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Great! You have arrived here because you live in the UAE or are coming to the UAE and are actively considering education options in the UAE, or someone simply with an interest in UAE education.
Either way, read on to acquaint yourself with a brief background on the history of education in the UAE as well as the UAE education system.
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For a country that only came into existence in 1972 and was previously mostly barren desert, it may at first glance be astonishing to learn that archaelogical evidence has been found of human habitation going back 125,000 years. Finds from the periods 5,000 to 3,100 BCE, from 3,200 to 2,600 BCE, from 2,600 to 2,000 BCE, from 2,000 to 1,300 BCE and subsequent iron ages have also been made. However on deeper reflection, these may not be so surprising as the region would have been on the route for the 'out of Africa' migration theory and is within a 'stone's throw' of the world's most ancient civilisation, that of Mesopotamia.
Prior to the founding of the UAE at the end of 1971 education was imparted within the family or in Mosque schools. In the latter, teaching would be imparted by the Imam (also known as Mutawa) either in the Mosque, in his own home or in the pupil's home. In some cases locals would organise a physical school known as a Katateeb where groups of pupils would receive instructions from a number of teachers. Parents would pay the Imam a fee. Curriculum was essentially religious plus basic reading, writing and arithmetic. A more formal type of education was provided by so called Educational Circles. These would be established by the Sheikh of the area or other wealthy patrons. Teaching would take place in the local Masjed (Mosque), the Sheikh’s palace, the patron’s home or in the scholar’s home. Katateebs and Educational Circles would be most likely in Sharjah and Ras al khaimah ruled by the Al Qwasimi family since they owned significant number of ships and a naval fleet which was strong enough to challenge and come into conflict with the British and would therefore require more skilled and educated manpwer. Many of the teachers came from what is now Saudi Arabia.
Semi organised education took place in the period 1907 to 1953 as a result of a semi nationalistic movement termed “Alyaqadha Alarabiya” which called for an Arab awakening. Among the first of these schools was “A’Taimiah Almahmoudiah School” founded in 1907 in Sharjah by Sheikh Ali Almahmoud. many similar schools were established in the region, including “Ibn Khalaf” in 1903 in Abu Dhabi, “Alahmadiah” in 1910 in Dubai, “Aleslah” in 1930 in Sharjah (founded by the son of Ali Almahmoud, Mohammed), “Fat’h” in Ajman, “Abdurrahman Bin Ateeq” in 1942 in Umm Al Qaiwain, and “Alma’areed” in 1934 in Ras Al Khaimah. The other Emirates followed in the footsteps of Sheikh Ali Almahmoudi (Alrawi, 1996). [Credit: ]
The first organized modern school was Alqasimiah School, founded in Sharjah in 1930 by Sheikh Mohammed Almahmoud son of the Sheikh Ali Almahmoud. The first school for females was opened in 1954. Another branch of the school was opened in Ras Al Khaimah in 1955 followed by Dubai in 1956. These schools adopted the Kuwaiti curriculum and provided students with Kuwaiti books, materials and teachers and operated under the supervision of the Kuwaiti government. The Kuwaiti model established three stages for students: (1) primary school (6 years of study), (2) preparatory school (3 years of study) and (3) secondary school (3 years of study). Prior to 1967, students completed their secondary school certificates by taking exams in Kuwait. In 1967, the exams were conducted in the Emirates (Alrawi, 1996).
[Credit: A History of Education in the United Arab Emirates and Trucial Sheikdoms: Ali Alhebsi, Lincoln D. Pettaway PhD, Lee “Rusty” Waller PhD. https://aurak.ac.ae]
The UAE is a unique country in that around 85% of its populace consists of expatriates. Citizens of numerous foreign countries, ca 180, who stay temporarily either short term or long term as expatriates. The word expatriates rather than immigrants or migrants is used for a reason. While the UAE is welcoming to expatriates and treats them exceptionally well, it does not grant citizenship, save in a few very select cases. Although many expatriates have lived in the UAE over several generataions, they always have to bear in mind that eventually they may have to return to their home country. This plays a significant role in the UAE's educational structure. The division of education into a public state sector and private sector has, apart from the normal considerations prevalent in most other countries, has this factor in the background. Moreover, the individual emirates have a certain degree of autonomy and can include some criteria in their own territories. Another consideration is that the UAE is a rapidly evolving and constantly experimenting country and the only thing certain is change, and this applies equally to the educational sector. Thus, recently new additional models have been applied to the duality of public and private sectors such as government schools in partnership with the private sector. Ajyal School is one such new model for the UAE Government schools which combines the UAE’s national curricula with the international curricula. Other new experiments are Charter schools in Abu Dhabi and Dubai Schools in Dubai.
Somewhat similar to the US, the UAE follows the 'K-12' system of education and uses 'grades' as a proxy for ages as children progress through the system, Kindergarten to Grade 12. Kindergarten starting at around age 4 followed by 12 years of schooling. In deviation from the US, the UAE uses the terms 'stages', 'cycles' and 'streams' to define its system. The system described below reflects the status as of mid 2025. This is mentioned because the Ministry of Education (MoE) of the UAE has a propensity for chopping and changing its policies somewhat frequently!
Within the stages/cycles of education described above, the UAE divides its pupils into 4 streams depending on their capabilities and interests. These divisions take place at different grades. The 4 streams are:
The Ministry of Education sets the curriculumn in public schools. However some Emirates may have additional requirements. Abu Dhabi requires 'moral education' as a subject.
The language of instruction is Arabic for all subjects. English is taught as a second language and sometimes used for teaching technical or scientific subjects.
