ADEC 2015/16 Inspection Results: The Fees

As ADEC releases the final batch of 2015/16 inspection reports this week, bringing the total number of schools inspected this cycle to 83, WhichSchoolAdvisor.com took a look at the correlation between fees and ADEC rating. On the whole, it would appear in Abu Dhabi, as in Dubai, you get the education you pay for. In essence, the lower rated schools cost less, while the more expensive options achieve better rankings. Also see: Full list of reports released in 2016 by rating/price; Abu Dhabi Movers and Shakers in 2016 There are however exceptions and therefore ‘educational bargains’ to be had. In the under  AED 10,000 bracket where most schools are rated Weak, there are two schools rated Good. These are the very affordable Al Danat KG Private School (AED 7,200 to AED 7,900) and Sunrise English Private School (AED 5,500 to AED 9,300). For under AED 15,000 there’s Emirates Private School (AED 7,590 to AED 14,375), which was also rated Good this year. The remaining Good schools come in between AED 10,000+ and AED 22,000+ for the younger years, and AED 20,000 and AED 55,000 for senior year groups. The Very Good schools are in general, more homogeneous in price, with fees for the youngest years ranging from between AED 40,000 to AED 55,000 and for senior years, AED 40,000 to AED 67,000. Two exceptions offering Very Good education at lower price points are Merryland International (AED 12,600 to 27,800) and the Japanese School of Abu Dhabi which has a flat rate of just over AED 29,000 for every school year. The three Outstanding rated schools are, as expected, 'premium priced.' Fees range from AED 36,100 for the youngest years at Al Raha International to AED 62,800 for the final years at Al Bateen Secondary Al Mushrif Private School, with Al Muna Primary School asking a flat rate of AED 41,580 for every school year. The most variable priced group must be those rated Acceptable. The cheapest in this group are the very affordable - The Model Private School, New Indian Model School and the Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Bangladesh Islamia Private School all between AED 3,500 and AED 7,000  per year. The rest of the Acceptable schools are priced between AED 5,000 and AED 23,000 for the lowest years and AED 10,000 and AED 44,000 for the highest years. Of the Weak and Very Weak schools almost all are priced consistently under 33,000, with many significantly lower than this price. An exception worth noting in this bracket however, is the Emirates National Al Nayhan School, which while rated Weak, the fees are ranked 8th most expensive in this overall 2015/16 batch, costing parents between AED 22,000 and AED 56,000 per year. The Al Ain English Speaking School, also rated Weak charges between AED 22,000 and AED 41,000 per year. The most expensive school in this round of reports is Repton Foundation school which while just receiving its first rating (a Very Good) charges parents between AED 55,000 and AED 67,000. The second most expensive school in the batch is GEMS American Academy (also rated Very Good) with fees between AED 47,880 and AED 66,780, while the third most expensive is another new school receiving its first inspection rating, also Very Good, is the Sheikh Zayed Academy for Girls, costing between AED 27,600 and AED 63,700. Also see: Full list of reports released in 2016 by rating/price; Abu Dhabi Movers and Shakers in 2016