If your son or daughter is preparing to study abroad for the first time, safety is not one question among many. It is the question. Everything else, the fees, the curriculum, the placements, only matters once you are satisfied on this.
This page is written for parents. It covers what daily life actually looks like for a student in Dubai and what we do on our side to look after them.
About the headlines
We are not going to pretend the region has been quiet, and you would not believe us if we did. What we will tell you is what the past months have actually looked like from inside Dubai, because it bears very little resemblance to how it was covered abroad. The UAE has not been a party to any of it, and has said so publicly and consistently. Here on the ground, the week never changed. Campuses stayed open and classes ran. The airport ran. People went to work, took the Metro, took their kids to school, ate out on the weekend. Our own students were on campus in Production City throughout, doing coursework and industry visits, and the most disruptive thing most of them dealt with was a flight schedule. If you have family or friends anywhere in the Emirates, and a great many families reading this do, ask them what their month looked like. Ask them whether anything about their daily life changed. That answer, from someone with no reason to sell you anything, is worth more than this page or any news bulletin.
Dubai is one of the safest cities in the world, and this is measurable
This is not a marketing line. It shows up consistently in international safety rankings, where the UAE has repeatedly placed at or near the top globally.
Violent crime against residents and visitors is rare to the point of being statistically negligible. Petty theft is uncommon. Phones left on cafe tables are usually still there. Lost wallets are routinely handed in. The city is intensively policed, extensively covered by surveillance, and penalties for crime are severe and enforced without exception, for residents and visitors alike.
For a young person living away from home for the first time, this matters more than almost anything else on a brochure.
Safety for women students
Parents of daughters usually have a more specific version of this question, and it deserves a specific answer.
Women in Dubai move around the city independently at night in a way that is simply not comparable to most large cities in India, Southeast Asia or the West. Public transport is clean and monitored, with women-only carriages on the Metro and women-only taxis available. Harassment is treated as a serious criminal matter rather than something to be endured. Female students here routinely take a Metro home after an evening class or a study session without making the calculations they would make elsewhere.
We would encourage you to ask any current female student on our programme about this directly. We will connect you.
Everyday systems that work
Much of what makes a city safe for a young person is unglamorous.
Emergency services respond on 999 and arrive quickly. Hospitals are world class, and every student on our programme is covered by medical insurance included in the fee, so a family is never making a healthcare decision based on cost. Roads are well built and well lit. Water and food safety are tightly regulated. English is spoken everywhere, so a student never faces an emergency in a language they do not have.
Where they live and how they travel
Accommodation is included in the programme fee and is arranged near campus, fully equipped, with other students from the programme. Your child is not searching for a flat in a strange city, negotiating with a landlord in a language they do not speak, or living alone.
The daily commute between accommodation and campus runs on our own shuttle service. That removes the single most common worry parents raise, which is a young person travelling unfamiliar routes late at night.
The campus itself is in Production City, an established corporate district on Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road, not an isolated location.
They will not be arriving alone
The transition is where most families worry, and it is where we put the most effort.
Someone meets them at the airport. There is a one month induction programme covering how the city works, how to get around, local norms and expectations. They arrive into a cohort rather than into an empty room, and the cohort is deliberately international, so nobody is the only one adjusting.
Our academic and administrative coordinators are reachable, and every student is given a named emergency contact on campus from day one. If you need to reach someone about your child, there is a person, not a helpdesk.
You are close, not far
This is the point most families underestimate.
Dubai is a short direct flight from almost anywhere in India, a few hours at most, and there are direct flights from Manila, Tashkent, Colombo and Almaty. Tickets are affordable and flights run all day, every day. You can visit. They can come home for a festival. The time difference with India is thirty minutes, so a daily phone call happens at a normal hour for both of you.
Compare that with a twenty hour journey and a twelve hour time difference, where a parent waits until midnight to hear their child’s voice.
A community your family already knows
Around four and a half million Indians live and work in the UAE, alongside very large Filipino, Sri Lankan, Pakistani and Central Asian communities. There are temples, churches and mosques. There is food from home in every neighbourhood. There are Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, Tagalog and Urdu speakers in every workplace.
Many families reading this already have a relative or a family friend somewhere in the Gulf. If you do, call them. Ask them what an ordinary week looks like. Their answer will carry more weight than anything we can write here, and we would rather you heard it from them.
What we ask you to do before deciding
- Speak to a current student on the programme, without a staff member on the call. Ask them anything you want.
- Ask us for the accommodation details, the shuttle schedule, and the name and number of the campus contact your child would have.
- Ask any institution you are considering the same questions. The willingness to answer them plainly tells you a great deal.
Frequently asked questions
Is Dubai safe for international students?
Yes. Dubai consistently ranks among the safest cities in the world, with very low crime, strong policing, excellent emergency services and healthcare, and a large, established international community. Daily life, including campuses, transport and the airport, has continued running normally.
Is Dubai safe for female students?
Yes. Women move around the city independently, including at night, and public transport includes women-only Metro carriages and taxis. Harassment is treated as a serious criminal offence.
Where will my child live?
Accommodation is included in the programme fee, arranged near campus, fully equipped and shared with other students on the programme. A daily shuttle runs between accommodation and campus.
Who do I contact if there is a problem?
Every student is assigned a named campus contact on arrival. Admissions will share that name and number with you before your child travels.
Can I visit?
Easily. Dubai is a short direct flight from most of our students’ home cities, and visitor visas are straightforward.
Is medical care covered?
Yes. Medical insurance is included in the programme fee, along with the visa and Emirates ID.