Doha College is the first school in Qatar to be accredited under the new Patron’s Accreditation and Compliance scheme offered by the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) as an alternative to the British School Overseas (BSO) accreditation.

The scheme, which focuses on school improvement and development rather than on snapshot inspection, is offered to all international British schools overseas in addition, or as an alternative to the United Kingdom’s Department for Education’s British Schools Overseas accreditation.

Doha College was assessed and inspected by three independent and highly experienced accreditors who toured and inspected the school and reported on areas including teaching and learning, student welfare, staff development and governance.

Dr Steffen Sommer, Principal of Doha College, said that the COBIS accreditation report was immensely positive and described Doha College as exceeding best practice in COBIS schools worldwide.

The report confirmed that the levels of teaching and learning, innovation, pastoral care and extra-curricular provision at the college are among the best ever seen by the accreditors. The report recognises the excellent team we have here at the school.’

Anne Howells, Principal of the British International School of Stavanger who led the visit at Doha College, said that the opportunity to visit a COBIS school and lead a team of experienced peer accreditors was both a great honour and a rewarding experience for the whole accreditation team.

For me, the Patron’s Accreditation is about visiting a school, getting to know their context and becoming part of the senior management team, albeit for a few days, and to work in close collaboration with them in a professional and supportive manner.’

The COBIS Accreditation certificate, signed by HRH The Duke of York the Patron of COBIS, was handed to Doha College Principal Dr Steffen Sommer by Rowda Zeedan, Director of the Private Schools Office for the Ministry of Education in Qatar, at the recent COBIS Conference in London.

Congratulating the successful schools on their accreditation, COBIS Chairman Trevor Rowell said that there would be many more top British schools following in their footsteps.

We’re delighted to confer this award upon Doha College. They have the honour of being the first school to be accredited under this new scheme and we look forward to working with more top class British schools overseas to ensure quality and support development in the international schools’ sector.’

COBIS CEO Colin Bell added Doha College has set the benchmark for what families worldwide are looking for in terms of quality in international British schools overseas.

A summary of the report can be viewed through this link.