International schools in Dubai
Start your Dubai school search
Tell us what your family needs once, and see matched Dubai schools with places, fees and next steps.
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Planning a move to Dubai?
Admissions, curricula, fees, school timing and what families need to know.
What you tell us
- Where you are moving
- Dubai
- Children
- Sofia (age 8) · Luca (age 5)
- Curriculum
- British preferred
- Start
- August
You tell us once, for every child. Your adviser assesses the brief and contacts relevant admissions teams on your behalf.
Example only. School names in these examples are fictional.
Dubai in short
- Private schools in Dubai are licensed and inspected by KHDA, which also governs how much published tuition may rise in a year.
- Most schools run a late-August start, with British, IB, American and Indian curricula all widely available.
- Tuition is published per year group. Registration, deposit, transport, uniform, meals and exam entries are billed separately.
- Availability is decided per year group and per campus, so two children in one family can get two different answers from the same school.
- You can tell us once and see matched Dubai schools with whether they have places for each of your children.
Prepared by InternationalSchools.orgPublished July 2026Last reviewed September 2026
Dubai at a glance
The facts that shape a Dubai school search
- Regulator
- Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA)
- Inspection
- Annual, under the UAE School Inspection Framework
- Main curricula
- British, IB, American, Indian and other national systems
- School year
- Late August to June or July (some Indian schools start in April)
- Main intake
- August or September, with limited mid-year entry
- Ages served
- Approximately 3 to 18
Dubai is one of the few cities in the world where almost every child in a private school is, in some sense, new. Around nine in ten residents came from somewhere else, and school communities turn over every summer as families arrive and leave. That has two practical consequences for you: schools are genuinely used to mid-year arrivals and to children switching curriculum, and places open and close through the year in a way a published prospectus can never keep up with.
It also means the city is unusually transparent. Private schools are licensed and inspected by KHDA against one common framework, fee increases are regulated rather than free-set, and inspection outcomes are published. What is not published is the single thing families most need: whether a specific year group, at a specific campus, has room for your child this term.
How admissions work in Dubai
Most Dubai schools follow the same three stages, whatever the curriculum.
- 1
Ask the school about the year group
Confirm the year group each child would enter in Dubai. Age cut-offs differ between systems, so the same child can be placed a year apart in two schools.
- 2
Assessment
Most Dubai schools assess before offering a place. This can be a short online task, a classroom visit or a subject test, depending on age.
- 3
Offer, deposit and registration
An offer is usually held only after a registration fee and deposit are paid. Both are commonly non-refundable, so check the terms before accepting.
What a KHDA inspection rating does and does not tell you
Every private school in Dubai is inspected against the same UAE School Inspection Framework, and the outcome is published. That makes ratings unusually comparable across curricula, which is rare in international education. What a rating does not tell you is whether the school has a place for your child, how your child's year group is staffed this year, how far the bus runs, or how the school handles a mid-year arrival. A rating describes the school as a whole; admissions happen one year group at a time.
Documents to prepare
Some documents may need attestation, which takes time to arrange from abroad. Start collecting them before you have chosen a school.
- Passport and residence visa page for each child
- Emirates ID once issued
- Birth certificate
- School reports for the last two years
- Transfer or leaving certificate from the previous school
- Vaccination and health records
- Any learning support or assessment reports, shared early rather than late
More detail: the Dubai admissions timeline and how international-school admissions work.
Curricula families meet in Dubai
Dubai offers more curricula side by side than almost any other city, which is an advantage once you know which one your children should continue in.
British curriculum in Dubai
The most widely available system in the city, running to IGCSE and A Level.
International Baccalaureate
PYP, MYP and the Diploma, offered by a smaller number of Dubai schools.
American curriculum
US-style grades, high-school credits and AP, with its own age placement rules.
Changing curriculum mid-move
What transfers cleanly between systems and where a child may repeat or skip a year.
The Dubai school year and when to act
Timing decides which intake you are applying for, and how much choice you still have.
September to November
Start looking for the following August
Six to nine months of lead time is realistic for the main intake. Popular year groups fill first.
December to February
Assessments and offers
Most assessment slots are taken in this window, and offers follow within days or weeks.
March to June
Places confirmed, waiting lists move
Deposits secure places. Waiting lists move as families who are leaving Dubai release places.
Late August
Term starts
Most curricula begin the academic year. Some Indian-curriculum schools run an April start instead.
Mid-year
January entry and in-year moves
Possible, but limited to whichever year groups have room. This is where asking schools directly saves the most time.
Arriving mid-year is normal here
Dubai is a city people move to all year round, so schools are used to in-year arrivals. What limits you is not the calendar but the specific year group: early primary and the exam years tend to be tightest, and one campus can be full while another campus of the same group is not. Published pages will not tell you which year groups are open this month — only the school can.
