Driving along Dubai’s main ring road near the Nad al-Sheba racecourse, it is hard to miss the half-constructed towers and spires of Repton Dubai, the Gulf outpost of the famous British public school, as they rise from the desert.

Located close to Dubailand, a massive theme park under construction, the school brings to mind, perhaps, the world of Harry Potter, the fictional boy wizard. But Repton Dubai, the largest campus in the Middle East, aims to meet demand for quality education – a large gap in Dubai’s attempts to turn itself into a world-class city.