Cities / Doha / Sherborne Qatar
Sherborne Qatar
British school in Al Rayyan, partnered with Sherborne School (UK), with separate boys' and girls' senior schools operating at the top of the market.
In brief
Sherborne Qatar is one of the better-regarded British schools in Doha. Most families who choose it stay, and parents generally speak warmly about teaching staff and pastoral care.
The structure is the thing to wrap your head around first. It's now a "family of schools" across four sites: a co-ed all-through school by the Mall of Qatar, a girls-only senior at Al Ebb, a boys-only prep-and-senior at Al Rayyan, and a co-ed prep at Bani Hajer. Decide early which pathway suits your child. Single-sex from age 11 is a real choice here, not just a label.
Location matters. The sites are a fair way out from the central expat compounds. One parent describes it as "in the middle of nowhere." Budget 30-plus minutes for the secondary commute depending where you live.
Academics are the headline strength. IGCSE and A Level results are consistently strong. The flip side, raised more than once on parent forums, is that it can feel pushy. According to one parent, the school is "very pushy and results driven" and some children who struggle "are left to flounder until they eventually leave." Take that as a directional signal rather than gospel, but worth probing in your tour.
Pastoral reputation is solid. According to one parent, the school does "an admirable job of holding the line to their standards and expectations." Discipline and expectations are visibly British-traditional.
A few things to ask on a visit: how the split-site model affects siblings; what learning support actually looks like in practice; staff turnover (there has been senior leadership movement recently); and how transitions between Year 6 and Year 7 work given the boys/girls/co-ed pathway choices.
Net: a serious, academically ambitious school with real depth, a strong British identity, and a community that mostly speaks well of it. Best fit for a child who can handle a high-expectations environment. Worth visiting more than one of the campuses before deciding.
Fees
Annual fees
| Year level | Age | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Pre-School | 3 | QAR 35,000 |
| Reception | 4 | QAR 48,011 |
| Years 1 - 6 | 5 | QAR 52,812 |
| Years 7 - 10 | 11 | QAR 61,196 |
| Years 11 - 13 | 15 | QAR 66,053 |
One-time fees
| Item | Age | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Application fee (non-refundable) | QAR 560 | |
| Refundable deposit | QAR 1,000 | |
| Seat reservation fee | QAR 2,000 | |
| Registration fee (non-refundable) | QAR 2,804 |
Reviews
The Qatari arm of the historic UK Sherborne brand, now a family of schools across Doha rather than a single campus. Parents looking for a British school with an Islamic-aware register tend to surface Sherborne; families chasing the very top academic tier in Doha tend to start with Doha College and Kings instead. The new Mall of Qatar senior building has lifted facilities sharply; views on the wider group are more mixed.
Positives
- Cultural fit. Muslim families comparing Doha schools talk about Sherborne as the campus where cultural sensitivity felt closer to their values, with a more conservative tone than the Pearl-based internationals.
- Facilities. The new senior campus at Mall of Qatar opened with 74 classrooms, 12 science labs, a 250-seat theatre, a 25m pool and a 100m track, a step up on most British competitors in Doha.
- Girls' school strand. The Al-Ebb girls-only campus tends to draw the warmest mentions across kindergarten through senior, with parents describing only minor complaints.
Considerations
- Academic standing. When Doha parents rank British options, Sherborne is named alongside Compass and Kings as solid but rarely as the top academic pick; Doha College usually sits above it for GCSE and A level outcomes.
- Leadership and staff churn. Recent staff-side accounts flag senior leadership turnover and a heavy admin-email culture from management, with a new principal cohort coming in across the family of schools from September 2025.
- Behaviour and demographic shift. A growing Qatari intake has been linked to uneven behaviour-policy enforcement in some classrooms, with reports that consequences are applied less consistently than the published policies suggest.
- Group operating model. Run commercially as a multi-campus operator under licence from Sherborne UK rather than as a single school, and some Doha parents read the trajectory as expansion-first.
Leadership
Mr David Butcher
As the Principal of Sherborne School Qatar, it is my absolute honour and privilege to welcome you to our British curriculum senior school. We are delighted that you are considering joining our ever-growing Sherborne community. The Sherborne Family of Schools in Qatar prides itself on upholding six values that originate from Sherborne School, Dorset: Respect, Honesty, Kindness, Perseverance, Responsibility and Teamwork. These values are at the very core of learning and teaching that takes place across our school daily.
Accreditations
- British Schools Overseas (DfE) 01
- British Schools in the Middle East accreditation 02
Academic results
- A Level results 2024 49% earning top grades
- IGCSE results 2024 100% pass rates
Location
Building Number 76, Street Number 426 Zone 70, Rawdat Al Khazna Street, الدوحة، Qatar