How it works
Three steps to knowing where it is worth applying.
You should not have to write to twenty schools to work out which ones suit your children. Tell us about your family once, and your adviser researches the options, contacts relevant admissions teams and explains the reasoning in writing.
Prepared by InternationalSchools.orgPublished July 2026Last reviewed September 2026
US$499 per family · One-time fee · You review the service and the price before you pay.
In short
- US$499 per family, one destination, every child named in your brief.
- A named adviser, and a 30-minute consultation before any research starts.
- Up to 8 admissions teams contacted on your behalf.
- Your shortlist within 7 working days, counted from your consultation and complete brief.
- Written reasoning for each child, plus a 30-minute review call.
- Commercial arrangements never influence research or recommendations.
Three steps
Three steps. One named adviser. A clear plan for your family.
Tell us about your family
Share your destination, each child's age and year group, curriculum preferences, budget and intended start date. Then discuss your priorities in a 30-minute consultation with your named adviser. One brief covers all the children named in it.
We research your options
Your adviser assesses suitable schools for each child and contacts relevant admissions teams about the questions that matter to your search, within the agreed service scope.
Know where to apply — and why
Receive three recommended schools plus up to two suitable alternatives, with written reasoning for each child and clear next steps. Discuss the recommendations in a 30-minute review call, with follow-up questions answered for 30 days.
What you tell us
- Where you are moving
- Dubai
- Children
- Sofia (age 8) · Luca (age 5)
- Curriculum
- British preferred
- Start
- August
You tell us once, for every child. Your adviser assesses the brief and contacts relevant admissions teams on your behalf.
Example only. School names in these examples are fictional.
Your schools · 2 children · British curriculum · Starting August
Westbrook International School
From the school
North campus · British · Annual fees: Confirmed for your intake
Fees confirmed for the academic year you asked about
- Sofia · Year 4Place availablePlace available for August
- Luca · Year 1Place availablePlace available for August
Next step: Assessment, then offer
Harbour Ridge Academy
From the school
City campus · British · Annual fees: Confirmed for your intake
Fees confirmed for the academic year you asked about
- Sofia · Year 4Place availablePlace available for August
- Luca · Year 1Waiting listWaiting list, reviewed monthly
Next step: Campus visit, then assessment
Elmfield International College
From our team
Main campus · British · Annual fees: Earlier-year reference fee
Fees for your intake not yet confirmed
- Sofia · Year 4Not confirmedPlaces not yet confirmed
- Luca · Year 1Not confirmedPlaces not yet confirmed
Next step: We ask admissions to confirm
Every option says who provided the information and whether places are confirmed. Your adviser explains what each answer means for your children.
Example school options. School names in these examples are fictional.
Illustrative examples of the information used in your research. School names are fictional, and nothing here represents actual availability or a completed search.
The detail behind the steps
What happens between your consultation and your recommendations.
Why the consultation comes first
Year-group equivalence, travel time, sibling placement, learning support and budget change the answer. Thirty minutes usually removes several schools from consideration.
How the research is done
Your adviser combines school information, fee data, intake patterns and what admissions teams say about your dates, and distinguishes confirmed answers from information still awaiting confirmation.
What you decide
Everything that follows. You choose which schools to approach, when to apply, and whether to ask us more questions during the 30-day follow-up period.
What is included
The published scope of Personal School Search, US$499 per family.
- One agreed destination anywhere in the world, and every child named in your brief
- A 30-minute consultation with your named adviser
- A written shortlist: 3 recommended schools, plus up to 2 alternatives where suitable
- If fewer than three schools genuinely fit your brief, we explain why and present the options that do
- Written reasoning explaining the fit for each child
- Up to 8 admissions teams contacted on your behalf
- One 30-minute review call after your shortlist arrives
- Your shortlist within 7 working days, counted from your consultation and your complete brief
- Written questions on the agreed search answered for 30 days, replies within 2 working days
- We show you how to arrange school visits; we do not book or attend them
- Applications, assessments and admissions decisions stay with you and the school
What we do
- Research the realistic options for every child named in your brief.
- Contact up to 8 relevant admissions teams on your behalf.
- Explain, in writing, why each recommended school fits your family.
- Distinguish confirmed answers from information awaiting confirmation.
What we do not do
- Let a school pay to be recommended, or to be recommended more highly.
- Promise a place, an offer, a reply or a reply time.
- Submit applications, sit assessments or book school visits for you.
- Sell your personal details.
What an admissions answer looks like
Where a school answers, you see that answer for each child, and what it means.
Alongside the answer, we look at the year group your child would enter, the fees for that year group, whether your start date is possible and what the next step would be, such as an assessment or a visit.
Fees are shown the same honest way: confirmed for the academic year you asked about, or an earlier-year reference fee, clearly dated. Where a school does not reply, we say so rather than guess.
Your details, your decision
We contact admissions teams on your behalf, and you decide what happens next.
Your personal details are never sold, and you decide which schools you go on to approach.
When your adviser contacts an admissions team about your family, it is to answer the questions in your brief. Schools may use what we share only to answer your family.
Questions families ask
US$499 per family · One-time fee · You review the service and the price before you pay.
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Last reviewed: September 2026
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