Abu Dhabi's coding school is on track to develop the UAE's workforce of the future after receiving more than 10,000 applications since opening its doors in October.
42 Abu Dhabi is proving popular with a new generation of learners eager to be equipped with the tools needed to thrive in the digital age.
It welcomed 225 students in its first intake and has the capacity to fill 1,000 fully funded places for courses of up to three years.
With no classrooms or teachers, the forward-thinking school is available free of charge.
Students sharpen their programming skills through internships, projects, games and peer-to-peer learning.
The cutting-edge centre has attracted applicants from diverse backgrounds, including oil and gas engineers, university professors and schoolteachers, recent graduates, information technology experts, flight attendants and even a DJ.
“Since the school launched, we have received over 10,000 applications, 550 of them reached our inaugural Piscine stage [final assessment]," said Leo Filardi, chief executive of 42 Abu Dhabi.
"Of the 550 Piscine applicants, 225 successful students were invited to join the programme; and we currently have 152 students on campus from more than 32 nationalities.
For the 2022 intake, the school doubled the numbers to offer the opportunity for aspiring coders to apply and earn one of about 1,000 seat openings, Mr Filardi said.
"We can already see great interest and applications, as thousands of students are now taking the online logic test," he said.
“The 1,000 applicants will be tested and challenged throughout the 25 days, with successful applicants invited to join the programme.”
How difficult is it to get a place at the school?
Applying to 42 Abu Dhabi is a three-step process. Interested candidates can register on the school's website and take a pre-selection test to evaluate their skills through logic and memory games.
Successful candidates are invited to attend a check-in, which is an hour-long virtual session that provides details about the test, curriculum and student life.
Following this, candidates are invited to join the Piscine, a comprehensive 25-day programme, designed to test aptitude in computer programming, motivation, endurance, and commitment.
“We do not select students in the traditional sense of faculty decisions to select students, but we give all applicants an equal opportunity to test their motivation, endurance, and commitment,” said Mr Filardi.
“It’s important for them to understand that the process is not a competition.
“Applicants who make it through the Piscine stage with the highest scores will be invited to join the programme.
"There is no specific number of students that we accept, if all applicants proved their ability to join the programme, we will invite them all, and if only one applicant proved his or her ability, then only that applicant will be able to join.”
Who can apply for a place at 42 Abu Dhabi?
42 Abu Dhabi is open to anyone aged 18 and above who has a high school certificate.
Candidates do not require previous coding experience or academic qualifications.
People looking for work across all industries with an interest in upskilling or re-skilling are encouraged to apply irrespective of coding experience. There is no upper age limit, and a high school certificate and a minimum age of 18 years old are the only requirements.
“All sectors require code to survive in the new technology-driven age," said Mr Filardi.
"We do not only graduate coders, but we graduate critical thinkers and problem solvers who are capable of leading the development of their respective industries. You could be a doctor, an engineer, an artist, a researcher, or a programmer and you will benefit from 42 Abu Dhabi."
He said the school focused on equipping students with hard programming skills, as well as soft skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and adaptability.
Students complete the programme at their own pace, and it can them take between three and five years.
All students are required to complete two internships during the course: the first at the end of the foundation stage and the second towards the end of the programme.
42 opened its first campus in Paris in 2013 and to date has equipped more than 12,000 students around the world with digital and business skills.
“We don't compete with the traditional education, we work along with them," Mr Filardi said.
"We have some students here studying at universities doing their bachelor's and then they come to 42 to understand how technology can enhance their learning."
In the absence of teachers and classrooms, students learn through project-based learning, peer-to-peer learning and evaluating each other's work. Collectively, they learn and succeed.
If a student is struggling with the peer-to-peer process, the school arranges a session with them to explain how to provide good feedback or how to give a good evaluation.
"It's the strength of the group that makes them succeed. It's not an individual journey, it's a collaborative journey," said Mr Filardi.
The coding school has signed partnerships with organisations such as Huawei, Oracle, Microsoft, Intel, and Du.
They recently collaborated with Oracle to host a series of workshops and talks at their campus.
The sessions focused on topics such as artificial intelligence, innovation, business applications, blockchain, among other topics.
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
PRESIDENTS CUP
Draw for Presidents Cup fourball matches on Thursday (Internationals first mention). All times UAE:
02.32am (Thursday): Marc Leishman/Joaquin Niemann v Tiger Woods/Justin Thomas
02.47am (Thursday): Adam Hadwin/Im Sung-jae v Xander Schauffele/Patrick Cantlay
03.02am (Thursday): Adam Scott/An Byeong-hun v Bryson DeChambeau/Tony Finau
03.17am (Thursday): Hideki Matsuyama/CT Pan v Webb Simpson/Patrick Reed
03.32am (Thursday): Abraham Ancer/Louis Oosthuizen v Dustin Johnson/Gary Woodland
Another way to earn air miles
In addition to the Emirates and Etihad programmes, there is the Air Miles Middle East card, which offers members the ability to choose any airline, has no black-out dates and no restrictions on seat availability. Air Miles is linked up to HSBC credit cards and can also be earned through retail partners such as Spinneys, Sharaf DG and The Toy Store.
