Dubai school fees by curriculum: IB, American, Indian, French
The curriculum decides more about a Dubai school bill than the postcode does. The median International Baccalaureate school charges AED 75,318 a year, the median Indian curriculum school AED 14,961. That is a difference of AED 60,357 per child per year, for the same city and often the same neighbourhood. Figures from KHDA (Knowledge and Human Development Authority), Dubai Private Schools Open Data, school year 2024/2025, open data file at web.khda.gov.ae/KHDA/media/KHDA/DubaiPrivateSchoolsOpenData.xlsx.
Median annual fee by curriculum
Annual tuition in AED, median of each school across its grades 1 to 12. The column headed Schools with this curriculum gives the case number behind every row.
| Curriculum | Schools with this curriculum | Lower quartile | Median | Upper quartile |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Education (UAE) | 5 | 9,404 | 11,602 | 11,803 |
| American | 32 | 24,925 | 35,154 | 48,925 |
| International Baccalaureate | 14 | 65,285 | 75,318 | 82,400 |
| Indian | 30 | 6,205 | 14,961 | 21,600 |
| French | 6 | 45,623 | 51,620 | 61,000 |
The case number in this table counts schools that teach the curriculum in the row and state a fee, which is a different count from the one on our grade level page, where it counts the schools offering a particular grade.
Three price bands come out of the table. The UAE Ministry of Education curriculum sits lowest at a median of AED 11,602, though on only 5 schools, too few to lean on. Indian curriculum schools follow at AED 14,961 from 30 schools, with a lower quartile of AED 6,205. American schools sit in the middle at AED 35,154 from 32 schools. French schools reach AED 51,620 from 6 schools, and IB schools top the list at AED 75,318 from 14 schools.
What the spread inside a curriculum tells you
The quartiles matter as much as the medians. Indian curriculum schools run from a lower quartile of AED 6,205 to an upper quartile of AED 21,600, so the expensive quarter of Indian schools costs more than three times the cheap quarter. American schools spread from AED 24,925 to AED 48,925. IB is the narrowest band in relative terms, AED 65,285 to AED 82,400, which means there is no cheap way into an IB school in Dubai. Choosing American over Indian costs a median of AED 20,193 more a year per child.
What the five curricula leave out
These five curricula cover 87 of the 128 schools that report a fee. The rest teach a British, Iranian, Pakistani, German, Japanese, Philippine or mixed programme, and several of the most expensive schools in Dubai run a combined British and IB route. A curriculum median is a starting point for a shortlist, not a quote: within every band the individual school can sit far from the middle.
The figures are annual tuition only. Registration and admission charges, school transport and books, uniforms, exam entry and trips sit outside them, so a family budget built on the tuition line alone comes out short.
Frequently asked questions
How much is an IB school in Dubai?
The median IB school charges AED 75,318 a year across 14 schools, with the middle half between AED 65,285 and AED 82,400.
Which curriculum is cheapest?
Of the five in the table, the Indian curriculum at a median of AED 14,961 from 30 schools is the cheapest with a meaningful number of schools behind it. The Ministry of Education median of AED 11,602 is lower still but rests on 5 schools only.
Why is the French median above the American one?
Because there are only 6 French curriculum schools in the list and they cluster at the upper end, from AED 45,623 to AED 61,000. With so few schools the median describes those schools, not a French price level.
I want a shortlist for one curriculum in one area, can you help?
The form below this page takes the curriculum, the grade level and the district. It goes to people in Dubai who reply to you directly, and your enquiry is not published anywhere.
Source and method
Every figure on this page comes from KHDA (Knowledge and Human Development Authority), Dubai Private Schools Open Data, school year 2024/2025. The file is published by the authority itself: web.khda.gov.ae/KHDA/media/KHDA/DubaiPrivateSchoolsOpenData.xlsx. We reproduce the numbers with the source named and do not present them as a survey of our own. The list covers 226 private schools in Dubai, 128 of which report a fee. Amounts are in UAE dirham per school year. A school is counted once per grade level, and the school figure used for rankings is the median of its own grades 1 to 12. The median is the value with half the schools above it and half below, which is steadier than an average because one very expensive school cannot pull it. Quartiles mark the middle half: a quarter of schools charge less than the lower quartile, a quarter charge more than the upper one. Figures are exact as published, not rounded.
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