Our History

Qatar International School is an English-speaking private day school located in Doha, the capital city of the State of Qatar. QIS was founded by the Owner Sheikh Ali bin Ahmed bin Thani Al Thani and the first Principal, Mrs. Griffin in 1977, making it one of the first British schools in Qatar. From its very small beginnings over 40 years ago it has now grown into one of the largest and most successful schools in the country with around 1,900 students.

In 2001 the school moved to its current, purpose built campus in the Diplomatic Quarter of Dafna, adjacent to the impressive skyscrapers and business centre of West Bay. Here, under the ownership of the founder’s son Sheikh Khalid bin Ali bin Ahmad Al Thani, the school continues to thrive, expanding and developing its excellent specialist facilities, which include science laboratories, ICT suites, a swimming pool, playing field, and 2 large sports hall.

QIS became the first and only school in the Middle East to be accredited to deliver OLEVI training courses straight from the UK, such as The Outstanding Teacher’s Programme. In 2015 we received the highest possible grading from the Qatar National School’s Accreditation programme when we were inspected and certified for 5 years. In 2016 we hosted the first tour of Qatar by Sir John Jones and later the same year we were awarded full BSO status (British School Overseas) by the UK Government following an excellent inspection in October 2019.