Review guidelines
SchoolWise reviews help thousands of Dubai families make one of the most important decisions they'll face. These guidelines help keep them honest, helpful, and trustworthy.
Who can write a review
Current parents — your child is enrolled at the school right now.
Past parents — your child previously attended and has since left or graduated.
Families who went through admissions — you applied and went through the process, whether or not your child was offered a place.
Families who toured — you visited the school as part of your research.
School staff — teachers, administrators, or any employee reviewing their own school. This includes former staff members with an ongoing relationship with the school.
Students — reviews must be written by a parent or guardian, not the child themselves.
People without direct experience — reviews based solely on reputation, word of mouth, or online research rather than personal contact with the school.
What makes a great review
Be specific. "The Year 4 maths teacher explains things three different ways until everyone gets it" is far more useful than "teaching is good." Real details help other parents know what to expect.
Be current. Mention the academic year your experience relates to. Schools change — leadership transitions, staffing shifts, and new programmes all affect the experience. Dated context helps readers calibrate.
Be balanced. The best reviews acknowledge what works and what could be better. A five-star review with no nuance is less credible than a four-star review that explains both strengths and limitations.
Write from your child's stage. A Year 12 parent's view on exam support, and a Year 1 parent's view on settling in, are both valuable — but they're different experiences. We show readers your context so they can calibrate accordingly.
Focus on what parents can't find elsewhere. KHDA ratings are public. What's rare is a parent's honest account of daily life — what drop-off feels like, how teachers communicate, whether your child is happy.
What isn't allowed
Promotional content. If you're connected to the school in any professional capacity, you cannot write a review. This includes current or recent staff, consultants, or anyone with a financial relationship with the school.
Personal attacks. You may comment on systems, culture, and institutional behaviour — but not name, identify, or personally attack individual staff members, students, or families.
Defamatory or false claims. Reviews must reflect your genuine experience. Fabricated or exaggerated negative content intended to harm a school's reputation is not permitted.
Commercially motivated reviews. Reviews that promote a competing school, tutoring service, or other business are not allowed.
Private personal information. Do not include names of specific students, families, or staff in a way that could identify or embarrass them.
Off-topic content. Reviews should be about the school experience. Comments about unrelated political, social, or personal matters will be removed.
How reviews work
Submit
You submit your review. It goes live immediately — no waiting queue, no manual approval step before publication.
Automated quality check
Every review is analysed automatically at submission. Our system flags generic, templated, or suspicious content for closer attention. This runs in the background and does not delay publication.
Community flagging
Other parents can flag reviews that they believe violate these guidelines. Each report includes a reason. Reviews that accumulate multiple flags are automatically hidden and reviewed by SchoolWise.
SchoolWise review and removal
Flagged reviews are assessed against these guidelines. Reviews that clearly violate them — fabricated content, personal attacks, promotional material — are permanently removed. Schools can also respond to reviews through their portal.
How to flag a review
Every published review has a Report button. If you believe a review violates these guidelines, click it and choose a reason:
Inappropriate language
Offensive, abusive, or threatening content.
Fake or misleading
Content that appears fabricated or does not reflect genuine experience.
Off-topic
Not about the school experience — political, personal, or irrelevant content.
Other
Something else that violates these guidelines — describe it in the details field.
You can only flag each review once. Reviews are not removed solely because a school disagrees with them — dissatisfaction is a legitimate and protected review experience. Only reviews that clearly violate these guidelines are removed.
Tips for a more helpful review
Describe a specific experience
"My daughter was nervous about starting Year 7. The tutor group system meant she had a dedicated person checking in on her every morning for the first term" is far more vivid than "good pastoral support."
Mention what surprised you
What did you discover about the school that you couldn't have known from the prospectus or website? That's exactly what other parents need to hear.
Say what you'd do differently
"I wish someone had told me to attend the Year 10 curriculum evening before choosing subjects — it made a big difference" is the kind of insider advice that parents treasure.
Be honest about limitations
A review that says "outstanding in academics but the communication app is unreliable" is more credible — and more useful — than one that says everything is perfect.
Questions or concerns?
If you believe a review has been published in error, contains false information, or violates these guidelines, use the Report button on the review or contact us directly. We take the integrity of our review platform seriously.
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