply rewarding. DIA's dedicated teachers, strong support systems and constant guidance, he said, gave every student the opportunity to succeed and grow throughout the journey.

Arnav Jayaswal, an Indian expat, described beginning and completing his IB journey at DIA as an experience that had given him unforgettable memories, both academically and personally.

Read alongside each other, the reflections point to something schools rarely say out loud but that always matters. The perfect score is the visible artefact, but the real thing behind it is a school community that made the achievement possible. Teachers who guided. Staff who supported. Friends who laughed through the hard days. Families who backed them. That is what a strong IB school actually delivers, and it is what the top scorers themselves keep pointing back to.

The NECM year in perspective

This year's results carry added significance because of how they were awarded. Following regional security concerns during the US-Israel-Iran conflict, the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO), in coordination with the UAE Ministry of Education, cancelled final IB examinations across the country and awarded grades through its Non-Exam Contingency Measure (NECM).

The NECM combines externally assessed coursework already submitted, teacher-predicted grades based on students' overall performance throughout the course, and the IB's own quality checks and statistical standardisation. It is an established process, first used at scale during the Covid-19 pandemic, and refined since. Universities are familiar with it. Transcripts do not indicate whether a student's results were awarded through NECM. For universities, the results are treated in the same way as any other IB grades.

The fact that UAE students have posted such strong results under this framework is significant on multiple levels. It validates the NECM process itself. It reflects well on UAE schools' consistency of teacher assessment and moderation, which underpins the predicted grade element. It also demonstrates that the country's IB community held together through a genuinely difficult year.

Richard Drew, Chairperson of the UAE IB Association and Principal of the Jumeira Baccalaureate School, offered his heartfelt congratulations to every student across the UAE receiving their IB Diploma Programme and Career-related Programme results this year. The Class of 2026, he said, demonstrated remarkable resilience, determination and maturity throughout an academic year shaped by significant regional challenges. Despite unprecedented disruption, students remained committed to their learning, embodying the curiosity, compassion, critical thinking and adaptability that the IB aims to cultivate.

He was direct about the wider context. All UAE IB schools, he said, were supported through the International Baccalaureate's Non-Exam Contingency Measure, introduced in response to conflict-related disruption. The results awarded are fully recognised IB results, reflecting the IB's rigorous quality assurance processes and its commitment to ensuring students could continue their educational journeys.

He also credited the wider school community for the outcome. These achievements, he said, are a tribute not only to the students but also to the extraordinary dedication of teachers, coordinators, school leaders and support staff, who worked tirelessly to maintain continuity of learning and to support every learner throughout the challenging period.

The GEMS results

GEMS Education, another major UAE school group with several IB schools, has also framed the results in terms of character and community.

Dino Varkey, Group Chief Executive Officer at GEMS Education, said that while academic excellence is important, this year's results also speak of something deeper. They reflect, he said, young people of character, supported by exceptional educators and families who believe in the power of education to unlock possibility. He offered congratulations to the entire GEMS community on another remarkable year.

Lisa Crausby OBE, Group Chief Education Officer at GEMS Education, put the achievement in institutional context. Exceptional academic outcomes, she said, do not happen by chance. They reflect the hard work of the students, the expertise of the teachers, the high expectations that underpin excellence across the schools and the strong partnership with families that enables every learner to achieve their very best. The International Baccalaureate, she said, is one of the world's most rigorous academic pathways, and the group is immensely proud of how its students have risen to the challenge.

More results are still to come from other IB schools across the UAE. What is already clear, however, is that the country's IB community as a whole has delivered a strong showing.

What this signals about UAE IB schools

For UAE families researching schools for the coming academic year, the 2026 IB results carry three practical signals worth reading closely.

First, IB in the UAE is delivering above the global average, consistently. This is not a one-off. UAE IB schools have posted above-average results year after year, and the 2026 cohort has done so under exceptional pressure. For families considering the IB Diploma pathway, the country's IB provision is genuinely competitive with any international market.

Second, the quality of teacher assessment and moderation matters more than ever. Under a normal exam cycle, the final written papers are the largest determinant of student grades. Under NECM, teacher-predicted grades and internal assessment moderation carried significant weight. UAE schools that produced strong 2026 results also produced strong internal assessment, which is a signal of academic quality that goes beyond exam-day performance. For families evaluating IB schools, ask about how internal assessment is moderated and how teacher-predicted grades are calibrated. Strong schools will have detailed answers.

Third, the pastoral and community piece is real. Every single one of the four students who scored 45 mentioned their school community in their reflections. Teachers, support systems, guidance, friends, family. This aligns with a wider pattern in UAE education this year, where wellbeing, character and community have been central themes across multiple stories, from the Nord Anglia Permission to Play Report to the KHDA parents and educators councils to the GEMS-Aster wellness partnership. A great IB result is the visible outcome. The invisible architecture behind it is a school community that supports the student across the whole journey.

What this signals about UAE education more broadly

Step back from the specific results and 2026 is looking like a defining year for UAE education. The country has just posted its strongest-ever performance in the QS World University Rankings 2027, with Khalifa University breaking into the global top 150. The Ministry of Education has just launched Project Nova, embedding AI into the country's education infrastructure. KHDA has confirmed no fee hikes for 2026-27. New inspection frameworks, expanded parent and educator councils, an under-15 social media resolution, an upgraded national scholarship system and now a resilient IB cohort delivering globally competitive results despite a genuinely difficult year.

The pattern across all of these stories is consistent. The UAE is deliberately building an education system that is stable, accountable, community-rooted, technology-enabled and internationally competitive. The Class of 2026's IB results, delivered under NECM in an unprecedented year, are one of the clearest indicators yet that the strategy is working.

For UAE families who have children at earlier stages of the IB pathway, whether in the Primary Years Programme, Middle Years Programme or the early Diploma years, the message from this cohort is worth carrying home. The IB is rigorous, the UAE delivers it well, the school community around the student is what makes the difference, and even in the hardest years the system holds together for the students who need it most.

For the four students who scored 45, and for every UAE IB student receiving results tomorrow, congratulations. The Class of 2026 has earned a moment of pride, and the UAE has quietly demonstrated something rare: the ability to deliver world-class educational outcomes even when the world itself is not cooperating.

Sources:

Khaleej Times, "These UAE students scored full points in IB exams despite regional conflict" by Nandini Sircar (July 5, 2026). https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/education/students-full-45-points-ib-exams 

Khaleej Times, "IB results day 2026: Your guide to UAE university admissions after scores" by Nandini Sircar (July 1, 2026). https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/schools-and-parents/ib-results-2026-uae-university-admissions-guide 

Khaleej Times, "IB results day 2026: Dates, UCAS guidance, scores explained; what UAE students should do." https://www.khaleejtimes.com/uae/education/ib-results-day-2026-dates-ucas-guidance-scores 

International Baccalaureate Organisation, "About the IB Diploma Programme." https://www.ibo.org/programmes/diploma-programme