Shining Star International School

A budget-tier CBSE school in Mussafah serving a mostly Indian and South Asian community, currently rated Good by ADEK.

Fees are unusually low for Abu Dhabi, with KG1 around AED 7,900 and Grade 12 around AED 15,500, payable in installments. The CBSE programme is the core offer and the school adds Malayalam, Tamil, and Urdu as second-language options, which is a practical draw for South Indian and Pakistani families specifically.

Parent feedback in the WSA survey runs around 80% positive, with consistent praise for teacher accessibility, communication, and a manageable homework load that does not push the school day into the home. Comparable schools on the same fee tier and curriculum include Bright Riders and Sunrise English Private. Families looking for a stronger CBSE academic ceiling tend to pay the step up to Merryland or GIIS Abu Dhabi instead.

• ADEK has rated the school Good in 2024-25, up from Weak at its first inspection in 2015 and Acceptable through to 2021-22. The trajectory is the strongest objective signal.
• Parents repeatedly name individual teachers and credit them for confidence and academic growth, particularly for shy or introverted children.
• The Parents' Council, meeting monthly with rotating membership, gets explicit credit for accessible communication and responsiveness.
• Fees are low for Abu Dhabi (AED 8,630-16,930), and parents flag value rather than facilities as the reason to stay.
• The school does not publish academic outcomes, which limits any independent read on results.
• Staffing density is light, with a 1:26 teacher-to-student ratio that parents do not raise as a concern but is high relative to higher-fee neighbours.
• Reddit and open community discussions turn up almost no organic parent voice; most online presence is school-affiliated promotion.