Repton plans Bahrain's first school under a UK independent school's name for August 2027

Repton School, the English boarding school in Derbyshire, has signed an agreement to open Repton Bahrain, the first school in the kingdom to carry the name of a UK independent school. The deal was signed at the Gateway Gulf Investment Forum in Manama, an invitation-only event hosted by the Bahrain Economic Development Board. The school is due to open in August 2027.

Fees, the exact site and the founding principal have yet to be announced.

Ages	3 to 18, co-educational
Qualifications	International GCSEs, A levels
Campus	32,000 square metres
Planned facilities	Sixth form centre, six-lane pool, athletics track, 4G pitches
Opening	August 2027
Repton schools	13th in the group

The partners

Mark Semmence, headmaster of Repton in England and chairman of the Repton Family of Schools, signed for the school. Abdulhakeem Al Khayyat, managing partner of Daylight Advisory, and Ali Alromaihi, a board member of Sama Alriffa, signed on the Bahraini side.

"Repton Bahrain will share Repton's values and ethos while being shaped by, and respectful of, the culture" of the kingdom, Semmence said.

Saudi families

The school is aimed at Bahraini families, expats and Saudi families who live and work in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province and can reach Bahrain over the King Fahd Causeway.

Ian McIntyre, managing director of the Repton Family of Schools, said Bahrain had "no British school with a British brand". He said the group was confident of demand despite the conflict in the region. "We stay and we deliver, and I think that's why this will be successful," he said.

ISC Research counted 69 international schools in Bahrain in July 2025, teaching 76,584 pupils, with fee income of US$479 million a year.

Repton in the Gulf

Repton opened its first overseas school in Dubai in 2007, the first British independent school in the emirate. The group now has four campuses in the UAE with about 7,000 pupils, and affiliated schools in Egypt and China.

Repton School Dubai in Nad Al Sheba is run by Cognita. It teaches about 2,374 pupils aged 3 to 18, offers A levels, BTEC or the IB Diploma after GCSE, and charges between US$15,600 and US$28,000 a year all-in in 2026/27. KHDA rates it Outstanding, though it sits 16th of 16 Dubai schools in Prospectus community rankings.

Other English schools are moving into the region too. Harrow and Rugby opened in Dubai in 2026, and Epsom College plans schools in Abu Dhabi from September 2028 and Dubai from September 2030.