Doha Academy Al Waab Campus

A long-established Qatari-owned British-curriculum school that blends English National Curriculum with Islamic studies and is largely chosen by Qatari and wider Arab families.

Doha Academy was founded in 2000 by Sheikha Aisha Bint Faleh Al Thani. The Al Waab campus opened in 2014 as a purpose-built site for EYFS, primary and secondary. The wider group runs five divisions across three campuses including Salwa and Doha International Kindergarten. Around 2,250 students. NEASC accredited on the ACE Learning pathway.

Curriculum is English National blended with Cambridge and Pearson Edexcel for IGCSE and AS Level, with Qatari national components for Arabic, Islamic studies and social subjects. Boys and girls are separated in classes from Year 6 upwards, which materially shapes the day-to-day feel of the school.

Parents praise the facilities and the educational standard. The clearest fit is for families who want a recognisable British academic pathway delivered inside an Islamic-values frame. Western expat families wanting a fully co-educational secondary tend to look elsewhere.

• Doha Academy is privately owned and integrates British curriculum with Islamic values. Parents and staff produce a polarised signal that is unusually candid for a Doha school.
• One parent comment told a prospective student in capital letters: "NEVER GO TO DOHA ACADEMY". A separate comment recommended the school as one of the better, harder-to-enter Doha options. The pool is genuinely mixed.
• Other parents skew positive on dedicated teachers and welcoming atmosphere. A 2020 critical review flagged curriculum quality, staffing and management decisions during the pandemic.
• Staff reviews across roughly 36 records show 39 percent recommending the school. Recurring teacher complaints describe below-market pay, July salary not paid, contract terminations during COVID, and HR friction.
• Uniform policy is flagged repeatedly: girls in the secondary section are required to wear the hijab regardless of religion, a hard structural fact families need to weigh.