Dubai international school fees: tuition and additional costs

The short version

The short version

The table compares dated tuition schedules for 13 Dubai schools. A secondary example at DIA Emirates Hills is AED 65,224 for Years 7–9 in 2025–26; NLCS’s secondary listing gives AED 127,103 for Grades 6–8 in the same year. These examples are not citywide price limits. The cited reporting describes a 2026–27 tuition freeze, which holds each grade’s tuition but not the deposits and services on an entry-year invoice.

Build the budget in three parts: tuition, additional spending and money paid in advance. Application fees may be additional or credited; tuition deposits should not be counted twice. Refundable debentures are a separate cash requirement. Add transport, required support, examinations and other compulsory charges using the school’s itemised quote.

DIA Years 7–9

AED 65,224

2025–26 tuition; obtain the intended entry-year quote

NLCS Grades 6–8

AED 127,103

2025–26 secondary listing; confirm with the school

Advance payments

Avoid double counting

Credited deposits form part of tuition

Three-year budgets

Follow grade progression

Later fee increases in the examples are assumptions

The numbers

Tuition and joining payments at 13 Dubai schools

The table uses the schedules retained in the school profiles, with their academic years shown. British Year 7 and Grade 6 are commonly comparable stages, but placement depends on age cutoffs and the child’s previous schooling. Read the stated band rather than assuming every school uses the same year labels. Secondary-source rows need a school-issued quote; the linked profiles explain their evidence and unresolved questions.

Kings’ School Dubai is primary-only; its fees come from secondary sources, and admission to Kings’ Al Barsha should be confirmed separately. SISD’s row covers the bilingual stream; request a separate English STEAM quote where relevant. NLCS’s acceptance deposit differs between sources: AED 10,000 in one listing and 10% of tuition in a school document. Obtain the current terms rather than treating either figure as settled.

What tuition leaves out

Costs beyond tuition

Check these four categories alongside tuition:

• Advance payments: Repton’s 10% new-pupil and 5% returning-pupil payments are credited against tuition. DESS College’s AED 5,000 acceptance payment for external Years 7–10 applicants is also credited. Kings’ secondary-source percentages require a current quote. A credited deposit affects when you pay, not the annual tuition total.
• Debentures: Dubai College lists a refundable AED 30,000 personal debenture and JESS a refundable AED 20,000 personal debenture. JESS corporate debentures can provide admissions priority under the employer’s arrangement and the relevant campus’s rules. A debenture is not an unconditional admission guarantee.
• Transport: the cited Dubai College fare is AED 2,500 per term both ways, or AED 7,500 across three terms. Secondary sources give Repton zone prices of roughly AED 6,100–11,500 and GWA prices of AED 6,450–9,850. Fares vary by route and operator, and bus fees are outside the tuition freeze.
• Support and examinations: DAA lists an AED 10,000 annual ELL charge from 2026–27, while DIA lists AED 4,500 annually for EAL where assessed as necessary. GWA’s cited optional-fee schedule lists individual learning-support assistance at AED 20,100–67,000 annually. Establish the provision and charges that apply to the child. Public examination entries may also be billed separately.

Repton’s 2026–27 boarding charge is AED 66,500 for weekly or AED 72,000 for full boarding, excluding tuition, with a separate refundable AED 50,000 deposit. SISD’s 2025–26 schedule lists weekly boarding at AED 198,625–216,118 and full boarding at AED 237,475–254,968. Whether those packages include day tuition differs by school, so do not add the two figures together without the school’s breakdown.

The regulator

How the KHDA caps fees — ECI, ratings and the freeze

The cited reporting gives an Education Cost Index of 2.35% for 2025–26 and describes a framework linking eligible increases to inspection outcomes. Each school’s increase still needs individual KHDA approval. The KHDA guide explains how to read dated inspection evidence.