An Emirates Dubai-London round-trip ticket costs 180,000 miles on the Air Miles website. But customers earn these ‘miles’ at a much faster rate than airline miles. Adidas offers two air miles per Dh1 spent. Air Miles has partnerships with websites as well, so booking.com and agoda.com offer three miles per Dh1 spent.
“If you use your HSBC credit card when shopping at our partners, you are able to earn Air Miles twice which will mean you can get that flight reward faster and for less spend,” says Paul Lacey, the managing director for Europe, Middle East and India for Aimia, which owns and operates Air Miles Middle East.
DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE
Starring: Ryan Reynolds, Hugh Jackman, Emma Corrin
Director: Shawn Levy
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 247hp at 6,500rpm
Torque: 370Nm from 1,500-3,500rpm
Transmission: 10-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 7.8L/100km
Price: from Dh94,900
On sale: now
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Key findings of Jenkins report
- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
Yuki Means Happiness
Alison Jean Lester
John Murray
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
Mobile phone packages comparison
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THE SPECS
Engine: 1.6-litre turbo
Transmission: six-speed automatic
Power: 165hp
Torque: 240Nm
Price: From Dh89,000 (Enjoy), Dh99,900 (Innovation)
On sale: Now
Hotel Silence
Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Pushkin Press
Results
1. New Zealand Daniel Meech – Fine (name of horse), Richard Gardner – Calisto, Bruce Goodin - Backatorps Danny V, Samantha McIntosh – Check In. Team total First round: 200.22; Second round: 201.75 – Penalties 12 (jump-off 40.16 seconds) Prize €64,000
2. Ireland Cameron Hanley – Aiyetoro, David Simpson – Keoki, Paul Kennedy – Cartown Danger Mouse, Shane Breen – Laith. Team total 200.25/202.84 – P 12 (jump-off 51.79 – P17) Prize €40,000
3. Italy Luca Maria Moneta – Connery, Luca Coata – Crandessa, Simone Coata – Dardonge, Natale Chiaudani – Almero. Team total 130.82/198.-4 – P20. Prize €32,000
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Top New Zealand cop on policing the virtual world
New Zealand police began closer scrutiny of social media and online communities after the attacks on two mosques in March, the country's top officer said.
The killing of 51 people in Christchurch and wounding of more than 40 others shocked the world. Brenton Tarrant, a suspected white supremacist, was accused of the killings. His trial is ongoing and he denies the charges.
Mike Bush, commissioner of New Zealand Police, said officers looked closely at how they monitored social media in the wake of the tragedy to see if lessons could be learned.
“We decided that it was fit for purpose but we need to deepen it in terms of community relationships, extending them not only with the traditional community but the virtual one as well," he told The National.
"We want to get ahead of attacks like we suffered in New Zealand so we have to challenge ourselves to be better."
Retail gloom
Online grocer Ocado revealed retail sales fell 5.7 per cen in its first quarter as customers switched back to pre-pandemic shopping patterns.
It was a tough comparison from a year earlier, when the UK was in lockdown, but on a two-year basis its retail division, a joint venture with Marks&Spencer, rose 31.7 per cent over the quarter.
The group added that a 15 per cent drop in customer basket size offset an 11.6. per cent rise in the number of customer transactions.
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Volunteers offer workers a lifeline
Community volunteers have swung into action delivering food packages and toiletries to the men.
When provisions are distributed, the men line up in long queues for packets of rice, flour, sugar, salt, pulses, milk, biscuits, shaving kits, soap and telecom cards.
Volunteers from St Mary’s Catholic Church said some workers came to the church to pray for their families and ask for assistance.
Boxes packed with essential food items were distributed to workers in the Dubai Investments Park and Ras Al Khaimah camps last week. Workers at the Sonapur camp asked for Dh1,600 towards their gas bill.
“Especially in this year of tolerance we consider ourselves privileged to be able to lend a helping hand to our needy brothers in the Actco camp," Father Lennie Connully, parish priest of St Mary’s.
Workers spoke of their helplessness, seeing children’s marriages cancelled because of lack of money going home. Others told of their misery of being unable to return home when a parent died.
“More than daily food, they are worried about not sending money home for their family,” said Kusum Dutta, a volunteer who works with the Indian consulate.
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
