International House Dubai

International House Dubai (IH Dubai), accredited by Ministry of Education, is an affiliate of the International House World Organisation (IHWO). IHWO is a network of schools worldwide that are committed to implementing high standards of quality in education and training.

The International House World Organisation (IHWO) has more than 140 affiliate schools in over 40 different countries, teaching 19 different languages (the IH Dubai team alone speak 16 different languages! Including Arabic, English, Portuguese, Hindi, Farsi and Japanese) and has been established for more than 57 years. Each school is independently owned and managed but is affiliated to IHWO. This means that the school becomes part of the IHWO network and agrees to adhere to the rigorous quality management systems of IHWO. All International House schools follow strict quality standards, are inspected regularly and are dedicated to providing the highest quality language learning and teacher training opportunities.

Our mission, as IH Dubai, is to 'Raise Language Education Standards in the Region'.

We operate from dedicated facilities on Sheikh Zayed Road. All courses are carefully selected and are aimed at raising standards of English and to enable individuals to gain international language qualifications in a convenient and flexible way.

International House was founded in 1953 by John and Brita Haycraft, with the aim of providing an innovative approach to language teaching. IH has remained at the forefront of development in the field of language teaching and in the training of language teachers.

What do we do?

We teach English
We teach Modern Languages
We train teachers
We train executives
We write training materials
We offer consultancy services
Raising language education standards

Throughout International House’s network of schools around the world there is a unified commitment to the highest standards of education and a determination to raise the standards of language teaching.

Promoting international understanding

Through our language training activities we develop communication and understanding between people across the world. Learning a language develops the process of seeing the world from another perspective – a genuine route to international understanding.

Learning English

We are making a significant contribution to global communications by teaching English - today's international language - to over 50,000 people worldwide.
Learning other languages

Many International House schools teach a range of languages in addition to English. They offer a broad spectrum of courses tailored to the needs of both general and business clients.

Training materials

International House staff have been involved in the writing of numerous best-selling textbooks and have contributed to a wide range of publications in the field of language teaching.

Consultancy Services

By drawing upon our global exposure, the depth of our human resources and a wide range of professional expertise, International House is uniquely placed to provide consultancy services in teacher training, teacher recruitment, school management and the development of course materials.

Teacher training

International House developed the first training courses for teachers of English and has continued to innovate both in pre-service training and teacher development. Globally, the language teachers that we train are acknowledged as amongst the most able, creative and authoritative within their profession. Our teacher training programmes are a hallmark of excellence and outstanding professionalism.

IH Teacher Training Centres have a special commitment to working with teachers whose first language is not English, creating career opportunities for teachers from different backgrounds and working to improve the quality of language teaching provision in the state system.

History of IH & Teacher Training

In 1962, John Haycraft launched the first IH Certificate - the first training course in how to teach languages interactively, without translation, in a lively and motivating way. This groundbreaking course was first advertised in The Spectator in October 1962, and rapidly set the standard for teacher qualfication in ELT, with thousands of teachers worldwide becoming IH-trained.

From 1977 to 1988 the certificate was administered by the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and became widely known as the "RSA". In 1988 the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES) took over responsibility for the administration of the certificate and it was renamed the Certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Adults (CTEFLA).

In 1996 it was updated and re-named the CELTA. The original IH Certificate - now much updated - is still run at IH schools around the world and is content-equivalent to its sister qualification, the CELTA.