Picture for illustrative purposes only. ARCHIVE

Twelve private schools in Abu Dhabi have been banned from enrolling students in Grades 11 and 12, as part of a sweeping investigation into grade inflation and academic irregularities, the Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) confirmed. The move, announced under Phase One of ADEK’s compliance initiative, comes after internal audits flagged major discrepancies between students’ internal school grades and performance in external benchmark exams. “These measures are essential to protect the integrity of student qualifications,” ADEK said in a statement. “Grade inflation not only misrepresents student learning, it also undermines trust in the education system and limits fair academic competition.” As part of the investigation, the affected schools are required to submit detailed academic documentation for all Grade 12 students. This includes transcripts, grading rubrics, assessment samples, and graduation requirement records. ADEK says the goal is to determine whether internal assessments fairly reflect students’ actual academic performance or if inflated grades were awarded to boost results. It emphasized that students must earn credentials through genuine academic achievement, not artificially boosted scores. The current review will soon expand to include Grades 9 to 11, and future phases will match internal marks with standardized test scores to track long-term patterns. Schools found to be non-compliant may face administrative penalties or be required to take corrective action to align with ADEK’s academic standards. ICA/Expat Media
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