Ahlia was the first private University to be licensed by the Bahrain Government and we enrolled our first students in February 2003. Since then we have grown in all aspects: more students, more courses, more international collaborations – while at the same time maintaining our reputation for the highest quality higher education.I therefore feel a great sense of pride in the achievements of Ahlia’s students and staff as I write this welcome and I look forward to giving you a brief picture of life at Ahlia: our story so far, our achievements in the past year and a glimpse of our future plans.Our academic achievements and community engagement demonstrate the lasting contribution that Ahlia is making to higher education and the wider community in Bahrain. In 2014 our programmes within the Colleges of Medical & Health Sciences and Information Technology were reviewed and achieved a ’high level of confidence’, the highest possible status. We also achieved approval for placement on theMORE