DESS is a very good school and it is cheaper than Compass. The bad news is that there is also a long waiting list for DESS. I know of one lady who waited three years for her son to be given a place at DESS! Therefore my advice would be to pay up. Compass has a very good reputation and the chances of getting your children into another good school in Doha are just about zero. Of course there are other schools that will have places, but you will find out very quickly that there is a reason why they have vacancies. Sherborne might perhaps have vacancies, but I think that you will find that they are almost as expensive as Compass.