Dubai - The Middle East continues to dominate the global international school market and the latest research predicts strong continued growth into the foreseeable future, according to a study presented at the ongoing Gulf Educational Supplies and Solutions (GESS) 2014 exhibition at the Dubai World Trade Center.

Research and data on international schools in the Middle East were collected and analyzed by the International School Consultancy Group (ISC), which has been delivering market intelligence on the global international schools market for over 25 years. According to the ISC, there are currently 1,213 international schools in the Middle East teaching over a million students, a number that constitutes 30 percent of all international school students worldwide. The ISC defines international schools as those that deliver a curriculum to any combination of infant, primary or secondary students, wholly or partly in English outside an Englishspeaking country - commonly known as English-medium international schools.

Many of these schools offer an international curriculum. A number of international schools also offer bilingual programs with English as one of the languages of learning, and some deliver a combination of international and local curriculum. The United Arab Emirates continues to dominate the market both in terms of the Middle East and globally with 433 international schools. Saudi Arabia has 195 international schools and Qatar 130. The world's leading city for international schools is Dubai where growth has been dramatic in recent years. There are currently 233 international schools in Dubai alone.