Universal American School students shine in Advanced Placement results, a rare offering among UAE schools
87 students at Universal American School sat 177 Advanced Placement exams this year, with 76% scoring 3 or higher, up from 74% last year, and 22 exams earning the top score of 5…
While much of the UAE’s attention this 2026 results season has centred on the International Baccalaureate, students at Universal American School (UAS) have been excelling in a qualification few schools in the country offer at all: the Advanced Placement programme.
 | Advanced Placement (AP) courses are university-level classes developed by the College Board in the United States, taken by high school students and assessed through rigorous external examinations scored from 1 to 5. A score of 3 or higher is widely recognised for university credit and advanced standing at institutions across North America and beyond, meaning strong AP students can enter university with credits already banked, shortening their degrees and reducing tuition costs. For families seeking an American route to higher education, AP results carry real weight in admissions. |
The AP catalogue This year’s UAS numbers make a strong case. 87 AP students sat a combined 177 AP exams, and 76% of students scored 3 or higher, up from 74% last year. 22 exams were awarded the top score of 5, an increase from 18 the previous year and a mark that places those students among the strongest AP candidates worldwide. Individual subjects produced standout results. In AP Chemistry, one of the most demanding courses in the AP catalogue, 95% of UAS students scored 3 or higher. In AP Human Geography the figure was 82%, and in AP Precalculus, 83%. The UAS AP catalogue spans mathematics, sciences, social sciences and computing, including AP Calculus and AP Computer Science. Few schools in the UAE offer AP at all, and fewer still run a full AP pathway alongside the International Baccalaureate Diploma, giving UAS students a genuine choice between two world-class routes to university. |  |
Our qualifying rate
The results are all the more striking given the year in which they were earned. While regional disruption saw International Baccalaureate examinations across the UAE replaced by portfolio and evidence-based assessment, AP exams went ahead as planned. UAS students sat every paper under full exam conditions and delivered.
 | Evan Woodson, AP Coordinator at UAS, said the results reward a distinctive academic choice. “AP asks students to work at university level while still in high school, and to prove it in a formal examination at the end. Our students did exactly that, in a year that gave them every excuse not to. Scoring 3 or higher opens doors at universities around the world, and 76% of our students walked through them. The 22 top scores of 5 tell you the ceiling here is very high indeed.” He also pointed to the programme’s momentum. “Our qualifying rate rose again this year, and top scores of 5 jumped from 18 to 22. Very few schools in the UAE offer AP, and fewer still run it alongside the IB Diploma. At UAS, students genuinely choose the pathway that fits their strengths, and these results show both pathways are thriving.” |
Landmark year for UAS
| Philip Berry, the Secondary Principal, praised a cohort that took the harder road. “These students committed to external examinations in a year when uncertainty touched almost everything around them. They prepared, they sat their papers, and they excelled. A 95% qualifying rate in AP Chemistry would be exceptional in any school, anywhere. I am immensely proud of them, and of the teachers whose expertise and care sit behind every one of these scores.” |  |
The results cap a landmark year for UAS, which marks 20 years since its founding. An Al-Futtaim Education Foundation school in Dubai Festival City, UAS is the only American curriculum school in Dubai rated ‘Very Good’ by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA), and is well on its way to Outstanding.
UAS Advanced Placement students now progress with university credit prospects in hand, joining classmates from the IB pathway at universities around the world.
Advanced Placement at UAS 2025 - 2026:
2025 | 2026 | |
AP students | 92 | 87 |
Students scoring 3 or higher | 74% | 76% |
Top scores of 5 | 13 | 22 |
Standout subject | 100% scored 3+ in AP Pre-Calculus | 95% scored 3+ in AP Chemistry |