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ABU DHABI/WAM
The Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) is launching the Wellbeing Mark, a new school-wide recognition programme that goes beyond academics to validate a culture of wellbeing, making school-wide wellbeing measurable, transparent, and impossible to ignore.
The Wellbeing Mark will be rolled out across all private and charter schools in Abu Dhabi with the start of the next academic year 2025/26. This isn’t just another label. It’s a game-changer for how we think about education.
Wellbeing is directly linked to student outcomes as research shows that students in supportive, nurturing environments perform better academically, develop stronger resilience, and engage more deeply in learning. Schools that prioritise wellbeing also see higher teacher satisfaction, lower burnout rates and more effective classroom engagement. In other words: Wellbeing isn’t a “nice to have”, it’s a prerequisite for strong academic outcomes.
The Wellbeing Mark offers an unprecedented level of transparency. For the first time, parents will have a clear, standardised measure of how well a school supports the mental, physical and emotional wellbeing of students and teachers. They will know whether their child’s school is actively working to create a happier, healthier and more supportive learning environment. A great education isn’t just about high grades, it’s about growing up in a school that prioritizes the development of the whole child.
The Wellbeing Mark is built on the SPIRE framework, which recognises five core dimensions of wellbeing: self-empowerment, physical, intellectual, relational, and emotional. Each dimension is further broken down into three key elements, ensuring schools take a structured yet flexible approach to embedding wellbeing into everyday life.
64 schools—47 private and 17 charter—are taking part in the pilot phase this year, allowing ADEK to refine the approach before full implementation. The pilot ensures the final Wellbeing Mark is fair, comprehensive, and adaptable, with clear validation criteria to support meaningful change. This process will help shape an initiative that rewards schools for creating a school culture where wellbeing is actively prioritised.
ADEK’s Wellbeing Mark expands the focus from compliance to commitment, from policies to lived experiences and from wellbeing as a buzzword to wellbeing as a benchmark.