- Reigate Grammar School Masaar will be the first branch campus of a UK school in Sharjah
- School set to open doors in 2027, following completion of the 16-month construction contract
Sharjah, United Arab Emirates: 23 March 2026 – Arada has awarded the AED183 million main construction contract for a new K-12 school in Masaar, its AED9.5 billion forested megaproject in Sharjah. Developed in partnership with UAE-based education provider Bright Capital Investment, Reigate Grammar School Masaar is the first branch campus of a UK school to be established in Sharjah.
The contract to build the school was awarded to Al Rehab Al Arabi Building Contracting Co. LLC. Construction has begun, with work scheduled to take 16 months to complete.
Situated on a 450,000-square-foot plot in Masaar’s northern corner – in close proximity to Masaar 2 and Masaar 3 – the 2,700-capacity campus will feature a broad array of premium amenities, including a performing arts centre, a library, a STEM Centre, multi-purpose halls, sports facilities and swimming pools.
Reigate Grammar School Masaar is officially set to welcome its first cohort of pupils in September 2027. The project marks the inaugural UAE expansion of Reigate Grammar School, which was founded near London in 1675 and named Independent School of the Year 2025 by The Sunday Times newspaper.
Ahmed Alkhoshaibi, Group CEO of Arada, said: “This contract award reflects Arada’s ambitious vision for Masaar, as we continue to invest in world-class amenities that will benefit families in Sharjah for generations to come. Construction activities will begin immediately, meaning this exceptional campus will be ready to welcome its first pupils in 2027.”
Esref Temel, Managing Director at Bright Capital Investment, said: “This is an important milestone in the development of Reigate Grammar School Masaar, and we are excited to see Sharjah’s first branch campus of a British school take shape.”
Sean Davey, Global Business Director for Reigate Grammar School International, said: “Our entry into the UAE represents an important milestone in the expansion of our global village of world-class schools, following the establishment of branch campuses in Saudi Arabia, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia and Turkey. We are delighted that the main construction contract for Reigate Grammar School Masaar has been awarded, and we look forward to witnessing the development of this incredible campus.”
Research conducted among local residents revealed a strong preference for a premium K-12 school with a British curriculum and exceptional facilities. The development of Reigate Grammar School Masaar will introduce pupils in Sharjah to ‘The Reigate Way’, an educational approach that emphasises visionary leadership, innovative teaching methods and exemplary pastoral care with a focus on student wellbeing.
Launched in 2021, Masaar is a 19-million-square-foot, 3,000-unit forested community designed to offer an active, healthy lifestyle in a verdant environment. The development features a distinctive ‘green spine’ comprising more than 70,000 trees, which connects each of its six gated districts to the community hub.
Located in the up-and-coming Suyoh district – near Tilal City, the Sharjah Mosque, Masaar 2, Masaar 3 and Arada’s first project, Nasma Residences – Masaar boasts easy access to both Emirates Road and Maliha Road. With construction of all six residential phases scheduled for completion this year, the master-planned community is a 15-minute drive from Sharjah International Airport and a 20-minute drive from Dubai International Airport.
About Arada
Launched in 2017 and headquartered in the UAE, Arada was created to build spaces people connect with for healthier, happier and more meaningful lives.
Arada’s scope of operation covers property development, retail, education, healthcare, fitness, wellness and hospitality.
The master developer has so far launched 11 record-breaking projects in the UAE, and has also expanded into the UK and Australia.
Arada also operates a portfolio of complementary brands and experiences, which includes large-scale gyms, F&B and retail assets, social initiatives and visitor destinations.
For more information about Arada: www.arada.com
About Bright Capital Investment
Bright Capital Investment is a school operator and an investment company, which aims to create one of the largest educational platforms in the UAE. Our target is to cover the complete education spectrum from pre-primary to secondary levels. Bright Capital Investment prides itself with the operation and expansion support it delivers to school developers and the education sector in general. Currently Bright Capital has investments in Bright Learners Private School and three campuses of Star International Schools in Dubai. Bright Capital Investment has entered into a collaboration agreement with Reigate Grammar School International to establish a group of premium UK curriculum schools in the United Arab Emirates with the first Reigate Grammar school scheduled to open in September 2027 in Masaar, Sharjah. For More details visit: www.brightcapitalinvestment.com
About Reigate Grammar School UK
Reigate Grammar School (Reigate Grammar School-UK) was founded charitably by Alderman Henry Smith in 1675. Based in Reigate, on the southern fringe of London, it has been changing young lives for 350 years. Reigate Grammar School UK is recognised as one of the super-premier co-educational independent day schools in the UK, offering the very best academic education with equal prominence placed on the arts, sport and a rich extra-curricular programme. It is ranked as a top 5 for academic performance by co-ed schools in the UK with 98% of students receiving offers from top universities. Reigate Grammar School (UK) was named The Sunday Times UK School of the Year 2025 and has received numerous national awards in recent years for pastoral care, wellbeing, charity and social mobility, learning support, and co-curricular programmes. The school is a prominent HMC school and Headmaster, Shaun Fenton OBE, was the Chairman of HMC in 2018. The first line of the school’s most recent ISI reports asserts that ‘the quality of the students’ achievements and learning is exceptional’. The school is one of a small number of world-class schools to have been a global pioneer in High Performance Learning (HPL), focusing on the development of global citizens, advanced performers and enterprising learners. The Good Schools’ Guide gave Reigate the compliment “Happy Kids, great Results.” The UK Group of Schools consists of Reigate Grammar School and its boarding campus – RGS Surrey Hills, and four feeder prep schools. Reigate Grammar School International is wholly owned by Reigate Grammar School and licences, oversees and manages and governs the international Reigate Grammar Schools in China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Turkey and the UAE. Recognition and Achievements – RGS International