This article investigates the importance of global competence and its incorporation in interventions from Grade 5 to Grade 12 public education in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to prepare learners for local and global challenges, such as sustainable development, technological innovation, climate change, etc. Using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA 2018) and a machine learning model, the study presented here reveals that three key "global competence indicators" contribute to student academic performance in both the UAE and member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). These three indicators are (1) self-efficacy regarding global issues; (2) awareness of global issues; and (3) awareness of intercultural communication. The study identifies that boys attending public (UAE government-funded) K-12 schools need particular interventions to improve all three key global competence skills, while girls would benefit from building stronger self-efficacy regarding global issues and from improving awareness of intercultural communication. This article details evidence on which global competence interventions can be built and integrated with efforts to close achievement gaps in UAE K-12 public schools. The authors recommend intervention designs and target population groups which would benefit most from the findings of this research study.