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GEMS Founders School, Dubai



In their own words

A warm welcome from GEMS Founders School - Dubai

GEMS Founders School, Dubai (GFS) opened its doors in September 2016 to over 1800 students from FS1 – Year 8. This is the most successful school opening in GEMS Education history in terms of enrolment. In September 2017, we welcomed over 3500 students and extended the school to Year 9. In September 2018, we opened our Year 10 and Year 12 (International GCSE and A Level curriculum) and started that year with 3800 children. In 2019, we reached the capacity of 4260 students in Phases 1 and 2 of our original building and in 2021 expanded to Phase 3 to provide additional facilities for extended curriculum options. We reached full capacity in 2022 with 6139 children from FS1 – Year 13. Since opening, we have established a positive learning environment for our children and staff following both the National Curriculum for England and UAE Ministry of Education curricular. As a British school overseas with over 100 nationalities, it is important that we value all of our languages and cultural understanding and use this as a catalyst to embrace the culture, history and beliefs of our student and staff body. We have been rated Good in two DSIB inspections, with the most recent one also recognising some Outstanding features. We are British Schools Overseas (BSO) accredited gaining Outstanding judgements in all standards, allowing us to offer the NQT, QTS and iPGCE programmes to our teachers through the TES Institute. GEMS Founders School, Dubai is truly unique and anyone who comes to work here has a wonderful opportunity to leave their mark. In line with our school vision, you will have the opportunity to Grow, Flourish and Succeed in everything you do at GFS.



Entrance is assessed via CAT4 cognitive assessment, from GL.


CAT4 is one of, if not the most unique school assessment in circulation. Most children will not have encountered either the CAT4 question types or the format, previously. The good news is that the very specific nature of the exam, means that with effort and perseverance it is possible to achieve confident preparation for your CAT4 entrance exam.


CAT4 is broken into 4 broad categories:


  • Quantitative Reasoning

  • Verbal Reasoning

  • Non-Verbal Reasoning

  • Spatial Reasoning


We have partnered with the test experts at Ready Steady Pass, to bring you the most accurate and best value CAT4 practise material for children between 6 and 13 years of age. The tests are prepared by specialist CAT4 writers and audited by AQA and EdExcel exam markers, and ISI independent school inspectors. Tests are taken online, include unlimited resits and emailed results including answer sheets to share with tutors and parents.



Click below to access our CAT4 page for more information



What questions can I expect?


Each of the 4 questions categories in CAT4 (which GL call "batteries") has two different question types, creating 8 mini exams.


Quantitative Reasoning assess numerical questions, with a focus on patterns and relationships:

  • Number Series questions involve identifying the missing number in a sequence.

  • Number Analogies questions are to do with spotting the relationships between pairs of numbers.


Verbal Reasoning asses the relationship between words:


  • The Verbal Classification battery focuses on word classes and word types.

  • Verbal Analogies questions identify the relationship between pairs of words.


Non-Verbal Reasoning looks at the relationship between shapes:


  • Figure Classification asks you to spot the relationship between a series of images and select the image that matches them.

  • Figure Matrices shows a pattern of shapes presented in a square, challenging us to choose the missing shape.


Spatial Reasoning is a particular kind of non-verbal reasoning:


  • Figure Recognition questions challenge us to find a hidden shape within an image.

  • Figure Analysis questions, sometimes called Folding questions, present the challenges of recognising unfolded paper that has been hole punched at a certain fold.



Click below to browse our CAT4 collection







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