Kindergarten: Use play styles to develop cognitive, communication, social, and physical skills to enable a smooth entry into Grade 1 of school
Primary school: Arabic, English, Mathematics, and Science.
Intermediate & Seconary schools: Same as above but with greater emphasis on maths and science for those going into Advanced or Elite streams and new vocational subjects such as computing, engineering, and health sciences introduced for those going into the vocational stream.
Pupils are assessed throughout the year and sit an internal examination at the end of each school year to determine their progression to the next grade and stream. At the end of Grade 12 students sit a final, national exam and are awarded their school leaving certificate, the General Secondary Education Certificate (GSEC). The Emirates Standardized Test (EmSAT) is no longer a requirement for university entrance. Universities will now themselves set their criteria forn entrance.
The academic year in the UAE starts in September and ends in June. There are two shorts breaks and a long summer vacation. There are 3 terms in an academic year, similar to the British system
Children of all Emirati citizens are guaranteed admission into public schools and tuition is free for them and for other GCC countries. Non citizens can also apply but they will need to pass an Arabic language test because the primary language of instruction is Arabic. Number of expatriates in any public school cannot exceed 20% of the total. Currently a fee of 6,000 AED/a is payable by expatriates.
Apart from Grade 1 there is gender segregation in all public schools. School uniforms are compulsory in all public schools
In keeping with the UAE's ethos of continuing innovation and experimenting with new ideas, the UAE has recently established an hybrid model within the state sector. The purpose is to improve the academic standards within the state system by leveraging the expertise of the private sector.
These come under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education (MoE) of the Federal government, in particular its subsidiary the Emirates Schools Establishment (ESE), and combines the UAE’s national curricula with the international curricula. It retains the Arabic language, Islamic education, moral education and social studies parts of the national curricula and adds the mathematics and science portion of the international curricula. To date Ajyal Schools’ have been introduced into 10 government schools across the UAE. A number of educational operators and service providers in the private sector manage these schools under the supervision of Ministry of Education. Emirati teachers will be engaged to enhance the national identity and societal values [Credit: MoE]. It is not clear whether entry to Ajyal Schools will be selective based on academic ability or what the entry criteria will be. The UAE government bears tuition fees and all operating expenses for students enrolled in ‘Ajyal Schools’.
These have been established by the Department of Knowledge and Education (ADEK) of Abu Dhabi government, the subnational authority that governs the Emirate of Abu Dhabi. Charter schools offer American-based curriculum to public school students who are based in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.
These are actually private schools established in partnership with the Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) of the government of Dubai, the subnational authority that governs the Emirate of Dubai. As such, they are open to all residents of Dubai, not just UAE nationals, but charge fees.
There are about 580 private schools in the UAE. Being a multi-cultural community hosting people from around 200 nationalities, the UAE has a large network of private schools, which follow different curricula. Although the majority of private schools offer the British, American, and IB programs, there are also many schools catering to the national curricula of countries such as India, Pakistan, Phillipine, Bangladesh, Japan, China, Germany, Australia, Canada, Spain, Russia, Sweden, Finland (early years). Some of these schools are UAE offshoots of quite renowned UK schools. Others belong to large international school networks.
Listung of private schools in the UAE:
Home schooling is permitted in the UAE for both Emirati and expatriate children but parents must register their children with the Ministry of Education and follow certain guidelines:
Under the system of home-schooling, the student is not required to attend regular classes. After the student registers, the educational zone in the respective emirate will provide him/her with the books and the required learning materials. The student will self-study at home without attending regular classes. At the end of the year or at the end of the semester, the student will sit for class exams as set by the Assessment and Examinations Department and the Continuous Learning Department in Ministry of Education. The successful completion of a home-school education in the UAE is equivalent to graduation from any regular public school in the UAE [Credit: MoE].
The UAE is emerging as a global education hub, offering international students access to diverse programs and flexible visa options. Non-GCC students can enroll in public and private universities, with scholarships available for high achievers.
Each year, thousands of students worldwide consider the United Arab Emirates as their next academic destination for higher education. With its strategic location between East and West, globally recognised courses and modern state of the art educational facilities, the UAE is setting itself up as major educational destination.
Already the UAE is home to over 230,000 overseas students, demonstrating its increasing popularity as an alternative to traditional Western countries. Business, engineering, and technology are popular courses for international students. Both public and private universities accept international students with both charging tuition fees.
The UAE higher education system is a mix of federal and private institutions.
Federal Institutions: Federal institutions are divided into academic Universities focussing on research and Higher Colleges of Technology (HCTs) offering government-sponsored higher education leaning towards vocational training. The former offer undergraduate and postgraduate programs striving to compete with world class universities while the latter provide vocational and technical education to provide the manpower needed to meet the country's economic diversification goals. Admission is based on Secondary School Certificate (SSC) results and the institutions own criteria. The Emirates Standardized Test (EmSAT) is no longer used in the selection process. The National Qualifications Authority (NQA) and Vocational Education and Training Awards Council (VETAC) oversee this sector. Federal colleges & universities are:
Private Institutions: A wide range of private universities, including branch campuses of international institutions, have expanded to meet the growing demand for higher education
Listung of universities in the UAE:
In the public education sector compulsory education in schools K-12 as well as in higher education colleges and universities is free to all UAE and GCC nationals choosing to stay in the state sytem..
In the private sector fees vary enornously by institution with the cheapest for Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi and Phillipine schools starting in the 3000 AED range going up to ca 130,000 AED for some of the Western schools.
The UAE Ministry of Education has overarching responsibilty for the Regulation of education.