Welcome to
Durham International Schools
Inspired by a vision to deliver outstanding education to young people around the world.
Durham School is one of the UK’s oldest schools, with a 600-year tradition of academic,
sporting and cultural excellence.
Durham International Schools Limited has been created to work with investing partners in different countries to establish schools that will closely follow Durham School’s educational ethos and structure.
Durham School
Durham School’s mission is to provide its students with a complete education; one which instils in them an aspiration for achievement, a respect for others and a ‘Confidence for Life’.
Whilst academic life is at the heart of the School, it also enjoys a richly deserved reputation for sport, notably being the 5th oldest rugby club in the world. The School’s music and drama are also very strong, and it is one of the few all-Steinway Schools in the UK.
With its reputation for excellence inside and outside the classroom, Durham School is committed to educating its students in the very broadest sense of the word, preparing them for the challenges of the 21st century whilst retaining a sense of traditional values, which are timeless.

Aims and Mission
Within a community shaped by moral integrity and kindness, a Durham School aims to cultivate responsibility and ambition to ensure that every student can thrive, be happy, and make a positive mark in the world.
The three pillars of a Durham School which support this aim and so provide an environment where pupils can explore, make mistakes, learn and grow are:
- Academic challenge which gives students a lifelong appetite for learning.
- Pastoral care to provide our students with emotional, moral and spiritual strength.
- Co-curricular opportunities which enrich and develop the individual, and foster leadership, collaboration and teamwork.
We do this by nurturing and supporting our students to become:
Values


International Schools
Having delivered outstanding education for over 600 years, investors can be confident that setting up a branch of Durham School in their country will be highly sought-after by parents looking for the highest quality independent education outside the UK.
Every Durham International School will demonstrate recognisable Durham School traditions and structure, including the House system, a wide range of co-curricular opportunities, and an academic curriculum that will provide for the needs of all its pupils.
Durham School will maintain very strong links with each International School, providing governance and quality oversight together with staff training and exchange opportunities as well as inter-school curriculum collaboration, including sports and music competitions.

Durham School for Girls Doha
Durham School for Girls Doha is the first truly international British school in Doha just for girls, delivering a British curriculum, striving to be the school of first choice for young women in Doha.
Having opened its doors in September 2019 and operating in full partnership with Durham School UK, Durham School for Girls Doha offers the very best British education available in the Middle East, delivering outstanding education to meet Qatar’s ambition for its young women and prepare them for the opportunities and challenges of life across the world in the 21st century.
Both schools have a shared vision, espouse the same values and so develop an ethos and character that, despite being over 7,000 kilometers apart, deliver a sense of one school in two places.
Durham Kenya
Taking inspiration from the 600-year legacy of outstanding education in the UK, and recent opening experience of Durham School for Girls Doha, Durham opened its doors in Nairobi in January 2021 with its first phase, Durham International Nursery & Pre-Prep School for children aged 2-6 years. The wider ambitions of the project are to establish a full Primary and a Secondary School.
Durham International Nursery & Pre-Prep School will provide a safe, happy and caring environment in which children years can spend their formative years, nurturing their individual needs in a supportive and inclusive environment.
Located in a high-end leafy suburb of Thigiri in Nairobi, close to a number of consulates and the United Nations headquarters, Durham International Nursery & Pre-Prep School will cater for over 200 children, offering generous space for teaching and learning, a heated swimming pool, outdoor activity areas and indoor spaces for expressive arts and design.
DURHAM IN NUMBERS 
1414
Durham School established
2019
Durham School for Girls Doha open
2021
Durham Kenya open
Testimonials
HMC School
Durham School is affiliated with HMC (the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference), a professional association of heads of the world’s leading independent schools.