Understanding school costs in Dubai
Published tuition is the starting point, not the total. Plan the year around the full list.
- Tuition
- Published per year group by each school and regulated by KHDA on increases
- Registration fee
- Charged at application or offer stage, usually non-refundable
- Deposit
- Secures the place and is often deducted from the first term's tuition
- Transport
- School bus is charged separately and varies by distance and route
- Uniform, books, devices
- One-off costs at the start of the year, higher in the first year
- Meals and activities
- Optional at most schools, but a real part of the annual budget
- Examination entries
- IGCSE, A Level, IB and AP entries are billed in the exam years
How a first year is actually paid
The first year is front-loaded. Registration and assessment fees are paid before any offer and are usually non-refundable. A deposit follows the offer, and is normally credited against a term of tuition rather than returned. Tuition itself is billed termly, or annually in advance where a school offers a discount. Transport, uniform, devices and meals land in the weeks before term starts, and examination entries appear only in IGCSE, A Level, AP and IB Diploma years. Budget against the published rate for the year group each child will actually be in, not the school's lowest published fee.
Read more in how Dubai school fees are structured or compare fees across cities.
Places and waiting lists
Which Dubai schools have places for your children?
A place is not something a school has in general. It exists for one year group, at one campus, for one intake. Two children in the same family can get two different answers from the same school on the same day.
School websites cannot tell you this. Availability changes when a family leaves, when a contract ends, or when a new year group opens. That is why relevant schools answer directly instead of publishing a number that would be out of date by the time you read it.
For each child, a Dubai school can answer that a place is available, that there is a waiting list, that the intake is full, or that it cannot confirm yet. You see the answer, the fees and the next step, and you decide where to focus.
US$499 per family · One-time fee · You review the service and the price before you pay.
Your schools · Dubai · 2 children · British curriculum · Starting August
Westbrook International School Dubai
From the school
Dubai Hills · British · Annual fees: Confirmed for your intake
Fees confirmed for the academic year you asked about
- Sofia · Year 4Place availablePlace available for August
- Luca · Year 1Place availablePlace available for August
Next step: Assessment, then offer
Al Nasima British School
From the school
Jumeirah · British · Annual fees: Confirmed for your intake
Fees confirmed for the academic year you asked about
- Sofia · Year 4Place availablePlace available for August
- Luca · Year 1Waiting listWaiting list, reviewed monthly
Next step: Campus visit, then assessment
Marina Ridge International School
From our team
Dubai Marina · British · Annual fees: Earlier-year reference fee
Fees for your intake not yet confirmed
- Sofia · Year 4Not confirmedPlaces not yet confirmed
- Luca · Year 1Not confirmedPlaces not yet confirmed
Next step: We ask admissions to confirm
Every option says who provided the information and whether places are confirmed. Your adviser explains what each answer means for your children.
Example school options. School names in these examples are fictional.
Choosing where to live in Dubai
A neutral way to think about the decision. We do not rank areas or schools.
Judge the journey, not the distance
Dubai commutes depend on the corridor you travel. A school 12 km away can be a shorter morning run than one 6 km away across a bottleneck. Test the route at school-run times before you sign a lease.
Decide school first, then housing
Housing contracts in Dubai are usually annual. Families who choose the school first rarely regret it; families who choose the neighbourhood first often spend a year driving.
Bus routes change the answer
Many schools run buses well beyond their immediate area. If a school you like is further out, ask whether your community is on an existing route.
Campuses are not interchangeable
Several Dubai school groups run more than one campus. Availability, fees and the daily journey can all differ between them, so always ask about the campus you would actually attend.
The school run is the decision behind the decision
- Distance is measured in minutes, not kilometres. Sheikh Zayed Road and Al Khail Road behave very differently at 07:15 than at 10:00. A school twelve kilometres away can be a fifteen-minute drive or a fifty-minute one.
- Bus routes decide more than maps do. School transport is priced by zone or route and does not cover every community. Ask whether your specific address is on a route before you sign a lease.
- Start times differ by school and by phase. With children in different phases or different schools, two drop-offs can be twenty minutes and eight kilometres apart.
- Leases run a year. Most Dubai tenancy contracts are annual and paid in a small number of cheques, so a commute you dislike is a commute you keep for a year.
Before you choose an area, find out where your children can actually be placed.
US$499 per family · One-time fee · You review the service and the price before you pay.
Moving to Dubai with children: a checklist
The school-related steps that decide how smooth the first term is.
The sequence most families get wrong
The common order is job, then housing, then school. In Dubai that order costs families a year, because the lease is annual and the school decides the commute. Residency and Emirates ID also sit on the critical path: a school can hold an offer while paperwork is processed, but enrolment usually completes once the visa is done. Ask about places first, sign the lease second.
- Confirm each child's year group under the curriculum you are moving to.
- Collect and, where required, attest school reports and certificates before you leave.
