Al Alameen International School

A British Islamic school in the Az Zahra area of Riyadh that pairs the Cambridge curriculum with Quran and Arabic studies, marketed as the first British Islamic school in the city.

Founded in 2009, the school runs from nursery to lower secondary and is a registered Cambridge Associate via the British Council. The early years use a Montessori approach before children move into the standard Cambridge primary and Checkpoint pathway, with IGCSE preparation at the top end.

Families who pick Al Alameen are usually Saudi or expat Muslim parents who want strong Islamic content alongside English-medium academics, and the warmest feedback is on the early years and the personal attention from individual teachers. Two recurring concerns surface from longer-tenured parents. Some feel academic rigour does not match the stronger British schools in Riyadh, and several mention frequent additional charges layered on top of fees over the year.

• An old expat.com Riyadh thread is the most substantive parent discussion; one parent who spent two years there praised clean facilities, caring teachers and the absence of admission or book fees.
• The same thread carries a pointed dissenting account: another parent withdrew, saying the school had "started commercializing the studies" with aggressive late-fee penalties and that several strong teachers had left.
• A separate expat.com thread defends the teaching staff in detail, listing named British and South African homeroom teachers in the early-years classes.
• Aggregator reviews on edarabia run hot and cold over a decade: 2024 entries praise specific teachers and a refurbished building, an older 2019 comment frames the school as "a money making scheme" over add-on tech fees.
• One parent flagged demand outstripping places, with waiting lists making admission hard even when the parent was keen.