Founded
1987

Originally the American-British Academy

Curriculum
Full IB continuum

PYP + MYP + DP, plus MSA-accredited US diploma

Years
KG–12

Ages 3–18; pre-KG Family Class from age 3

Campus
Madinat Al Irfan

Purpose-built, opened March 2022

Structure
Not-for-profit

Non-selective; CIS + MSA accredited

Tuition 2026/27
OMR 5,360–10,210

Plus OMR 3,500 one-time enrolment fee

The short version

The short version

ABA Oman International School is a not-for-profit, non-selective K-12 school founded in 1987 as the American-British Academy. It was the first school in the GCC authorised for all three International Baccalaureate programmes — the Diploma (1996), Primary Years (2002) and Middle Years (2004) — and today teaches over 920 students from more than 70 nationalities.

Since March 2022 it has occupied a purpose-built campus at Madinat Al Irfan, near the airport.↗↗

For an expat family, the practical summary is this: ABA is the IB answer in Muscat — the only school in the city where a child can spend their entire school life inside one curriculum philosophy, with a US-accredited diploma underneath for transcript portability.

It is non-selective, diverse, and priced between BSM and TAISM at the senior end. The main planning items are the OMR 3,500 enrolment fee and the reality that DP subject choice still needs confirming at interview.

What the school is

A continuum school: one pedagogy from age 3 to 18

The structural fact that defines ABA is the continuum. A child enters the PYP in the early years, moves through the MYP, and finishes with the Diploma Programme — fifteen years inside one inquiry-based framework, with no curriculum switch at 11 or 16.

In Oman only three schools offer this, and ABA is the longest-established.↗

Underneath the IB sits a second credential: every ABA graduate also earns the ABA High School Diploma, accredited by the Middle States Association — a legacy of the school’s American-British founding that keeps transcripts legible to US and Canadian admissions offices.

Over 90% of students layer the full IB Diploma on top, one of the highest DP uptake rates in the region. The school holds dual CIS and MSA accreditation.↗↗

ABA describes itself as non-selective, and its published results show what that can look like: the Classes of 2020 and 2021 each produced a perfect 45/45 IB score, and the Class of 2021 averaged more than three points above the world average with 34% of the cohort scoring 40 or more.

The school also offers the Global Citizen Diploma, described as the first of its kind in the Middle East. Note that these headline years are dated — ask for the most recent two cohorts’ statistics at interview.↗

The campus move

The 2022 move to Madinat Al Irfan — and what it changed

In March 2022 ABA left its original Al Khuwair campus of 35 years and moved to a purpose-built, 3.5-hectare campus at Madinat Al Irfan in Airport Heights, on land granted by Sultan Qaboos. The inauguration was performed by HH Sayyid Bilarab bin Haitham Al Said — himself an ABA alumnus from the Class of 2012.

Older guides still list the school at Al Khuwair or Shatti Al Qurum; those addresses are history.↗↗

The new plant includes a contemporary Learning Centre, a Performing Arts Centre, and an Athletics Centre with two full-size football pitches, three rooftop tennis courts, a 25-metre pool and gymnasiums.

The relocation also changed the school-run map: Madinat Al Irfan sits beside the airport corridor near Muscat Hills and Al Mouj, convenient to Seeb-side neighbourhoods and a different commute from the old Al Khuwair site. Test the journey at school time from wherever you plan to live.↗

Fees and the real cost

2026/27 fees — and the enrolment-fee maths that decides year one

ABA publishes its schedule. For 2026/27, annual tuition runs from OMR 5,360 in Kindergarten through OMR 7,650 in Grades 6–8 to OMR 10,210 in Grades 11–12; pre-KG Family Class options run OMR 3,790–5,050 depending on hours.

On top sit a non-refundable OMR 75 application fee and a registration deposit of 10% of annual tuition, deducted from semester fees but forfeited if the place is not taken.↗

The significant one-time item is the enrolment fee: OMR 3,500 for every KG–Grade 12 entrant, payable in full or two instalments in year one — or OMR 4,000 spread across four annual payments for self-paying families, a premium of OMR 500 for the instalment route.

