16 Most Asked Dubai School Questions: An FAQ

The following are the questions the WhichSchoolAdvisor.com team are frequently asked about schools in Dubai, so we have  compiled them all and added them below. If you have any additional questions you think we should have this frequently asked questions list, please let us know!

Question 1: Are schools good in Dubai?

Answer: Yes, Dubai has some of the best in the world. It has a huge variety of schools and unlike most markets, all are inspected annually. The Dubai schools inspection bureau (DSIB) rates schools as Outstanding, Very Good,Good, Acceptable and Poor. 17 schools are currently considered Outstanding.

While it is hard to measure things like value added (this kind of data is largely unpublished and often not comparable in any case), in terms of raw output Dubai schools perform exceedingly well in terms of exam results, and in university placements. You can check Dubai's A Level results here, and Dubai's IB results here. The emirate's most successful A Level school, Dubai College, would be a Top 50 UK independent school in terms of its results in most years. JESS Arabian Ranches, with an IB DP average of 39.12, would be considered a high performing school in pretty much any country in the world. Both send a considerable number of students to Oxbridge, Red Bricks and Ivy League institutions - as do many of their peers.

Going to school in Dubai is not, for 99.99% of newcomers, a step backwards, quite the reverse, and the quite fierce level of competition between schools stops them from becoming complacent.

Question 2: When does the academic year start in Dubai?

Answer: For all curricula except Indian, Pakistani and Japanese, school schools begin in September (or last week in August) and ends in June or July. For Indian, Pakistani and Japanese curriculum schools, the academic year is from April to March.

Question 3: What is the best school in Dubai?

Answer: It is the question we are most often asked and everyone wants to know. However, the answer is kind of unsatisfying. The right answer is that depends upon your child's needs. It is understandable that many parents, and even students, would like a simple answer to the question because it would save a lot of time and research (and give some parents and students serious bragging rights!), but that does not mean there is one. Ask yourself:

• Does child like sport?
• Is your child academic?
• Is your child an extrovert or an introvert?
• Does he/she make friends easily?
• Is he/she more likely to find friends in a smaller, or larger school?
• Will your child need additional attention in the classroom?
• Is your child gifted in the classroom, or at a sport?
• Which curriculum are you interested in?
• Where do you plan to go after Dubai?
• What's your budget?

The answers to these, and other questions like them, that may be unique to your situation, will help you identify the characteristics of the school that will be a fit for your child.

Please note, that does not mean that some schools are not performing better than others. In Dubai the KHDA provides a rating for all schools that will help you understand which schools the regulator thinks are currently Outstanding, Very Good, Good, Acceptable or Weak. Abu Dhabi has a similar rating, and Sharjah is in the process of implementing one. In all cases reports need to be read in the context of what the regulator is looking for. It may not be what you are looking for.

Parents also have a view of the best schools in Dubai which can diverge from what regulators, and indeed educators think of as "best". You can read the forums to get a view of this, or, in a much simpler format, take a look at our parent rated Best Schools in Dubai list. We at WhichSchoolAdvisor.com have tried to capture the wisdom of the crowds in our quantitive ranking - the Best Schools in Dubai by parents. The data comes from our parent surveys.

In terms of desk based research the other resources to look at includes our sister site, SchoolsCompared.com, and if you are looking at UK schools, the BSME reports. The latter are very much optional so only a handful of schools have been inspected this way.

Nothing however beats visiting schools, so our final recommendation - once you have made your shortlist - is to visit the schools themselves. On a school visit, here is what to look for.

Question 4: Which curriculum is the best in Dubai?

Answer: You can ask which is the most popular - British with the GCSE (109,000 students) and then Indian with the CBSE (79,000), but to ask which is the best, depends very much on it being fit for purpose for you as a family. Click here for the latest Dubai school statistics.

Most families choose a curriculum that either a) aligns with their national curriculum or b) is a truly international curriculum that 'travels'. 

Option (a) is especially important for international families that plan to 'return home'; while option (b) is important for those parents that do not see themselves returning home, but perhaps moving between countries. Option (b) is also important for parents targeting a tertiary education for their child(ren) outside their country of origin.

The most international curricula are the UK (I/GCSE and A' Level) and the IB. We define international simply as the curricula most frequently used by international private schools around the world, and the qualifications accepted most readily/easily by universities globally.

Note and fascinating factoid: With the addition of the Chinese School for 2020/2021 Dubai now offers 18 different curricula!

Question 5: What is the most expensive school in Dubai?

Answer: Our Dubai school database lists by default schools in order of average fees. North London Collegiate School (UK, IB) currently tops the list with fees of 106.000 AED per annum (USD $28,859.64), closely followed by two IB Continuum schools, GEMS World Academy Dubai (90,500 AED) and then Swiss International Scientific School (89,500 AED). You should note that these are the official fees, approved by the Dubai education regulator, the KHDA. In reality, there are often discounts - some of which are published, and some of which you have to ask for. The size of a discount (and whether there is one at all) depends on how much pressure the school has on school places.

Table of the most expensive schools in Dubai

Click here for the full directory of Dubai schools, listed by price.

Question 6: What are the cheapest schools in Dubai?

The most affordable, cheapest or lowest cost schools can be found in the table below. Note these are either Iranian, or Indian curriculum (CBSE) schools.

Table of the least expensive schools in Dubai

Click here for our Dubai schools directory, ordered by fee, lowest at the top.

