Saudi Arabia expands specialized schools with Media Gifted Academy in Madinah
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia is expanding its specialized public education model into the media sector, with the Ministries of Education and Media opening registration on Wednesday for a new Media Gifted Students School in Madinah.
The initiative targets first-year secondary school students and aims to identify emerging media talent early, nurture their skills, and provide pupils with practical exposure to the industry.
It will offer specialized academic tracks in marketing, media planning, journalism and broadcasting. Students will learn in a practical environment featuring dedicated training rooms, filming studios, sound and editing suites, and laboratories for journalistic content and digital media production. The curriculum has been updated to align with modern digital platforms, emerging storytelling forms and rapidly evolving content technologies.
Candidates will be assessed on their linguistic and creative abilities, including writing, news storytelling, presentation and media analysis. The selection process will also include a personal interview, a critical thinking evaluation, and the submission of a sample media product such as a video, podcast or written article.
The model adds professional specialization to the national curriculum, which students will continue to follow while receiving specialized media training supervised by both ministries.
This Ministry of Education’s specialized schools strategy allows students to develop depth of knowledge in a targeted field before university without compromising core secondary education. It brings some of the exploration and practical training normally associated with higher education or later professional practice directly into the school years, demonstrating a proactive approach to cultivating a promising generation of talent.
The school is the latest addition to a growing series of partnerships between the Ministry of Education and specialized institutions across different sectors. These include a public technology secondary school in Riyadh, launched with Tuwaiq Academy (2024); a specialized school for gifted athletes in Riyadh, launched with Mahd Sports Academy (2024); Afaq Academy for Arts and Culture, established in partnership with the Ministry of Culture in Jeddah and Riyadh (2025); and a specialized mathematics school in Jeddah, launched in partnership with King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (2026).
The initiative marks another step in the Ministry of Education’s broader shift toward specialized, future-oriented models of schooling. Its Human Capability Development Program identifies investment in national talent, aligning educational outcomes with labor-market needs, and developing future skills as key priorities.
Early specialization can help students discover their strengths sooner and build meaningful expertise while preserving the breadth of a national education. It offers students the opportunity to develop a serious field of interest well before university, with access to facilities, mentors and sector-specific training that would otherwise be difficult to obtain in a typical school setting.
The launch in Madinah adds media to an expanding portfolio of technology, arts, sports, mathematics and advanced industries, pointing to an education model in which the school serves as a direct gateway into the sectors that will shape the Kingdom’s next generation.
Registration for the Media Gifted Students School is available online via the official portal.