BSAK in Abu Dhabi names Robert Gordon's College head Robin Macpherson as next head

The British School Al Khubairat (BSAK) in Abu Dhabi has named Robin Macpherson, head of Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen, as its next headteacher. He starts in August 2027, ahead of the 2027-28 school year, and the appointment was announced on 26 October 2026.

He replaces Mark Leppard, 57, who has led BSAK for 12 years and leaves next August to become chief executive of Tanglin Trust School in Singapore.

The new head

Macpherson has run Robert Gordon's College, an independent school of more than 1,400 pupils aged 3 to 18, since 2020. He knows the Emirates: he taught at Repton School Dubai from 2008 to 2011. He has co-written a book on teachers' careers, The Teaching Life, and history textbooks.

He will stay in Aberdeen for the rest of the 2026-27 year. The college's governors will now look for his successor. Kevin Reynard, who chairs them, said Macpherson had brought "considerable experience, commitment and care to the College".

The school he inherits

BSAK opened in 1968 on land given by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. It is a not-for-profit school for children aged 3 to 18. Under Leppard it grew from about 1,600 pupils to about 2,030, and staff retention has held between 92 and 96 per cent a year.

Leppard arrived in the Gulf in 1996 as a PE teacher at Doha College in Qatar and was its principal for his last nine years there. He was made an MBE in 2015.

"I've been challenged every day at BSAK. It would be good to stretch myself and try it in a different context," Leppard said.

Tanglin

At Tanglin he succeeds Craig Considine, chief executive since 2018. Founded in 1925, Tanglin is the oldest British international school in Singapore, a non-profit with about 2,850 pupils aged 3 to 18 on one campus at Portsdown Road. Sixth-formers choose A Levels or the IB Diploma. All-in fees for 2026-27 are US$28,300 to US$45,300 a year. A new 12-storey senior school building is due between 2028 and 2030.