The key facts
- Mark Leppard leaves BSAK in August and will head Tanglin Trust School in Singapore
- His successor is Robin Macpherson, head of Robert Gordon's College since 2020, with Dubai experience (2008–2011)
- During Leppard's tenure, BSAK pupil numbers grew from about 1,600 to around 2,030, with staff retention at 92–96%
Leadership change at Abu Dhabi's oldest British school
Mark Leppard, who has led The British School Al Khubairat (BSAK) in Abu Dhabi for 12 years, will leave the UAE in August to take up the post of chief executive of Singapore's Tanglin Trust School, founded in 1925. He revealed this in an interview with The National. Leppard, 57, began his career in the region in 1996 at Qatar's Doha College, where he rose from PE teacher to principal, and says he considers the region home: 'My children grew up here. I've had a wonderful life.' He described the decision to leave as difficult, but explained it by a desire to 'test myself in a different environment.' In 2015, his contribution to education was recognised with the title of Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE).
12 years in review and the successor
During Leppard's tenure, BSAK, founded in 1968 on land donated by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, grew from roughly 1,600 pupils to about 2,030 (the school admits children aged 3 to 18). The headteacher also described the staff retention rate of 92–96% as 'incredible' and linked it to the not-for-profit school model, which, in his words, reinvests 'every dirham' into the institution, including staff training. His successor will be Robin Macpherson, who has headed Scotland's Robert Gordon's College in Aberdeen (more than 1,400 pupils) since 2020. He worked at Repton School Dubai from 2008 to 2011, which, as noted in the BSAK statement, gives him 'valuable regional experience and an understanding of the cultural context.' Board of Governors chairman Faisal Raja emphasised that the board was particularly impressed by Macpherson's educational vision and his commitment to academic excellence, inclusion and community. Macpherson will take up the post in August, shortly before the start of the 2027–28 academic year.
A view on education in the Gulf
Leppard described the region, and the UAE in particular, as 'always very ambitious in education': in his observation, attention to education, artificial intelligence and physical literacy has grown, and over the coming year he expects the impact of AI on schools to increase significantly. He also noted the wave of openings of branches of well-known British schools in the Emirates, calling the sector well regulated and high quality, but stressed the 'unique advantage' of not-for-profit schools like BSAK. He described himself as 'a cog — hopefully a positive one — in the school's history.'
