I guess sadly there are just not enough places to go around. As you say Doha College and DESS are British Embassy or British / curriculum schools, however you see them, so I consider the fact that 50% of places at DC are going to non Brits to be pretty generous really for those of you annoyed about not having the right passport. Perhaps people need to encourage their own governments to establish schools in Qatar for their nationals rather than relying on other countries to provide this service for them. This then might help those 'annoyed brits with average kids' an opportunity to go to a british school of their choice. Schools here do their best for a rapidly increasing population and do not deserve such criticism as to please everyone is an impossible task. I feel for those of you who are having schooling difficulties here.