The lowest cost UK school (GCSE based) would be the Grammar School Dubai that offers both A Levels and GCSEs and has average fees across age groups of AED 5,500. It is rated Acceptable by the KHDA. The lowest priced UK school rated Good or better is St Mary's Catholic High School, with average annual fees of AED 8,500.

The lowest priced IB continuum school (IB PYP, MYP and DP) in Dubai is considerably more expensive. The honour goes to Emirates International School Meadows or Jumeirah, with average fees of 51,500 AED across year groups.

Last, but not least, the most inexpensive US based school (offering the High School Diploma based on Common Core standards) is the New Academy School, based in Al Raffa.

Question 7: How many schools are in Dubai?

Four new schools opened for the 2020/2021 academic year in Dubai bringing the total number of schools in the emirate to 207 by our calculation. Please let us know if we have missed any.

Here's a table, with their ratings, curriculum, and fees.

Question 8: When can my children start school in Dubai?

Answer: The KHDA rule is that children need to be 3 years by 31st December to start school in the September, many UK curriculum schools with strong links to the UK still follow the UK cut-off date which is 31st August.

As a rule, it is better for children to be among the oldest in the class rather than the youngest, as the level of maturity (and therefore the ability to settle in school) varies enormously at this age.

You should be guided by the Admissions team at the school in choosing what is the best for your child when that time comes.

For Indian, Pakistani and Japanese schools, children need to be four years of age by 31st July to commence school.

Question 9: Are there any free schools in Dubai?

Short answer, no if you are an expatriate, but yes if you are an Emirati. That said, even for international families there are very low cost schools in the emirate. At the time of writing the Iranian Salman Farsi Boys School was the school with the lowest annual fees (2,500 AED, or USD $681).

Question 10: If there are no free schools in Dubai, what happens if I lose my job and cannot pay fees? Can a school expel or suspend my child for non-payment?

Answer: Schools are not permitted to suspend or expel students without authorisation from KHDA, so within a school year it is unlikely you would need to take your child from school.

Some schools may withhold certain documents, such as a transfer certificate or school reports, until they have been paid, however.

It is always a good idea to be honest with your school and keep them informed of your situation.

Question 11: How easy is it to switch schools in Dubai if I am not happy?

Answer: Easy enough. If you are transferring within Dubai, you will need a transfer certificate. If you are leaving Dubai, you may need a ‘student leaving certificate’ to prove the years of study in school in Dubai.

Your child’s school can provide you with these certificates. You may want to ensure they are verified by KHDA.

The difficulty you may have is switching schools mid year, especially between schools of different curricula. You may find your child needs to repeat a year - especially as end of academic years may not coincide...

Question 12: How much are schools in Dubai?

Answer: School fees vary significantly are cater to every segment of society. While everyone always wants fees to be cheaper, the truth is that all price points are pretty much covered with fees currently ranging from 2,500 AED to 106,000 AED.

Note the cheapest school is not necessarily the best value, and the most expensive school is not necessarily the most overpriced. Any parent doing their due diligence needs to ask: Will I be getting what I'm paying for?

Question 13: How much can school fees increase each year?

Answer: This is based on the Educational Cost Index, an inflation rate specifically for schools, that is calculated by the Dubai Statistics Office.

Note, just because a school CAN increase its fees does not mean it will do. In the last few years, schools have actually been lowering fees as a result of increasing competition for students.

The ECI is, moreover, sometimes held at zero, as it has been for the 2020 academic year.

Not for profit schools in Dubai do not have to follow the fees framework as detailed above, but can set their own fees so long as there is board approval, and there is demonstrable, and broad parental support for any fee increases.

Schools can also bypass the ECI if they can show their fees have somehow been left behind. The mechanism they can use to prove this is to compare to a Fair Rate of Return. Details can be found in the Schools Fee Framework, published by the KHDA.

Question 14: Does Dubai have public schools?

Answer: Dubai has government owned and run schools (operated by the Ministry of Education) and it has private independent schools. The UAE also has schools which are government owned, but run by private school groups. None of these are in Dubai.

Question 15: Which is the best IB school in Dubai?

Answer: This would fall into the same category as the answer as the best school in Dubai - it depends very much on what you are looking for.

The highest rated IB school by parents currently in Dubai is North London Collegiate School - although it has received a limited number of surveys from parents so far. It is also the most expensive.

The most successful in terms of IB results is Jumeirah English Speaking School Arabian Ranches, and has been since we began keeping records, over five years ago.

Currently, the following IB Diploma schools are rated outstanding by the KHDA: GEMS Dubai American Academy (US and IB), GEMS Wellington International School (UK and IB), JESS Arabian Ranches (UK, and IB), Repton School Dubai (UK, and IB) and GEMS Modern Academy (CISCE and IB).

Click here to find the 30 IB DP schools in Dubai.

Click here for the full list of the Best IB Schools in Dubai  by Parent Rating.

Question 16: I am not happy. Where can I complain about school in Dubai?

Answer: The KHDA should be your first port of call. It is a wonderfully open organisation. You can literally walk in to its offices at Block 8, Academic City, from 7:30 AM to 4:30 PM Sunday to Wednesday and 7:30 AM to 2:30 PM Thursday.

For complaints, suggestions or enquiries specifically, use its e-Feedback system.

You can also contact the Ministry of Education which has a toll free hotline: 800 51115.