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GEMS School Management (GSM), the advisory body of GEMS Education, has announced it will take over management of a school in Jordan - Aqaba International School (AIS) - continuing its rapid growth into new international markets.

The international schools group is set to take control at the beginning of the 2026-27 academic year, expanding its network of international schools to over 90 worldwide.

AIS currently has around 500 pupils, with plans to increase its capacity to 700 by 2030 as part of its “Realising the Vision” plan implemented from last year.

As part of this plan, AIS will also be working to expand its International Baccalaureate programme alongside its Cambridge Early Years curriculum and Arabic language programme.

This move reflects GEMS’ continued efforts to increase its international presence in new markets, following recent plans to build schools in Georgia and Zanzibar.

Speaking to ����Vlog after the Zanzibar announcement, CEO of GSM Rob Tarn said “we are ambitious in where we’ll work - we’re not saying no to anything”, adding that more deals were in the pipeline.

UK state head appointment

The announcement of the new school coincides with GEMS’ appointment of Nicholas Soar as principal and CEO of GEMS Founders School in Dubai, an English curriculum school where fees begin from £5,000 per year.

Soar joins from the Harris Federation, where he served as executive principal across schools in London.

He begins his new position in August and, speaking to ����Vlog about the move, Soar said he was motivated to join GEMS to help more children “really get a sense of where to go in life” - something he has experience in from past state roles that he hopes to emulate.

He added: “One of the great joys I had was working in Canary Wharf [in London] with a big Catholic school called Bishop Challoner, where I was the executive head. I loved setting up the partnerships with big advertising agencies like Ogilvy, Bank of Scotland and NatWest, and so on.

“I thought it was great how big corporate entities can help schools and help young people grow, [and] I’m very excited about work experience and the way in which employability and employment opportunities can help children really get a sense of where to go in life.”

He noted, too, that he has worked in both private education and international education before, including in Poland, and so has “crossed the Rubicon” between the two systems before.

Change ahead

Although he admitted that for staff at the Harris Federation, news of his departure came as something of a shock, not least because he had to keep it quiet for some time to avoid “being a distraction” to staff and parents, especially during exam season.

“Obviously, my boss, Sir Dan Moynihan, knew and was very encouraging of a move abroad - I wouldn’t have moved to anybody in England outside Harris,” he said.

And added: “The headteachers I work with, I told them about 10 days ago, and so they’ve sort of got used to it, but change is hard for some people - they are just getting their head around how they’re going to make next year work.”

The move to join GEMS follows other high-profile appointments, such as GSM CEO Rob Tarn and Lisa Crausby, who joined the group in 2024 after previously being executive director of education at Star Academies. Soar acknowledged this was another draw to the role.

He said: “I was very drawn by [Crausby’s] own vision towards the school, and very particularly about teaching and ways of teaching.”