AssessPrep Records 104 percent Growth in UAE School Assessments

Digital assessment is becoming a more integral part of teaching and examination processes in UAE schools, with activity on the education technology platform AssessPrep more than doubling in the first half of 2026.

Schools in AssessPrep’s UAE network conducted 24,317 assessments between January and June 2026, up from 11,932 in the same period of the previous year. This represents a 104% increase. Student submissions on the platform rose 69% to 266,410 from 157,207 during the corresponding timeframe.

AssessPrep currently partners with 26 schools in the UAE. Of these, 21 follow the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum and five follow the American curriculum. The UAE is the company’s largest market within its 39-school network across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.

Growth was not solely the result of new school additions. Among 17 UAE schools that used the platform in both periods, the number of assessments created rose 24%, from 11,758 in the first half of 2025 to 14,600 in the first half of 2026. Usage between April and June increased 37% year-on-year among the same group, with assessments climbing from 5,704 to 7,838.

The rise coincides with a stronger emphasis on continuous evaluation, data use and technology in UAE assessment and learning systems. The UAE Ministry of Education’s Student Assessment Policy Guide for the 2026–27 academic year sets out the approved framework for continuous, school-based and centralised assessments across school levels. The guide also supports teachers and school leaders in applying data-driven methods to improve instruction, monitor student progress and strengthen learning outcomes.

AI is simultaneously gaining prominence in the national education discussion. In Abu Dhabi, the Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) is expanding its AI Literacy initiative across more than 170 private schools. The programme includes teacher training and guidance on integrating AI into teaching and learning.

For schools, the shift is moving digital assessment beyond simply transferring examinations online. Technology is now applied across the full assessment cycle from creating and administering assessments to grading, providing feedback and analysing student performance.

At Fairgreen International School in Dubai, teachers are using AI-assisted features to reduce the time needed to prepare feedback. “Teachers can use the AI feature to produce the feedback in the school format, and that has really cut down on time,” said Shannon Johnson, IB MYP Coordinator and DP History Teacher at Fairgreen International School.

The International Baccalaureate is also preparing to introduce on-screen examinations for Diploma Programme and Career-related Programme students. In July the IB stated that the digital examinations will initially mirror existing paper-based assessments, with students taking the tests on laptops or desktop computers within IB schools.

Against this background, the growing use of digital assessment in UAE schools points to a wider change in how schools gather and apply learning data, rather than a simple replacement of paper-based examinations.

“Assessment is increasingly becoming part of the teaching workflow rather than a separate activity at the end of a learning cycle. The growth we are seeing in the UAE reflects schools using digital assessment more frequently across classrooms, examinations and feedback,” said Karan Gupta, Co-founder of AssessPrep.

“AI is adding another layer to this transition by helping teachers reduce repetitive work while giving them more time to focus on interpreting student performance and supporting learning. The objective is not to replace the teacher, but to make the assessment process more useful and manageable for educators,” Gupta added.

AssessPrep currently supports more than 800 schools across 85 countries and has facilitated more than 5 million student submissions. The platform covers IB MYP and DP, IGCSE, AP, A-Level and more than 600 international curriculum frameworks. The company states that its AI-enabled assessment tools have helped schools reclaim more than one million hours of teacher time.

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The platform allows teachers to create assessments, conduct secure online or paper-based tests, grade submissions with AI-assisted tools and analyse assessment data within a single system.

The reported figures and statements reflect the platform’s expanding role in UAE classrooms as schools respond to policy direction, curriculum requirements and the practical demands of continuous assessment. The increase in both overall volume and intensity of use among existing partner schools indicates that digital tools are being embedded more deeply into regular teaching practice rather than remaining limited to end-of-term examinations.

As UAE education authorities continue to prioritise data-informed instruction and AI literacy, platforms that combine secure assessment delivery with practical AI support for teachers are likely to remain relevant to schools navigating these changes. AssessPrep’s experience in the UAE, its largest GCC market, illustrates one example of how international curriculum schools are adapting assessment workflows in response to both local policy and global curriculum developments such as the IB’s planned move to on-screen examinations.

The platform’s focus remains on enabling teachers to manage the full assessment cycle more efficiently while retaining professional judgment over interpretation of student performance and instructional decisions. The growth recorded in the first half of 2026 provides a measurable indicator of the pace at which digital assessment is becoming a routine element of school practice in the UAE.