Meeting KHDA Inclusion Standards in Primary Maths: A Guide for Dubai Schools

When I looked into the KHDA Inspection Framework for 2026, what stood out to me immediately is that inspectors are no longer satisfied with general statements about inclusion. Schools are expected to show *how* they differentiate curriculum in practice, and specifically how they use adaptive technology to support neurodivergent learners, referred to in the UAE as Students of Determination.

This is a meaningful shift. The bar has moved from intention to evidence. Inspectors want to see that a school's approach to inclusion is embedded in the day-to-day experience of the classroom, not confined to a policy document. In core subjects, and especially maths, that means showing that every child, including those with dyscalculia, ADHD, autism or maths anxiety, has access to a learning tool designed with their needs in mind.

The specific expectation around adaptive EdTech for core subjects is, in my view, the part most schools are currently underprepared for.

Maths is where the tension between attainment pressure and inclusion philosophy is at its sharpest. Times tables, number fluency, mental arithmetic: these are the building blocks that Year 4, 5 and 6 pupils need, and they are also the areas where children with maths anxiety, processing differences or working memory challenges are most likely to fall behind and feel it acutely.

Here's what I'm seeing again and again in the conversations we're having with teachers and SENCOs: the problem isn't a lack of good intentions. It's that most maths tools are built for the neurotypical child who can tolerate repetitive drilling and isn't rattled by a ticking timer or a competitive scoreboard. Slap that kind of tool into a classroom with a mixed profile of learners, and it will genuinely widen the gap rather than close it.

For KHDA purposes, a tool that causes distress or disengagement for Students of Determination is not a demonstration of inclusive practice. It's the opposite.

I want to be specific here, because the phrase "SEND-friendly" gets used loosely. When I looked at what the research and practitioner guidance consistently says about supporting neurodivergent learners in maths, a few things come up every time.

First, motivation and emotional safety. Children who have already experienced failure in maths need an entry point that doesn't immediately remind them of that failure. Game-based learning, where the game itself is genuinely engaging rather than thinly disguised drilling, lowers the emotional stakes significantly.

Second, meaningful social and multiplayer elements. For many neurodivergent children, especially those who may feel isolated in a traditional classroom, playing alongside peers in a structured, low-stakes multiplayer environment builds a sense of belonging and shared experience. That is not a nice-to-have. It actively supports engagement and retention.

Third, flexibility in pace and presentation. A child with processing differences should not be competing on identical terms with a child who has no such challenges. The tool needs to adapt.

This is exactly the design philosophy behind XTables Champions. We built our times-tables and maths fluency web app specifically for children with maths anxiety, SEND and neurodivergent profiles, grounding it in games that children actually want to play and multiplayer formats that bring children together rather than isolating those who are slower to respond. As our founder Gal Darrash puts it, *"We started from the child who finds maths hardest. If the tool works for them, it works for everyone."*

Let me bring this back to the inspection context directly. When a KHDA inspector asks your school to demonstrate differentiated practice in primary maths, here is the kind of evidence that answers the question well.

1. A named tool in use with Students of Determination that was designed with neurodivergent needs in mind, not retrofitted or adapted from a neurotypical product.
2. Teacher and SENCO accounts of how the tool is used, what it offers in terms of pacing and accessibility, and what engagement looks like for pupils who previously disengaged from maths.
3. Pupil voice. Children who feel safe and motivated in their maths practice will say so. That matters to inspectors.

XTables Champions addresses all three of those points. Because it's built from the ground up for children who struggle, it is not a workaround or an add-on. It is the tool. And because it's multiplayer and game-based, children want to use it. In our early conversations with schools, the word we hear most often is "engagement", and it comes from SENCOs who were not expecting it.

If KHDA inclusion criteria are on your horizon, I'd suggest starting with your maths provision for Students of Determination in Key Stage 2 equivalents. Ask honestly: does the tool you're currently using for times-tables and number fluency have any SEND-specific design features, or was it built for the average learner? Would a child with dyscalculia or maths anxiety actually feel safe using it?

If the answer is uncertain, that's a gap worth closing before an inspector asks the same question.

We're a young, founder-led company and we're not here to oversell what we do. But we do know that XTables Champions was built to answer precisely the kind of inclusion challenge that KHDA is now formally requiring schools to address, and we'd love to talk to Dubai school leaders and SENCOs who want to understand whether it fits their context.

If you're a senior leader, SENCO or Year 4-6 teacher at a private school in Dubai or the wider UAE, and you want to understand how XTables Champions supports Students of Determination in primary maths, I'd encourage you to get in touch directly via xtableschampions.com.

Tell us about your current provision and your inspection context. We'll give you a straight, honest conversation about what our software does, how it works in practice, and whether it's the right fit for your school. No pressure, just a real discussion about what your children need.