Constructing on the launch of the GEMS Genius Scholarship in 2025, GEMS Schooling carried out a landmark Open Day throughout 43 of its colleges within the UAE and Qatar. The colleges welcomed over 500 shortlisted college students and their households, chosen from the complete pool of greater than 2,200 purposes throughout the UAE and Qatar, for the following stage of this extremely aggressive scholarship journey.
The GEMS Genius Scholarship is a flagship merit-based initiative designed to establish, nurture, and assist high-potential college students throughout a variety of skills and skills. The initiative focuses on encouraging the genius inside each baby, creating their distinctive talents, and supporting them as they proceed their journey towards turning into assured, succesful, and well-rounded younger folks. Admissions had been open to high-performing college students in Yr 10 and Yr 12 from each GEMS and non-GEMS colleges throughout the area. Scholarships are provided as tuition reductions for 2 educational years, with values various by college and particular person scholar profile, with as much as 100% tuition help out there. Recipients could apply for the scholarship on the finish of the two-year time period.
Commenting on the broader significance of the initiative, Dino Varkey, Group Chief Govt Officer of GEMS Schooling, stated: “This initiative carefully aligns with the UAE’s nationwide priorities round expertise growth, academic excellence and future-ready expertise. By figuring out and nurturing college students with robust potential throughout educational, artistic, management and different domains, the initiative contributes to the event of a assured, expert and socially accountable era of learners.”
Held concurrently throughout taking part campuses, the Open Day introduced collectively shortlisted college students for interviews and CAT4 assessments (Cognitive Talents Check, Fourth Version). Notably,54 p.c of shortlisted candidates had been college students at the moment attending colleges outdoors the GEMS community, reflecting the scholarship’s broad regional attain. CAT4 is a globally recognised, curriculum-independent evaluation that measures cognitive aptitude reasonably than curriculum-specific information. This method ensures honest and constant analysis throughout various academic pathways, together with British, Worldwide Baccalaureate (IB), Indian, and American.
“The Open Day dropped at life what the GEMS Genius Scholarship stands for – alternative, aspiration and perception within the potential of each baby,” stated Lisa Crausby OBE, GEMS Group Chief Schooling Officer. “Seeing college students and households from throughout the UAE have interaction so positively with our colleges reinforces the depth of expertise within the nation and the belief positioned in GEMS as an schooling accomplice. The initiative embodies our perception in empowering distinctive college students to succeed in their full potential no matter their background or circumstances.”
The 2026 version of the GEMS Genius Scholarship opened for purposes in November 2025 and launched a major new function to the method. For the primary time, candidates had been in a position to point out a first-choice and alternative-choice college, permitting robust candidates to be thought of throughout a wider vary of GEMS colleges. This enhancement was designed to maximise alternatives for scholar candidates..
Past evaluation, the Open Day was deliberately designed as a celebration of scholars, households and the values that underpin GEMS Schooling. Households had been welcomed onto campuses for guided excursions, scholar showcases, and Household First actions, providing an genuine perception into college tradition, studying environments and the broader GEMS neighborhood.
Crausby added: “Yearly, we look ahead to the open day, a key milestone in our scholarship journey and a real celebration of every little thing GEMS stands for. We had been delighted by the robust curiosity within the initiative and had been very impressed by the interviews that confirmed how a lot potential awaits discovery in our colleges. Congratulations to each scholar: being shortlisted is an achievement in itself.”
Following the completion of a centralised evaluate course of, the outcomes of the evaluation, together with a remaining checklist of scholarship recipients, can be introduced later in February 2026.
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