Restaurants are pretty much on a par with the UK, fast food is about the same, the chain restaurants like Frankie & Bennies, TGI Fridays, Chiquitos, etc, are about the same. It only really varies when you get into the high end stuff.
You don't need to drive, but it certainly helps. You'd probably want to live somewhere that's close to a metro station or a bus route that can get you to work easily. If you know the location of the school, we can advise you on that. For getting around the malls, etc, taxis are cheap enough, far cheaper than anything in the UK and are all metered so no problems with being scammed. Dubai's not really a place for inexperienced/nervous drivers as other motorists tend to be quite unforgiving.
You don't need to drive, but it certainly helps. You'd probably want to live somewhere that's close to a metro station or a bus route that can get you to work easily. If you know the location of the school, we can advise you on that. For getting around the malls, etc, taxis are cheap enough, far cheaper than anything in the UK and are all metered so no problems with being scammed. Dubai's not really a place for inexperienced/nervous drivers as other motorists tend to be quite unforgiving.