- Ask schools about places for every child in the same request, not one at a time.
- Check whether registration fees and deposits are refundable if your move date changes.
- Plan the residence visa and Emirates ID timeline, because enrolment can depend on it.
- Ask about learning support early, since capacity is decided case by case.
- Line up housing only after you know which school can take all of your children.
See also the moving-abroad timeline.
Moving with more than one child
One school that works for every child, not one child
Most families moving to Dubai are moving with more than one child, and the hardest part is rarely finding a good school. It is finding one school that can take all of your children in the same year.
Checking each child separately, school by school, is where the search becomes slow. A school that has room in Year 1 may be full in Year 4, and you only learn that after two emails and a wait.
One request covers every child. Each school answers for each child, so you can see immediately where all of your children could start together, and where you would be splitting the family across two schools.
- Ask once for the whole family, not once per child.
- See sibling answers side by side before you contact anyone.
- Ask about sibling priority and start dates while places are still open.
Your schools, side by side
Westbrook International School Dubai
- Information
- From the school
- Curriculum
- British
- Area
- Dubai Hills
- Annual fees
- Confirmed for your intake
- Next step
- Assessment, then offer
Al Nasima British School
- Information
- From the school
- Curriculum
- British
- Area
- Jumeirah
- Annual fees
- Confirmed for your intake
- Next step
- Campus visit, then assessment
Marina Ridge International School
- Information
- From our team
- Curriculum
- British
- Area
- Dubai Marina
- Annual fees
- Earlier-year reference fee
- Next step
- We ask admissions to confirm
Westbrook International School Dubai
Al Nasima British School
Marina Ridge International School
Sofia · Year 4
Luca · Year 1
Information
From the school
From the school
From our team
Curriculum
British
British
British
Area
Dubai Hills
Jumeirah
Dubai Marina
Annual fees
Confirmed for your intake
Confirmed for your intake
Earlier-year reference fee
Next step
Assessment, then offer
Campus visit, then assessment
We ask admissions to confirm
Example comparison. School names in these examples are fictional.
Official Dubai resources
Primary sources for regulation, inspection and residency. We link out rather than paraphrase.
- KHDA — Knowledge and Human Development AuthorityThe regulator for private schools in Dubai: licensing, inspection and fee regulation.
- KHDA school inspection reportsInspection outcomes for individual private schools in Dubai.
- UAE Government portal — educationOfficial federal information on schooling, curricula and enrolment in the UAE.
- UAE Government portal — residence visasResidency and Emirates ID processes that affect school enrolment timing.
How InternationalSchools.org works in Dubai
Tell us what your family needs once, and see matched Dubai schools with places, fees and next steps.
- 1
Tell us about your family and Dubai
Each child's age and year group, the curriculum you prefer, your budget and when you want to start. One brief covers every child named in it.
- 2
Your adviser researches Dubai
A 30-minute consultation, then research of the Dubai schools that suit each child, and contact with relevant admissions teams about your intended start date.
- 3
Receive your recommendations
Three recommended Dubai schools plus up to two alternatives where suitable, with written reasoning for each child, a review call and follow-up questions answered for 30 days.
We do not publish scores or predict availability. How we select schools.
What surprises families in the first term
Small, specific things that rarely appear in a prospectus, and are easier to plan for than to discover in week two.
The year group may not be the one you expect
Dubai schools place by age against their curriculum's cut-off. A child moving from a September-cut-off system to another can be offered the year above or below the one they have just finished.
Assessment is placement, not a verdict
Most schools assess to confirm year group and language support. It is normal, and it is not a competitive exam in every school.
Arabic and Islamic studies are part of the timetable
Arabic is taught in all Dubai private schools, and Islamic studies is taught to Muslim students. Provision differs by school, so ask how a beginner is supported.
Devices, uniform and trips arrive at once
A required laptop or iPad programme is common from upper primary, and the pre-term bill often lands alongside uniform and transport.
Term dates follow the UAE calendar
The school week runs Monday to Friday, the year is shaped around the summer heat, and public holidays follow the Islamic calendar, so dates move year to year.
A city that is still a place, not only a skyline.
Weekends run Saturday to Sunday, the school year is shaped around the heat, and most families find their rhythm by the second term.
Questions families ask about Dubai
Find international schools in Dubai for your children
One conversation, every child, answers from the schools themselves.
US$499 per family · One-time fee · You review the service and the price before you pay.
Continue reading
Dubai school fees
Tuition by year group, regulated increases and the charges billed separately.
Dubai admissions timeline
When to apply for August, the assessment and offer stages, and mid-year entry.
Waiting lists and availability
How waiting lists really work, and what to ask before you join one.
Other destinations
You can search any destination, published guide or not.
Last reviewed: 2026-09-03
Fees, intakes and admissions requirements are set by individual schools and change. Always confirm the details with the school for your child's year group and campus.
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