Hope you are keeping safe. Kindly see below the latest edition of country updates regarding education news across the MENA region. Feel free to contact us if you have any questions or require additional information.

Bahrain: Private schools are continuing online education amid the spike in Covid numbers with a few offering a blended option for their students, the majority are opting for full online learning until further notice.

Egypt:  The new academic year will begin on Saturday 17 October 2020 and end on Thursday 24 June 2021.

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: Exceptional travel permits to allow Saudi students who are on a scholarship scheme to travel from Saudi Arabia to the destination country.

UAE: Some UAE schools are to offer only distance learning after suspected cases.

Visas and Immigration 

UK visa services have now resumed across all visa application centres in the Gulf. Appointments are currently limited, the Priority Visa service is only available in UAE and Qatar, and the Super Priority Visa Service is not yet available in any location. Services and appointment availability are being kept under regular review. Our current service standard for all visit and Tier 4 student visas is 15 working days. UKVI is now (temporarily) issuing T4 students with a 90 day vignette to travel and collect their BRP in the UK, instead of the usual 30 days. If your 30 day vignette expired before you were able to use it due to travel restrictions, UKVI will replace this with a new 90 day vignette free of charge.

More information can be found here: https://www.vfsglobal.co.uk/en

UAE students can now start university courses before applying for UK study visa:

https://gulfnews.com/uae/education/uae-students-can-now-start-university-courses-before-applying-for-uk-study-visa-1.73587562

Advice for UK visa applicants:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-uk-visa-applicants-and-temporary-uk-residents

Advice for Tier 4 students/Short term students:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-tier-4-sponsors-migrants-and-short-term-students

Advice on entering the UK and self-isolation requirements:

https://www.gov.uk/uk-border-control

Travel advice

For travel advice, please visit https://www.gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice. We encourage institutions who are considering travelling to sign up for alerts. We are also keeping up to date with local government websites for any updates and restrictions, so kindly feel free to contact us if you need any information and we will refer you to the relevant websites.

IELTS

In accordance with local health authority and government guidance, we have resumed IELTS testing across UAE. The health and safety of test takers and test staff is our number one priority and we have taken the time to put in place all precautionary measures to ensure our customers can test confidently at our venues. For more information on measures taken, please visit: https://www.britishcouncil.ae/en/resume-your-ielts-journey-today . Upon registering for IELTS with us, test takers will receive:

Access to Road to IELTS - Our free 30-hour online preparation course with 100 interactive activities and two practice tests for each of the four skills; reading, listening, writing, and speaking.

Access to IELTS Counselling Service – A free service offering advice from an IELTS expert on how to achieve the desired IELTS score and prepare for the IELTS test. This is aimed at helping test takers achieve their desired scores through personalized virtual sessions and is currently available in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.  For more information visit: https://www.britishcouncil.ae/en/exam/ielts/prepare/counselling-service 

Access to our brand new IELTS for UKVI preparation materials, GEL IELTS Prep - These resources include personalised, smart support that works with you and your learning needs to help you reach your required IELTS for UKVI score, mock tests and practice course for all four skills. 

Additional support we offer :

• Online Practice Tests
• Free IELTS practice material 
• Mobile apps for IELTS preparation
• Vidoes and tips

Please visit https://www.britishcouncil.ae/en/exam/ielts/prepare for further information on preparation resources. To book an IELTS test with the British Council in the UAE, please visit  https://www.britishcouncil.ae/en/exam/ielts/book-test

For information on test availability please visit: https://www.britishcouncil.ae/en/exam/ielts/dates-locations

For more MENA updates, webinars, market insights and other IES services, please go to your alerts settings and select updates from MENA. If you have any feedback or require any additional information, please contact me on dina.kanan@ae.britishcouncil.org

Thank you and stay safe

Dina Kanan

UAE Manager, International Education Services

BAHRAIN:

Private schools are continuing online education amid the spike in Covid numbers with a few offering a blended option for their students, the majority are opting for full online learning until further notice.

In public schools, teachers and admin staff are set to return Sunday 4 October, with students following Sunday 11 October, unless the Ministry decides otherwise. Further details on this here: https://www.newsofbahrain.com/bahrain/66504.html. Schools plan on offering online education, additionally supported by televised classes (details here).

University of Bahrain has started the semester with full online learning, except for practical subjects that require use of labs and technical equipment, for which students will go to campus following the required health procedures.

Contact

For more information about Bahrain, please contact Kawthar AlArab, Projects Manager, Bahrain Kawthar.AlArab@britishcouncil.org.bh.

EGYPT:

The Covid-19 Crisis Management Team at the Egyptian Cabinet decided to ease some restrictions from Monday 21 September, including:

• Conferences and symposiums will be allowed at an occupancy rate of 50 percent and a maximum attendance of 150 people.
• A back to school-focused exhibit to be held at the Cairo International Convention Centre from 20 to 28 September.
• Adult education activities and literacy classes will be resumed with preventive measures applied in closed spaces.
• Alexandria International Book Fair to be held in an open area

Civil Aviation Ministry announced in Wednesday's statement that travellers from Japan, China, Thailand, North and South America, and Canada, as well as from London Heathrow, Paris, or Frankfurt airports, can present PCR test certificates conducted up to 96 hours prior to their scheduled flights, rather than the previous 72 hours. The 24 hours extension came due to the "long travel and transit times at those airports".

Contact

For more information about Egypt, please contact Sahar Khamis, Head of Education Programmes, Egypt Sahar.khamis@britishcouncil.org.eg

KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA:

Saudi Arabia Study UK Alumni Awards 2020 – Virtual Celebratory Event

We’re delighted to announce the winners of the 5^th Study UK Alumni Awards Saudi Arabia 2020, as announced at a digital ceremony in Riyadh Wednesday 30 September. The event was hosted by Neil Crompton, British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia,  His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Bin Bandar Al Saud, Saudi Ambassador to the UK and Eilidh Kennedy McLean, British Council Country Director.

This is the first Alumni Awards that have been live-streamed globally, allowing us to reach an even larger audience than before. The event generated a buzz on social media with content posted, retweeted and amplified by alumni and influencer accounts.  

The winners of the awards are:

• Professional Achievement winner: Dr Samar Khan – a graduate of Nottingham Trent University
• Social Impact winner: Dr Mawya Khafaji - a graduate of the University of Exeter.
• Entrepreneurial Award winner: Mr Abdulaziz Alsaeed, a graduate of Newcastle University

The virtual livestream ceremony recording is available here: https://fb.watch/Rl--cMkSL/

Contact Information

For more information and insights about the situation in KSA, please contact Rizwan Safdar, Project Manager, KSA Rizwan.Safdar@sa.britishcouncil.org

UAE:

Your complete guide to UAE school holidays 2020-2023:

https://gulfnews.com/parenting/learning-play/your-complete-guide-to-uae-school-holidays-2020-2023-1.1600686833847?slide=1 

Guide: All the American and IB curriculum schools in Abu Dhabi: 

https://gulfnews.com/living-in-uae/education/guide-all-the-american-and-ib-british-curriculum-schools-in-abu-dhabi-1.1601289322919

Contact Information

For more information, please contact Dina Kanan, UAE Manger, International Education Services, Dina.kanan@ae.britishcouncil.org