One of the most stressful aspects of relocating to Dubai is finding not just the right school for your child but an actual school place as they always seem to be at a premium.  Despite reports of an economic downturn, the population of Dubai is still increasing with the amount of children attending schools rising by 3.6% since 2008 – 2009.

Many of the international schools in Dubai are having their annual inspections this month by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA). These have taken place since 2008, and have kept track of the development of most of the schools operating in Dubai. Annually, it publishes inspection reports and rates the schools, offering a rating system with the categories ‘unsatisfactory’, ‘acceptable’, ‘good’ and ‘outstanding’.  Last year they inspected 215 schools of which 94 schools were rated under the top two categories and 121 under ‘acceptable’ and ‘unsatisfactory’.

Many parents use these ratings when choosing schools and inevitably it means the schools rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ are in high demand.  When moving to Dubai and on inquiring with the admissions office at the schools you will soon discover many schools are full years in advance especially for the younger ages eg KG1 and KG2 so it is  advisable to start contacting schools well before you move here.

With the ever increasing population of Dubai the KHDA is encouraging existing schools to increase capacity where possible and encouraging investors to build new quality schools however you will always find it is the more established schools that have the longer waiting lists.

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See here for information on the documents required when applying to schools.
See here for School Directory