Sibling rebates apply to the lump-sum option (5% second child, 10% from the third), and a 10% discount applies to children transferring from another Muscat international school where a non-refundable enrolment fee of at least OMR 2,500 was already paid.↗

Two smaller levers: a 2% discount applies if the full year is paid by 25 August, and a 5% late fee applies after invoice due dates.

Read the enrolment fee alongside BSM’s infrastructure fee and TAISM’s capital levy — all three Muscat flagships charge a capital-style one-time fee, and all three give some credit to families moving between them.↗

Admissions

Non-selective entry — but not instant entry

ABA is non-selective in the academic sense — there is no competitive cut-off — but places are still capacity-limited, and Muscat relocation guides report waiting lists at the city’s leading schools in popular year groups.

The school’s CIS accreditation documentation commends “a clear approach to inclusion in admission… open and welcoming to all,” which matches its positioning as the community IB school rather than an exam-hothouse alternative.↗

For mid-year arrivals the continuum structure is a genuine advantage: a child joining from another IB school anywhere in the world lands in a familiar framework, and the MSA-accredited diploma means no transcript discontinuity for US-bound families either.

The honest interview question is DP subject availability — not every subject runs at both Higher and Standard level every year, so confirm your child’s intended HL courses are actually offered.

The family experience

Community, diversity and daily life at Al Irfan

With 70-plus nationalities in a school of about 920, ABA is among the most internationally mixed communities in Oman — a function of its non-selective, continuum model and its long standing with diplomatic and international-organisation families. The school leans into DEIB explicitly and publishes its inclusion approach as part of its accreditation story.↗

The daily-reality question is the new geography. Families housed for the old Al Khuwair campus faced one commute; Al Irfan flips the convenience map toward the airport side of the city.

Ask the school which neighbourhoods its bus routes serve and what the morning journey looks like from Qurum and Madinat Qaboos — the answer may shape where you live more than the school choice itself.

Our readConfidence: High

The IB answer in Muscat — priced between the flagships, with the fee maths read first

Our confidence is High on the structure and the money: ABA publishes its complete fee schedule and enrolment-fee terms, its IB authorisations are on public record, and the 2022 campus move is documented in the Omani press and the project industry’s own case studies.

Our confidence softens on current academic outcomes — the celebrated 45/45 years are 2020 and 2021, and the school does not publish a rolling results average. Ask for the last two cohorts’ DP statistics directly.

The families ABA suits: those wanting one curriculum philosophy from age 3 to 18, globally mobile families for whom the IB travels best, and US-bound families who want the MSA-accredited diploma as a floor under the IB.

The families it suits less well: those set on the British GCSE/A-level track (BSM’s lane) or a pure American programme with AP (TAISM’s lane). Within its lane, ABA has no local rival — the decision is IB or not, and then the enrolment-fee maths.

Take these to the school

Questions that move beyond the tour script

Admissions and transition

  1. For our child’s grade and entry date, is there a waiting list, and how does the assessment or readiness process work for mid-year joiners?
  2. We are transferring from BSM/TAISM — what proof is needed for the 10% enrolment-fee discount?
  3. How are children joining from non-IB curricula supported through the MYP transition?

Academics and pathways

  1. May we see the IB Diploma results — average, pass rate and 40+ share — for the last two cohorts?
  2. Which subjects run at Higher Level in the coming DP cycle, and are any combinations timetabled against each other?
  3. How does the Global Citizen Diploma appear on transcripts, and how do universities receive it?

Cost and logistics

  1. Beyond published tuition, what is the full year-one cost for our family — application, deposit, enrolment fee option, uniform, devices, trips and bus?
  2. Which bus routes serve the Al Irfan campus, and what is the realistic morning journey from Qurum, Madinat Qaboos and Al Mouj?
  3. Is the four-year enrolment-fee plan available to us as a self-paying family, and what documents does it require?

Continue your research

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Sources and further research

Where to verify and keep reading

We favor direct links to the exact page or document a family may need next. Access dates matter because admissions, tuition, leadership, and programs change.