Inside Saudi Arabia's Next Education Boom: 4 Key Trends in K-12 Private Schools Entering a new educational market requires very careful planning for any operator or educator.

The private education sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is undergoing significant changes. An influx of new private schools have recently opened, and regulations to strengthen the quality of education have been developed, with more on the way. Parents are grappling with new and existing school choices, and competition is heating up as existing operators sharpen their offerings to maintain their presence in the market.

Over the last year, we have undertaken extensive primary research, gathering the insights of parents across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. We've spoken to over 1,000 parents across public and private schools, canvassing their views on the academic quality of their schools, their motivations for choosing a school, likes and dislikes, and their aspirations for the future.

As someone who's conducted research in the region for the last 17 years, I'm always keen to listen to parents firsthand, and to learn about the nuances of what parents actually want and need, rather than rely on desktop research, cliches and/or tired thinking.

Entering a new educational market requires very careful planning for any operator or educator. A deep understanding of parental motivations and drivers is crucial. Without this insight, there is a significant risk of misinterpreting the market, leading to decisions that could be detrimental both commercially and educationally.

So, here's my 4 key takeaways about the evolving private school sector in KSA:

Local versus International
We're talking about a different level of scale in KSA, as the population is close to 40 million people, unlike the smaller GCC countries. Expatriates represent approximately 7% of the population in KSA, therefore, the large majority of the population are KSA Nationals, and consequently, they largely attend public schools.

It is well known that the country has a significant youth population with 67% of the population represented by children and the youth. In Riyadh, within private international schools, student enrollment is up 15% across all price segments. This is driven by Saudis choosing private over public, and the increase in the expatriate population, which is up 12%.

In our research, 76% of parents wanted local and international qualifications. They see the benefits of US and UK curricula, mainly for its delivery in English but having the local Ministry of Education curriculum as an option is equally as important. It seems an obvious point but if you haven't got a strong ground game in Arabic and Islamic Studies, and if you're not in tune with Saudi national values, then don't expect parents to fall over to attend your school.

Surprisingly, most Saudi parents prefer gender-segregated schools starting from Grade 4 onwards and continuing until the end of high school. In our focus groups, they told us they believe that this approach aligns better with cultural expectations and values, providing a more comfortable learning environment for students during their formative years.

The idea of partly segregated or mixed schools where some activities or classes might be mixed while others remain segregated received some consideration. However, it is generally less favored compared to complete segregation.

1. Sports, The Arts, and music are high in-demand but underserved in and outside of school

You've already seen the headlines, and infrastructure announcements about the FIFA World Cup in 2034, the growth and expansion of the Saudi Football league with Christiano Ronaldo as its major star. Headline Boxing events, LIV Golf, and major music events happening across the Kingdom. It goes without saying that the sports and entertainment industry has been disrupted by the investments made and the impact of KSA on sport and entertainment.

I would be remiss not to mention my team, Newcastle United.

Despite these headline investments at the top of the industry, long term, sustainable development on a grassroots level takes time and investment.

In KSA, most schools typically finish around 2pm, some as early as 1pm which doesn't leave much room for enrichment activities that you would normally expect as part of a normal school day in a private school. In our research, 81% of parents would be happy with a longer school day to accommodate more enrichment activities. 70% of parents surveyed expressed a positive sentiment towards enrichment for their child's education, yet 75% of parents suggested their child does not take part in enrichment outside of school either.

A significant concern expressed by parents is that talented children leave school with limited pathways to specialise, and without an eco-system that includes advanced training, higher education opportunities, and relevant job prospects in the sports and entertainment industry.

Academic quality
A common factor across all private school markets globally is the demand for rigorous academic outcomes, and for high quality teachers. Historically, students across the public and private sector in KSA haven't achieved the same as their peers in international benchmarking tests that countries around the world participate in to evaluate their effectiveness.

Only 30% of our surveyed parents had a positive feeling about their current school's academic performance. In speaking to them, this was a big concern, and top of their list of improvements, above everything else.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, within KSA, only 30% of 15-year-old students achieved at least Level 2 proficiency in mathematics, which is considerably lower than the OECD countries' average of 69%. For comparison, the achievement rate exceeds 85% in countries like Singapore, Japan, and Estonia. Additionally, in KSA, only 37% of 15-year-olds reached this proficiency level in reading, compared to the OECD average of 74%, with Singapore having a higher rate of 89%. In the field of science, 38% of KSA students reached at least Level 2 proficiency, again falling short of the OECD average of 76%.

There are two main drivers to improve academic outcomes – the quality of teachers recruited, and the quality of teacher training. There isn't a golden bullet for either solution, and both are global issues that affect a country's ability to transform its sector. For context, no country has solved this problem yet. Unfortunately, very few have been bold enough to tackle the problem by leveraging the 'un-tapped' workforce, of career professionals willing to switch into the teaching profession, and women who have taken career breaks are looking to re-enter the workforce but not in their previous career.

It is expected that student academic outcomes will improve in the next round of international benchmarking tests, which will illustrate the impact of the current reforms, and the increase of new schools in the market who are differentiating themselves from the existing operators.

Related: How Competition And Choice Are Driving Innovation In The MENA Education Sector

There is a mis-match between what parents are getting vs what schools are producing vs what the labour market needs
According to a 2022 UNESCO report, Saudi Arabia has seen a significant expansion in its AI workforce, mirroring the growing need for AI expertise across various industries. By 2022, there were over 1,400 AI specialists identified by their job titles within the country, and an even larger group of more than 165,000 workers possessed at least two AI-related skills. The demand for AI professionals in the Saudi market has surged, with job listings for AI roles increasing almost 54% annually from 2018 to 2022. At the same time, the workforce possessing AI capabilities expanded by nearly 51% each year during the same period.

In our research, parents felt the digital skills developed in school provided the best career prospects to their child, above all other factors. 88% of parents had a positive sentiment towards digital skills for their child's education, 89% of parents suggested interest in a specialist digital school, with coding, graphic design and robotics as the popular choices.35% of the parents were highly likely to send their child to a school that focussed on this.

Overall, parents expressed that there is not enough emphasis on social behavior, critical thinking, problem-solving, or vocational skills. These areas are crucial for holistic student development and future success, yet they are frequently overlooked in favor of traditional academic metrics.

In KSA, more than 40% of the students are expected to graduate from humanities, Islamic studies or life and social sciences courses which is a standard figure across countries and universities. The UK, for example, is 46% and Malaysia is 47%.

Projections indicate a shift in demand from conventional offerings toward fields such as Technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Robotics, Nuclear Energy, and various forms of sustainable and renewable energies, including Solar Energy, among others.

What does all this mean? What is the data telling us?
Parents in KSA are increasingly discerning and are tuned into the macro trends of the global job market and implications for their young people. It is a mistake to think that the sector will follow a similar path of maturation that other countries have followed. The current changes in the education sector in KSA are taking place at a time when technology is outpacing everything else. Other education markets did not mature under the same circumstances.

The context in KSA is unique, and therefore, system and school level solutions aimed at better quality and better outcomes need to be designed with the context in-mind.

In conversations with my colleagues and peers in the education sector, I often talk about the 'frontier' mindset that is required to enter a new market. In layman's terms, you need to be open to building knowledge rather than just importing it from outside. The importer mindset has failed on so many levels in other GCC countries but there's never any shortage of people trying to adopt this approach.

In KSA, they are already building a unique ecosystem underpinned by Saudi values and heritage. Operators looking to enter the market would be wise to engage with the local practices rather than import systems from elsewhere that don't align to the unique challenges faced in KSA.