How UAE schools work

Updated 29 October 2026

KHDA school ratings explained

What the rating on a Dubai private school actually means, what inspectors look at, and why many schools are still showing a rating from 2023-24.

What each KHDA rating means

Dubai inspections use the UAE School Inspection Framework, which KHDA released in 2015 for use across the Emirates. It defines the six levels like this:

So a school rated Good is doing what every UAE school is expected to do. The scale is not like a school report where 'good' sounds average: it is the benchmark, and two ratings sit above it.

What inspectors look at

The framework has six performance standards, broken into 17 indicators:

1. Students' achievement (attainment, progress and learning skills)
2. Students' personal and social development, and their innovation skills
3. Teaching and assessment
4. Curriculum
5. The protection, care, guidance and support of students
6. Leadership and management

Achievement is judged in key subjects: Islamic Education (for Muslim students), Arabic (as a first or additional language), English, mathematics, science and UAE social studies. Inspectors also check how different groups do, including students with special educational needs, gifted students, Emirati students, and children for whom English is an additional language.

The overall rating is a 'best fit' across all 17 indicators, but four indicators carry extra weight. For a school to be rated Good or better overall, the framework says the judgements should include students' progress, teaching for effective learning, the effectiveness of leadership, and self-evaluation and improvement planning at that level. A school cannot reach Good on facilities or activities alone.

The latest full results: 2023-24

KHDA's last full inspection round covered 209 private schools with more than 360,000 students. 81% of students were at schools rated Good or better, up from 77% the year before.

The same round found that 64% of schools were Good or better for Arabic as a first language, 77% for Islamic Education, 76% for provision for students of determination (KHDA's term for students with special educational needs or disabilities) and 83% for wellbeing.

Inspections in 2026-27: what has changed

Full inspections were paused for most schools in 2024-25 and 2025-26. On 3 June 2026 KHDA announced that quality assurance visits will resume from the 2026-27 academic year, in two forms:

• Full inspection. A team applies the whole framework, and KHDA publishes a report with a new overall rating. Schools completing their third year in Dubai automatically get one.
• Monitoring visit. A smaller team looks at specific areas. The school gets a short report with strengths and recommendations, but no new rating.

Schools get no more than 24 hours' notice of either visit. KHDA decides which visit each school gets from its data, and there is no published timetable. The framework itself has not changed: visits still use the 2015-16 UAE School Inspection Framework.

How to read a KHDA inspection report

• Check the year first. Many schools are still showing their 2023-24 rating. A newer report from a monitoring visit can be useful, but it does not change the rating.
• Look at your child's phase. Inspectors judge each age group separately, so a school can be stronger in primary than in secondary, or the other way round.
• Read the four key indicators: progress, teaching, leadership and self-evaluation. These drive the overall rating.
• Check the subjects that matter to you, such as English, maths, Arabic or inclusion, rather than relying on the headline.
• Read the recommendations. They show what inspectors want the school to improve.

Full reports and short parent summaries are published on the KHDA website and in the KHDA app.