The cited report describes a citywide tuition freeze for 2026–27. For budgeting, distinguish the tuition schedule from these other changes:

• Additional services: transport, support, trips and equipment are priced separately and can rise during a tuition freeze.
• Grade progression: a child moving into a more expensive band pays that band’s rate. In the cited JESS schedule, Year 6 is AED 65,097 and Year 7 is AED 91,923, a difference of AED 26,826, or about 41%, without changing either listed rate.
• Later years: do not assume that a freeze continues or that a particular increase automatically resumes. Use clearly labelled scenarios until later schedules are available.

Payment timing is school-specific. Repton lists term payments of 40%, 30% and 30%; other schools use different splits and deposit rules. A billed discount and an approved tuition figure are different amounts, and the duration of a discount matters for a multi-year budget.

Worked examples

Two children, three years: what to actually budget

The examples start with children entering Year 7 and Year 5. They progress to Years 8 and 6 in the second year, then Years 9 and 7 in the third. Later-year tuition is modelled at 2.35% annual growth purely as a planning assumption, not a prediction of an approved increase. Repton uses its 2026–27 schedule; DIA uses its available 2025–26 schedule as a baseline that needs an entry-year quote. Credited payments are included within tuition, not added again.

Scenario A: Repton Dubai. The starting tuition is AED 81,121 for Year 7 and AED 75,953 for Year 5. The model uses AED 84,366 for Year 8 and AED 86,529 for Year 9 from the same schedule, before applying the hypothetical increases. Transport is assumed to cost AED 8,000 per child each year and is held flat throughout.

• Year 1: tuition AED 157,074, two application fees totalling AED 1,050 and assumed transport of AED 16,000 give AED 174,124. The AED 15,707.40 acceptance deposit is part of tuition, not an extra cost on top of this total.
• Year 2: Years 8 and 6 tuition is (AED 84,366 + AED 75,953) × 1.0235 = approximately AED 164,086. Add the same AED 16,000 transport assumption for AED 180,086.
• Year 3: Years 9 and 7 tuition is (AED 86,529 + AED 81,121) × 1.0235² = approximately AED 175,622. With AED 16,000 transport, the total is AED 191,622.
• Three-year total: approximately AED 545,833, comprising AED 496,783 tuition, AED 48,000 transport and AED 1,050 applications. Totals are rounded after calculation. Uniforms, devices, trips, support and examination charges are excluded.

Scenario B: DIA Emirates Hills. Its 2025–26 schedule lists AED 65,224 for Years 7–9 and AED 57,983 for Years 2–6. Starting in Years 7 and 5, combined tuition is AED 123,207 in year one. In year two, the children are in Years 8 and 6: AED 123,207 × 1.0235 = approximately AED 126,102. In year three, they are in Years 9 and 7: AED 130,448 × 1.0235² = approximately AED 136,651. Three-year tuition totals about AED 385,960, approximately AED 110,822 below Repton’s modelled tuition. This is a tuition comparison, not a judgement of school quality. DIA’s AED 525 entrance-test payment per child is credited against Term 1, so it is not added again. EAL, where required, is listed at AED 4,500 annually; transport and other extras are excluded from this scenario.

Use the child’s actual grade progression in each year of a budget. Keep tuition, additional services and refundable cash requirements separate. Replace these assumptions with the school’s current quote and your family’s transport and support needs before using the totals for an employer allowance.

For the offer letter

The HR negotiation checklist

• Allowance: record the amount in AED per child per year, whether it follows a school’s schedule and how later-year changes are handled.
• Joining payments: agree who funds application charges, credited deposits and refundable debentures, when reimbursement occurs and who receives a refund.
• Employer arrangements: ask whether a corporate debenture or school relationship applies to your family and what the school has confirmed.
• Transport: agree whether the allowance covers the current quoted bus service, including any change of campus or route.
• Support: obtain the proposed EAL or learning-support provision and its cost in writing, then agree employer coverage. See the EAL and learning-support guide.
• Early departure: read the school’s notice and refund terms and agree who pays any charges if the posting ends. The relocation checklist covers transfer planning.